Nitai Zori, Hillel Zori and Dror Semmel perform Schubert Trios Op.99 and Op.100 on period instruments at the Eden-Tamir Music Center, Jerusalem

Nitai Zori, Dror Semmel, Hillel Zori (Shirley Burdick)

On May 24th 2025, the auditorium of the Eden-Tamir Music Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, was packed to capacity for a festive event - a concert of chamber music featuring the center's newest acquisition - a Graf fortepiano.  Performing the all-Schubert program were artistic director of the Eden-Tamir Music Center Dror Semmel (fortepiano), Nitai Zori (violin) and Hillel Zori ('cello).

 

In January 2025, Paul McNulty (USA-Czech Republic), celebrated for his meticulous craftsmanship and expertise in the building of historical fortepianos, arrived in Jerusalem to add the final adjustments to the newly-crafted instrument now making its home at the Eden-Tamir Music Center. The Graf fortepiano, handcrafted from walnut and modelled after instruments used by Beethoven, Schubert, and Chopin, bridges the past to the present, offering musicians and audiences an authentic glimpse into the soundscapes of classical music’s golden era. The addition of the McNulty Graf fortepiano not only enriches the Eden-Tamir Center's concert repertoire; it also underscores the center's commitment to preserving and promoting historical performance practice and to attracting musicians, scholars and audiences eager to experience the rich sounds of the fortepiano's heyday. This is the only Graf fortepiano in Israel.

 

Opening the event, Dr. Dror Semmel expressed his appreciation to the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation for its support in the purchase of the instrument. All three of the performing artists spoke about the instruments they would be playing. Semmel spoke of the acoustic properties of the fortepiano. The string players referred to historic bows.  Hillel Zori played on a Baroque 'cello (Amit Tiefenbrunn), whereas Nitai Zori was playing a period Classical violin. Both were playing on gut strings. 

 

The program comprised Franz Schubert's Piano Trio in B flat major Op.99 and Piano Trio No.2 in E flat major Op.100. It is possible that Schubert composed these two monumental piano trios close together in late 1827, the year before his death, although it remains unclear in what order they were written. Work on them seems to have taken place simultaneously with that on "Die Winterreise", the trios providing a lighter project to divert Schubert’s attention from the illness and melancholy that was preoccupying him in the last months of his life. 

 

Opening with Op.99, the artists had the audience at the edge of its seats, with playing that gave clean, articulate expression to the work's sparkling, buoyant writing, to its lyrical sweep and melodic inventiveness and to Schubert’s use of modulation and the changing of keys to vary the presentation, treatment and tone colour of his themes. Following the bold, intense gestures of the opening Allegro moderato, we were lured into the personal discourse and gorgeous songful theme expressed so tenderly in the second movement (Andante un poco mosso), perhaps a graceful façade for the doubts and the anguish of a Schubert no more than a few months off death. Then, following the playful, good-natured Scherzo with its coy Trio, the Viennese melodiousness of the Rondo reasserted the blitheness of the first movement, with Schubert's distinctive tremolos in the piano, these adding an air of mystery and a wistful flutter of heart. 

 

Robert Schumann considered Schubert's two great trios a complementary pair - the B-flat, more lyrical; the E-flat, more robust. Indeed, it was Schumann who hailed the E-flat trio as "an angry meteor blazing forth and outshining everything in the musical atmosphere of the time."  The artists' inspired playing of the Allegro, its opening unison motif bold, the second theme peaceful, emerged in a myriad of meticulously shaped phrases, the Schubert-style keyboard arpeggios fetchingly delicate, then to build up dramatically. Following the Andante con moto, one of Schubert's most haunting melodies, cast over a quasi funeral-march rhythm, its stormy outbursts punctuated by general calm and mysterious gestures, the contrapuntally elegant, lightly-tripping Allegro takes flight. The Allegro moderato (final) movement bears eloquent (indeed nostalgic) witness to the cohesion and cyclic element of this panoramic work. And there it was - that striking, heart-stopping moment in the finale where Schubert brings back the funeral music, the movement's conclusion then to twist into the major key. The artists played the full, original version of the 4th movement.

 

From their playing and close communication, one is aware of the fact that Semmel and the Zori brothers have collaborated much in the performance of chamber music. With commitment and compelling emotional involvement, they addressed- and presented every nuance of these two tremendous piano trios on period instruments - the sound world familiar to Schubert. Not to be ignored was the dynamic range of the instruments, the splendid copy of the 1819 fortepiano sounding crystal-clear and true (with Semmel skilfully bringing into play the unique tonal qualities implemented by the instrument's tricky pedal system.) 

Graf fortepiano (Courtesy Dr. Dror Semmel)

Telemann in Paris - Jochewed Schwarz, Gilat Rotkop and Ashley Solomon perform works of Telemann and French Baroque composers at Brigham Young University, Jerusalem

Jochewed Schwarz,Ashley Solomon,Gilat Rotkop (Yitzhak Hochmann)

 

 

"Telemann in Paris", a concert of Baroque music on period instruments, took place at the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies on May 18th, 2025. The program comprised a selection of Telemann's works alongside those of his French contemporaries. Performing them were Jochewed Schwarz - spinet, Gilat Rotkop - bassoon and Ashley Solomon (UK) - Baroque flute.

France was always present in the music of Georg Philipp Telemann and in his mind, with allusions and references to French music in many of his works. In 1737, Telemann travelled to Paris.  Living in the heart of the Marais quarter with the greatest harpsichord player of the time, Antoine Vater, he had the opportunity to meet the most prominent instrumentalists and composers of Paris, his new French friends including Guignon, Blavet, Forqueray, Mondonville, Naudot, Bodin de Boismortier, Campra and Clérambault. While in Paris, Telemann composed and received the royal privilege to publish at Ballard (publisher of Lully and Rameau's music), thus perpetuating his strong bond with the city.

 

The Jerusalem program opened with Michel Blavet's Sonata No.3, Op.2, “La Vibray”, for flute and basso continuo. A musician who had influenced Telemann, Blavet was one of the most outstanding flautists of his time. His compositional oeuvre consisted almost exclusively of music for his own instrument. Appearing in print in 1731, Blavet's Op.2 Sonatas attest to the Italian model. However, in order to remain in step with the French mindset, Blavet inserted "portraits" of sorts - pieces either bearing the name of an actual or fictitious person or a title evoking a quality. So, who is La Vibray? Probably a French aristocratic lady, I would imagine. Ashley Solomon's playing of the solo line highlighted the grace and agility of "La Vibray", its (her) elegance inviting suave ornamentation. Playing a Palanca flute made by Martin Wenner, Solomon continued with one of  Telemann's Fantasias for Solo Flute, a cycle published in 1727 that has had a great influence on the flautist and recorder player’s world. Telemann himself was a fine flautist, which explains his understanding of the capabilities of the instrument and his ability to write idiomatically for it. Solomon's playing of the A minor Fantasia, with its movements of differing tempi, moods and styles, unfolded as a bold, personal musical adventure, albeit in miniature. Another Telemann work on the program was the Methodical Sonata in E minor, TWV 41:e2. Having left behind the limitations of responsibility towards a single sovereign, Telemann was now catering to a more open musical public. The idea behind the Methodical Sonatas (1728) was to provide amateur musicians, of which Hamburg had a thriving community, with guidance on High Baroque ornamentation of differing stylistic conventions, mainly those of Italy and France. (Telemann provides these guidelines for each of the slow first movements.) Indeed, the sonatas themselves are considerably more attractive than their collective title might suggest. In the artists' finely-chiselled and delicately detailed performance of the E minor Sonata, Solomon's intuitive feeling for Telemann’s idiom is present throughout, as he and his fellow players express the work's playful ideas as well as its touching sense of melancholy, as in the third movement marked "Cunando" (cradling).

 

And to three works of François Couperin. "Les goûts- réunis" (The Tastes Reunited), incorporating elements of the Italian style, were composed for the entertainment of the aging Louis XIV. The artists' playing of Concert No.13 of the collection was effectively contrasted, exuberant and full of dignity and beauty, also characterised by a hint of the nostalgia heard in other Couperin works. Concert No.13 was bookended by Schwarz's refined playing of two  pieces for harpsichord. Couperin le Grand's 240 keyboard pieces provide a fascinating portrait of the composer's time, presenting musical vignettes of his friends and enemies, of important court personalities as well as of people outside of Couperin’s immediate circle. Schwarz's elegant Italian trapezoidal William Horn spinet (inspired by a spinet of the Italian building school of the 16th century) made a robust statement in the fine acoustic space of the auditorium. Written in the arpeggiated style brisé, her playing of the (enigmatic) piece titled "Les Barricades Mystérieuses" (The Mysterious Barricades) was haunting and compelling in its seamless scheme and shifting colour palette. Richly ornamented, "La Ménétou" describes French harpsichordist/composer Françoise-Charlotte de Senneterre Ménétou (1679-1745), who had been a student of François Couperin. Another keyboard solo on the program was the lavishly ornamented Chaconne in F by Gaspard Le Roux, the latter composer being one of the most enigmatic of the late 17th century. The piece is replete with courtly mannerisms but not overlaid with formality. How pleasurable it was to call in on Jochewed Schwarz "in her private music room".

 

After the death of King Louis XIV at the end of the Baroque era, the rising of the bourgeoisie opened up new opportunities for composers in Paris. Joseph Bodin de Boismortier met the demand for works with a vast amount of gallant, easily-playable chamber music, which he also published himself (a practice rare till then.) Playing on a copy of an Eichentopf bassoon (1750) by Olivier Cottet (Paris), Gilat Rotkop gave much lively support to the basso continuo roles throughout the evening. Now, in Boismortier's Trio Sonata in E minor Op.17 No.2, she and Solomon engaged in lively, precise and articulate dialogue, the three artists giving elegant expression to the intricate subtleties of the work's three pint-sized movements and to the composer's keen interest in the technical and tonal characteristics of all three instruments. For an encore, we heard the Largo cantabile from Antonio Vivaldi's Trio Sonata in A minor RV 86 for flute (treble recorder) bassoon and continuo in A minor RV86, indeed, a virtuoso movement for the bassoon!

"Pimpinone" - works by Telemann performed by the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: David Shemer. Vocal soloists: Daniela Skorka, Lidor Ram Mesika

Lidor Ram Mesika Ⓒ Yoel Levy

Daniela Skorka Ⓒ Yoel Levy

 

"Pimpinone", Concert No.5 of the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra's 36th season, was conducted by JBO founder and music director Prof. David Shemer. The program comprised two works of Georg Philipp Telemann. Soloists were Daniela Skorka (soprano) and Lidor Ram Mesika (baritone/countertenor). This writer attended the performance on May 11th, 2025, at the Jerusalem International YMCA. 

 

Telemann’s extensive oeuvre comprises no fewer than 135 overtures (ouvertures) or suites for orchestra. Although written for specific occasions and for different instrumental combinations (perhaps originally as ballet music) they have joined the canon of concert repertoire due the composer's inspired writing and craftsmanship. A popular genre, which had its roots in France, the ouverture also included other influences, such as that of the Italian style, some also coloured with elements of traditional music. The evening's program opened with Telemann's Ouverture Suite in B-flat, "Burlesque", TWV 55:B8 for strings and basso continuo, a work which, besides two minuets, depicts several characters from the world of the commedia dell'arte. Setting the scene with the Overture itself, the JBO players lined up the characters - the villainous, manoeuvring Scaramouche,  leaping Harlequinade buffoonery and japery, an appealing, cantabile description of the servant Columbine (Harlequin's mistress), the mischievous trickery and comments of the lovesick Pierrot, then to wind up with a wild, impetuous dance representing the schemer and trouble-maker Mezzetin, its closing moments laced with a touch of the oriental. In playing of tasteful, articulate expression, the JBO instrumentalists brought out the contrasts between the ouverture's various movements, together with its whimsical and theatrical aspects.

 

 

Also based on the commedia dell’arte tradition, Telemann's comic opera "Pimpinone" TWV 21:15 originated as an intermezzo form. Premiered at the Gänsemarkt Opera in Hamburg in September 1725 and performed as an insert in George Frederic Handel’s opera seria "Tamerlano", it soon took on a life of its own and was heard all over Europe. Telemann took the highlights from a sparkling Italian libretto of Pietro Pariati and combined them with new texts by German poet Johann Philipp Praetorious. What emerged was an opera whose texts alternate between the Italian- and German languages. Telemann set the recitatives in German, thereby ensuring that his audience at the Gänsemarkt Opera could easily follow the plot. The comic opera features just two characters – Pimpinone, an elderly, wealthy, gullible man, and Vespetta, a scheming chambermaid. In search of a husband and fortune. Vespetta (her name translates as "little wasp") first convinces Pimpinone to hire her as his maid, then persuading him to propose marriage. Now his wife, she becomes the real boss of the household, controlling every aspect of the titular character’s life. The roles seem tailor-made for home-grown artists Daniela Skorka and Lidor Ram Mesika. Skorka makes for a coquettish Vespetta, revelling in her underhand control of the foolish, love-struck Pimpinone, as she constantly shares her wily strategies with the audience. Mesika, less blusterous, showing fewer facial and physical gestures (indeed, a reflective, confused Pimpinone) draws the audience in with his exceptionally resonant singing, his marvellously rich baritone voice emerging natural, even in timbre and well-anchored.  His aria (or, rather, duet with himself) “So quel che si dice e quel che si fa”, on the subject of gossiping neighbours, was a special treat, as he imitated the gossip-mongers, juggling their patter in quick exchanges of baritone- and countertenor passages. Skorka harnesses the sheer beauty of her bright, clear voice and her delightful stage presence to present the message of each aria. Both singers shifted smoothly between the Italian and German texts. The succession of arias - saucy and headstrong pieces for Vespetta and the confused and increasingly outraged numbers for Pimpinone - were produced with articulacy and fine diction, as were the duets, some of which presented the characters' singing individual agendas simultaneously! These also were performed with transparency and zest. The singers were supported by nimble, high-quality instrumental playing.

 

 

Breathing new life into stock comic characters from the 17th century in this delightful little domestic sitcom, Telemann's score bubbles with rhythmic verve and melodic invention. Not to be ignored is the fact that the piece is a musical comment on then-contemporary professional and private spheres, referring to the hard life of single women, the significance of wealth and social standing for eligibility for marriage and the injustices of patriarchal marriage law. Add to those the element of ridicule directed at romantically-inclined senior citizens.  However, Telemann's own domestic life was turned upside-down after his second marriage to Maria Katharina Textor, the teenage daughter of a local town clerk.  Rumours of Maria’s extra-marital activities began to circulate throughout Hamburg society, as local newspapers published detailed accounts of her romantic conquests, leaving Telemann mercilessly mocked as the aging, senile and scorned husband. The composer, in turn, responded artistically to these insults by composing "Pimpinone", aptly named "Die ungleiche Heirat zwischen Vespetta und Pimpinone” or “Das herrschsüchtige Kammer Mädchen" ("The Unequal Marriage Between Vespetta and Pimpinone" or "The Domineering Chambermaid".). 

 

It was a sparkling, uplifting concert, excellently presented. Prof. David Shemer dedicated the event to the memory of musicologist Prof. Jehoash Hershberg, researcher of Baroque opera and one of the JBO's original instrumentalists.