The Israel Camerata Jerusalem opened its
42nd season with "Sounds of the Future - The Great Artists of
Tomorrow" at the Jerusalem International YMCA on September 15th 2025. A
concert of the InstruVocal series, it was conducted by Camerata founder and
music director Avner Biron. The orchestra was joined by three soloists of the
younger generation: Lior Yoahimik - clarinet, Doron Chazan - saxophone and Amir
Ron - piano. The concert was dedicated to the memory of Prof. Gersh Geller, who
taught clarinet and saxophone in Jerusalem, formed a large number of young
saxophone ensembles and founded the first Israeli saxophone festival and
competition in 2008.
A program of "firsts", it opened
with Anton Webern's 1905 "Langsamer Satz" (Slow Movement) Op. 1.
Originally written for string quartet, it is an outpouring of love of the
21-year-old composer for his cousin and future wife Wilhemine Mortl. At the
time he composed it, he was a composition student of Schoenberg, but not yet
engaging in the twelve-tone writing and tight, miniaturized forms associated
with his (Webern's) later style. The piece is serene and autumnal, its style
steeped in the late Romantic musical language of Wagner and Mahler. The
Camerata players gave a sincere, transparent, personal and scrupulously-shaped
reading of the piece.
Although Gioacchino Rossini is mostly known
for his operas, he did compose works of other genres -sacred music,
instrumental music and art songs. The Introduction, Theme and Variations for
clarinet and orchestra, composed when he was only 18 years old, draws on themes
from two popular operas from his Neapolitan period - "The Woman by the
Lake" and "Moses in Egypt". Currently studying in Basel,
Switzerland, Lior Yoahimik (b.1997) took on board the work's opportunities for
virtuosic dazzle - leaps and frequent fast passages climbing into the altissimo
register and more - giving expression to the dramatic emotion of the Italian
bel canto singing style. Displaying brilliant technique, a rich timbre and
flexible dynamic range, Yoahimik's refreshing, musical playing presented the individual character of each variation, with the orchestral passages providing a constant
reminder of the fact that Rossini was indeed an opera composer. I enjoyed the soloist's cantabile playing of the introspective minor variation and his strategic
and inventive delivery of the cadenza.
Darius Milhaud's music for "La
création du monde" (Creation of the World), to a scenario by the Swiss
poet and novelist Blaise Cendrars on an African creation myth, was written for-
and first performed by the Ballet Suédois in 1923 in Paris. The French cubist
painter Fernand Léger designed the sets. Milhaud's compositional style
represents the first use of jazz in classical music repertoire. His infatuation
with jazz began in 1920 in London, continuing two years later in New York,
where he frequented the dance halls and theatres of Harlem. He was drawn to the
genre's "use of syncopation in the melody…done with such contrapuntal
freedom as to create the impression of an almost chaotic improvisation, whereas
in fact, it was something remarkably precise”, in the composer's own words. By
the time Milhaud composed his music for the ballet in 1923, he was writing for
a well-established popular taste. Indeed, the Paris art world of the early
1920s was in the grip of Primitivism; African art and legends provided the
perfect medium for the public. The work's vivid score, with its elements
of polytonality, its jazz prelude and fugue, moments of mystery, of carefree,
foot-tapping, chaotic exhilaration and of touching bittersweet melodies,
provided the Camerata with the ideal platform for much fine orchestral playing
and some splendid solos - saxophone, flute, oboe, horn, double bass and more.
A lyrical coda brings the prototypical work to a quiet close with
softly fluttering flutes, as the saxophone bids a tender farewell.
Multi-faceted musician and Grammy Award-
and Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Caroline Shaw (b. 1982) is one of
today's most sought-after composers and a leading voice on the contemporary
musical scene. As well as composing, she is a producer, violinist and vocalist.
Featuring Amir Ron as soloist, we
heard Shaw's Concerto for Harpsichord (Piano) and Strings, here played on the
piano. Written in 2023, the composer took inspiration from Bach’s harpsichord
concertos and Baroque music in general. With the movements of a somewhat
traditional structure, they are however titled "Warm but Distant",
"Morning Bird" and "Gangbusters", offering the listener the
opportunity to engage in their extra-musical associations. This music, brimming
with 17th-century chord sequences and secondary dominants, with cascading
circle-of-fifths progressions, all taking flight into newer harmonic spheres,
is catchy, fresh, and user-friendly, yet ravishing and decidedly sophisticated.
Pianist Amir Ron is currently studying towards a Master’s degree at The
Juilliard School of Music. His agile, light, clean finger work endorsed Shaw's
playful, magical and energizing (largely tonal/modal) score. As to
"Morning Bird", the movement's pared-down orchestration, with
individual instruments evoking filigree-fine bird calls, emerged delicate and
appealing. "Gangbusters", of course, brings the scene back to the
first movement's high energy and virtuosic keyboard playing. The Camerata
instrumentalists handled Ms. Shaw's vivid string writing with finesse.
In this program of firsts, we hear
Alexander Glazunov's final work - the Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra
in E flat major (1934). The concerto, however, stood out at the time as unique: the saxophone was not yet a regular instrument in orchestral repertoire,
thus making for a groundbreaking work. Drawn to the saxophone sound and to
jazz, Glazunov combines Romantic musical language with modern musical
idiom. Setting the clarinet against a hearty string score, Glazunov's characteristic orchestral style pervades the concerto with lush textures, attractive melodies
and zesty harmonies woven throughout. The recipient of several international
prizes, saxophonist Doron Chazan (b.2003) is presently studying at the
Amsterdam Conservatorium. Approaching the virtuoso piece with fine
musicianship, he addresses each change of temperament and tempo with
articulacy, each tonal colour boldly presented. As to the quick pace and
intricate writing of the virtuosic cadenza (second section), Chazan realises it
with joy and pizzazz. Altogether, the performance called attention to the
work's rich textures, its memorable melodies and the vivid harmonies peppered
throughout.
When the Mozart family arrived in London in
April 1764, on its “grand tour of Europe”, Johann Christian Bach took the
brilliant Wolfgang Amadeus under his wing, and it was under Johann Christian’s
influence that the eight-year-old composed his very first symphony. Written
with the elegance, charm and gentle optimism of the galant style, Symphony No.1
in E-flat Major K.16 demonstrates that Wolfgang was already well versed in
symphonic forms and orchestration. (The manuscript does, however, contain
annotations and corrections by Wolfgang’s father, Leopold.) Maestro Biron and
the instrumentalists gave lively expression to the symphony's pure joy and
youthful energy, its dynamic contrasts and to its occasional touches of daring
chromaticism, the score coloured with fine wind-playing, especially poignant on
the part of the horns. Mozart's Symphony No.1 remains an eminently
accomplished and assured début into the world of symphonic music.
Once again, the Camerata's creative
programming makes for a quality, experiential listening.
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