"A Praise to God in Zion" - an all-Bach program performed by members of Ensemble PHOENIX

Alon Harari,Marina Minkin,Rachel Ringelstein,Myrna Herzog (photo:Eliahu Feldman)

“A Praise to God in Zion” was an all-Bach program performed by Ensemble PHOENIX. Artists taking part in the program were Alon Harari (counter-tenor), Rachel Ringelstein (violin), Marina Minkin (harpsichord) and PHOENIX founder and musical director Myrna Herzog (viola da gamba). This writer attended the concert on May 8th 2017 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, one of the Monday Afternoon Concert Series.

Apart from two instrumental works, the program focused on arias from Cantatas of J.S.Bach, as well as from the St. John and St. Matthew Passions, sung by Alon Harari. In Dr. Herzog’s words: “Some of the most beautiful and moving arias were written by Johann Sebastian Bach for the alto voice”. The concert opened with the enigmatic “Bekennen will ich seinen Namen” (I will acknowledge His name) BWV 200, Bach’s transposed adaptation (c.1742-1743) of an aria from a passion-oratorio of Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. A cantata fragment, the single aria is probably from a lost cantata. Harari and Ringelstein struck a wonderful balance of individuality and exchange, with violin melodies threaded throughout. (The original score calls for two violins). “Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille zu Zion (God, You are praised in the stillness of Zion) the opening aria of the BWV 120 Cantata, a work based on Psalm 65, celebrates the election of a new town council of Leipzig in 1727. Engaging in the detail and meaning of the text, with its ample use of melismatic passages, Harari highlighted the aria’s elegant, lively and ceremonious aspects. Considering the fact that its scoring calls for full orchestra, Herzog, Minkin and Ringelstein’s playing of the reduced and independent instrumental score made for rewarding listening.

In keeping with the darker agenda of the St. John Passion BWV 245, “Es ist vollbracht!” (It is finished/accomplished!), Herzog’s timbrally low, warm and sonorous opening viol solo set the mood of introspection and despair following the death of Christ, as Harari highlighted the grief of the aria’s word-painting in its descending lines. The aria’s sudden agitated and compelling middle section, referring to the battle conquered by the “hero out of Judah”, must be one of the most contrasted and drastic in the Baroque aria repertoire, breaking off in mid-fever to return to the opening statement, so beautifully paced by Herzog and Harari, ending with even more poignancy and heartbreak than at the beginning. Also taken from Bach’s Easter music, the artists performed “Erbarme dich, mein Gott” (Have mercy, my God, for the sake of my tears) one of the most sublime and powerful arias of the St. Matthew Passion BWV 244, with Harari and Ringelstein’s dovetailed interplay of the melodic lines forming a musical representation of remorse. Harari engaged his vocal palette to pour emotion and emphasis into key words, with the violin reflecting the aria’s plea for forgiveness.
Then, on a more optimistic note, Harari performed the opening aria of a cantata written in Leipzig in 1723 “Ein ungefärbt Gemüte” (An unblemished conscience) BWV 24, its serene vocal line suggesting tranquillity and virtuousness as set against an upbeat, hopping accompaniment. The violin obbligato role was beautifully shaped and meaningful under Ringelstein’s bow, its low range perhaps adding a sombre undercurrent to the aria’s discussion of morality. “Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen” (Fall asleep, you weary eyes) the central aria of from Cantata BWV 82 “Ich habe genug” (I am content) also works on different levels: the profound lullaby, mimicking the attraction of sleep, actually makes reference to death. Performing the aria at a flowing pace, the PHOENIX artists kept a safe distance from self-indulgent sentimentality, with Harari taking time to endow the piece’s low, extended notes with soothing, reposeful ambience.

The program included two movements from J.S.Bach’s Sonata in D-major for harpsichord and viola da gamba, the most virtuosic of the three harpsichord and gamba sonatas written probably in the 1740s; in scoring, they are somewhat trio sonatas, with the viol playing the first voice and the harpsichord the second- and third voices. Herzog and Minkin’s plangent, gently-swayed reading of the Adagio was courtly in mood, melodic and decorative. Punctuating the final Allegro movement’s intense working of ideas, Minkin’s lustrous playing of the extended cadenza-like section was a high moment of the Jerusalem concert. Also conforming to the three-layer texture, we heard Ringelstein and Minkin in the last two movements from Bach’s Sonata No.6 in G-major for violin and obbligato harpsichord BWV 1019, (50 years after the violin and harpsichord sonatas were written, C.P.E.Bach was still referring to them as “trios”), in which the violin and harpsichord trade off thematic material, sometimes presenting it in alternation and sometimes simultaneously. With Minkin and Ringelstein’s playing both balanced and stylish and including some tasteful ornamenting, the breathtaking display of Bach's contrapuntal mastery challenged the listener to choose how and where to focus on Bach’s brilliant violin writing partnered by fully worked out concertante parts in both hands of the keyboard.

Myrna Herzog’s programs run the gamut of early music repertoire. Her programming is known for being both informed and daring. Not deterred from using broader instrumentation in the chamber setting, she retained the character of the arias by allotting extra material to the players. The results were more than satisfying, with the three instrumentalists bringing together all important melodic strands from the aria accompaniments. For obvious reasons, the lion’s share of this reorganization was undertaken by Marina Minkin, and handled expertly. Alon Harari’s increasingly expanding, burnished vocal sound, secure and even in all registers, as well as his emotional engagement in Baroque repertoire, made for captivating listening. The acoustic of the lecture/recital hall of the Hebrew University’s Musicology Faculty provided the ideal environment in which to hear (and see) the music’s gestures and details and to experience the unique timbres of the counter-tenor voice, harpsichord and of Baroque bowed instruments played on gut strings, and at close proximity.

 

Yehezkel Braun: "Sharkiya" - Music for Plucked Instruments - recorded by Alon Sariel, Izhar Elias and Michael Tsalka

Michael Tsalka,Alon Sariel,Izhar Elias (photo:Sonja

Bürmann)

“Sharkiya” – Music for Plucked Instruments, featuring music by Yehezkel Braun, is a disc recorded by Israeli artists Alon Sariel (mandolin), Michael Tsalka (harpsichord) and Dutch/Israeli guitarist Izhar Elias.

Born in Germany, Yehezkel Braun (1922-2014) immigrated to Palestine in 1924 with his parents. Musical styles he heard in his childhood, having a lasting influence on his writing, were opera, Yemenite- and Arabic songs and Hassidic tunes.  It was only when settling in Tel Aviv in 1951 that he completed his formal music studies at the Academy of Music, where he then taught music theory and composition until his retirement. He spoke of  the most significant music for him as an adult as being that of Haydn, Bartok, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel and Les Six. In the disc liner notes, Prof. Jehoash Hirshberg, co-author of “Yehezkel Braun, His Life and Works”, mentions that Braun “was very fond of plucked instruments”, composing many works for harp, santur, harpsichord and guitar.

“Sharkiya”, the title of the opening work on the disc, refers to the dry, hot eastern desert wind dominating the Mediterranean climate throughout the summer months. Composed in 1957 for mandolin, guitar and harpsichord, the work is representative of the search of European-born immigrant composers to Israel for a musical language expressive of the Middle Eastern environment. In this short modal piece, the artists give articulate expression to its melody-biased daring and vibrancy, its dancelike character, buoyant rhythmic combinations and silvery timbres. In Braun’s Sonata for Mandolin and Guitar (2004), Sariel and Elias are attentive, precise and responsive in their reading of the work, with its gamut of lush, imaginative harmonies, its constant rhythmic play, Braun’s free use of tonality (not without oriental touches) and of the piece’s many moods – from pensiveness and tender nostalgia to sheer energetic joy. Braun’s score is vivid, attractive, idiomatically written and challenging, pointing out that guitar and mandolin do not necessarily make for an “odd couple”.

Composed in 1995, Braun’s Partita for Guitar, Omaggio a Girolamo Frescobaldi, refers to the Baroque suite in its line-up of movements, although the framework gives carte blanche to a work of extraordinary richness and variety of ideas. Reading into them, Izhar Elias’s playing is sensitive and imaginative, from his evocative, magical playing of the intimate Preludio, to the disquieting, somewhat Spanish-flavoured Toccata temporarily relieved by cascades of chords. Then to the gently stepping Air, a mood piece of exquisite harmonic development and singing melodies, to be followed by a Corrente, the latter’s intensity and terse agenda associative of Flamenco music, warming into lyricism before returning to its original textures. As to the Ciaconna, its variations and autumnal harmonies capture Elias’ (and the listener’s) imagination as he presents its kaleidoscope of moods – jazz-tainted, fragile and personal, haunting, skipping, forthright -  with natural ease and virtuosity; the recording picks up the guitar’s every nuance. Braun’s Partita constitutes a rich item of 20^th century guitar repertoire.

The last work on the recording “Music for Plucked Instruments” (2002), taking its inspiration from J.S.Bach’s 3^rd- and 5^th Brandenburg Concertos and from the Concertos for Two and Three Harpsichords (promising a virtuosic role for the harpsichordist!),  is another splendid work. Its sophisticated and inventive score once again highlights Braun’s manifold harmonic imagination and his vigorous use of rhythm. And again, movement titles hark back to the composer’s deep involvement with Baroque style. With its scintillating textures, the opening Toccata, based on a small amount of basic material but richly orchestrated, is exciting and engaging, its breathless urgency temporarily alleviated by relaxed cadenza-like sections incrusted with glittering, filigree mandolin sounds. The Aria, bathed in a sense of well-being, and opening with a caressing folk-like melody, with the mandolin imitating the beguiling sound of the balalaika, is followed by a Giga – a mélange of tutti- and chamber sections, forthright gestures and those harking back to the gentle balalaika textures of the Aria. The Giga ends on a mischievous note.

 

Alon Sariel, Izhar Elias and Michael Tsalka, all busy with international solo- and ensemble careers, share an interest in both historic performance and contemporary music. They also commission new works for their instruments and for this unique ensemble. Recorded in Montisi, Italy in 2015 and distributed by IMI, “Sharkiya”, the trio’s second disc, presents the world’s first recording for plucked trio. Its lively sound quality does justice to Yehezkel Braun – one of Israel’s greatest composers – and to the outstanding musicianship of the three artists.

The Tel Aviv Wind Quintet hosts pianist Yaron Kohlberg in an opera-inspired program

Itamar Leshem,Roy Amotz,Danny Erdman,Yigal Kaminka,Nadav Cohen (photo:Dafna Gazit)

The Tel Aviv Wind Quintet is presently performing a series of concerts in various locations in Israel. This writer attended the concert on April 29^th 2017 at the Israel Conservatory of Music, Tel Aviv. For this series, TAWQ members Roy Amotz (flute), Yigal Kaminka (oboe), Danny Erdman (clarinet), Itamar Leshem (horn) and Nadav Cohen (bassoon) were joined by guest pianist Yaron Kohlberg. Established in 2007, the Tel Aviv Wind Quintet’s aims are to perform existing repertoire and commission new works, with an emphasis of performing and recording works of Israeli composers. The TAWQ’s debut album (2016) includes works of Bach and Beethoven and Piazzolla, also the world premiere of a work by Israeli composer Ari Ben-Shabetai.

The Tel Aviv program opened with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Quintet in E-flat major for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon K.452, written in 1784, the composer’s only piano quintet, and premiered the same year with Mozart himself at the piano. Its scoring rendering it a ground-breaking work when it was written, the K.452 quintet is still a work to keep audiences at the edge of their seats. With its abundance of solo statements, conversational duo banter, trio-, quartet- and quintet textures, the players incorporated Mozart’s sense of well-being, joy and thoughtful moments, their buoyant, vibrant mix of individual timbres coming together in suave shaping, incisive playing, articulate Classical balance and single-mindedness. Nadav
Cohen's burnished-, cantabile- and naturally shaped lines were evident, with Yaron Kohlberg’s crisp, clean passagework, never marred by excessive use of the sustaining pedal and never thick, giving freshness to the performance.

Those of us familiar with music of Luciano Berio (1925-2003) are acquainted with his Sinfonia, his solo Sequenza series and the wonderfully evocative “Folk Songs” (1964); we associate him with Darmstadt and serial music. The TAWQ chose to familiarize its audience with one of the Italian composer’s early works – Opus Number Zoo – a play for children, written before Berio’s move to the USA and dedicated to Aaron Copland on his 70^th birthday. Composed in 1951 and revised in 1970, the work comprises four movements, each corresponding to a text recited by the musicians, solo or together, and woven in and out of the musical text. The four poems, written by Rhoda Levine, have been translated into Hebrew rhyme by Elisha Shefi, to which members of the TLWQ have made a few changes. Ari Teperberg did the stage direction. The work, their succinct movements titled “Barn Dance”, “The Fawn”, “The Grey Mouse” and “Tom Cats”, are neo-Classical in style; they are tightly constructed, with musical- and verbal phrases tossed (often mid-way) from one artist to another. Making full use of stage, the TAWQ players delivered both music and repartee in a masterly, brisk and polished manner...and with gusto! The poems, although folksy in tone, are, however, overlayered with adult cynicism and seriousness, with anti-war messages (“The Fawn”, “Tomcats”), references to the inevitability of old age (“The Grey Mouse”), etc. “Barn Dance” is a bouncy and catchy number, but the other three poems carry an ominous undercurrent. Yet, with the five artists investing energy, humor and precision in the performance, the stage of the Israel Music Conservatory’s auditorium took on an air of drollery and of the unexpected. The audience was well amused.

Gioachino Rossini’s wind quartets are actually arrangements of the string quartets he composed in 1804, when he was all of twelve years of age. They were arranged for wind quartet (flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon) by renowned clarinetist and teacher Frédéric Berr, a contemporary of Rossini.  Berr’s voicing of the wind instruments is not only idiomatic and convincing, it ties in with Rossini’s own style of writing for these instruments. There is no doubt that Amotz, Erdman, Leshem and Cohen’s playing of the work added the extra attraction of timbral variety to the fruits of Rossini’s precocious imagination. The artists indeed captured the Rossini soundscape, as the work showcased each of these fine players in its gamut of melodies, jocularity, elegance and vivacity. Solos were accompanied with elegance. Especially notable were Roy Amotz’ finely chiseled melodic phrases and radiant passagework, his transitions and ornamenting, and Itamar Leshem’s handling of the challenging horn role in a work that foresees Rossini’s future as a great opera composer.

The Suite from Kurt Weill’s “Threepenny Opera” takes the listener into a very different world, both musically and socially, with the Brecht/Weill collaboration presenting a modern rethinking of the 1728 stage piece of John Gay and Johann Christian Pepusch on London’s low life in a musical theatre piece celebrating crooks and gangsters. With the strident, jagged opening chords of the Overture setting the scene, the TAWQ players launch into the bittersweet music, their sophisticated interpretational skills giving expression to the raw, rhythmically nervous, jazz-tinged cabaret style of Berlin of the 1920s. Sardonic, tragic, at times tender (some nostalgic moments beautifully conveyed by Kaminka) the quintet’s substantial, richly spiced joint sound gave fine representation to the work’s revolutionary satire, musical profanity and social criticism. The arrangement for wind quintet was by distinguished New York clarinetist Alan R. Kay.

The program concluded with Berlin-based composer/flautist Aaron Dan’s 2011 piano and wind quintet arrangement of Richard Strauss’ “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks” op.28 (1895). Written in a loose rondo form, the work is scored for large orchestra, calling for a great number of wind instruments and percussion.  The tone poem was inspired by the ancient German legend of Till Eulenspiegel, a mischievous trickster who became known in folkloric stories as a sort of con artist meets jester. His legend plays largely upon the common man’s belief that avarice can be found behind every pillar in the halls of the entitled and that it is the gift of the good-hearted, witty fool to expose them. A true program work, the high-paced romp begins with the piano (violins in the original) in a “One upon a time” gesture, with the horn then playing the triumphant/somewhat mocking Till Eulenspiegel theme, a motif which becomes threaded throughout the work, with Danny Erdman playing the clarinet theme representing Till's laughter. A challenging work to play, the TAWQ and Kohlberg’s performance of it was strategically timed, finely coordinated, colourful, dynamic and decidedly whimsical.  Following his life of tricks and social destruction, Till is brought before a judge and condemned to the gallows, his last mocking phrase cut short suddenly and dramatically. But, before the storybook is closed, the six players’ last musical gestures remind us that Till Eulenspiegel was a lovable fellow and that his story lives on.

With no possibility here to go into the biographies of the five wind players, it must be said that each member of the Tel Aviv Wind Quintet is a unique artist and soloist on the international scene. Their joint signature sound bristles with supple energy.  Yaron Kohlberg, today residing in China, appears solo and in collaboration with other artists, holds master classes and serves as jury member in international competitions. Six outstanding, home-grown musicians, fine programming and deep enquiry into each work made for an evening of high quality performance and pure enjoyment.

 

Yaron Kohlberg (Rinat Aldema)

 

The 2017 Israel Festival program will be rich, varied, challenging and loaded with surprises

Olivier De Sagazan (France): Transfiguation (photo:Didier Carluccio)

The 2017 Israel Festival will take place from June 1^st to 18^th. With the abundance of mainstream culture available in Israel, together with his team, Eyal Sher, who took over the festival’s general direction three years ago, has changed the emphasis and agenda of the program. Speaking at the festival press conference at Hansen House (Jerusalem) on April 25^th, Sher articulated his aim to bring new art trends from all over the world to the festival, pointing out that this year’s festival will host artists from 16 different countries. In its new format, the Israel Festival has nevertheless retained its high standards, received awards and favourable critiques. Most of this year’s events will take place at the Jerusalem Theatre, but also at the Sultan’s Pool, the Eden-Tamir Music Center (Ein Kerem), with some street performances taking place in Jerusalem's downtown Zion Square. The 2017 Israel Festival is dedicated to the memory of Micha Levinson, whose artistic vision and humanity laid the foundations of the festival’s core values, contributing immeasurably to the establishment of its prestige both in Israel and abroad.

The festival’s more daring fare means fewer works slotting into the once-conventional categories of theatre, dance and music, with more stepping out beyond the boundaries to engage in different genres within the same event. Take, for example, the opening event – “Groove Party” – taking place at the Sultan’s Pool (June 1^st). Reflecting Jerusalem’s diversity, the three-hour program will include such musical legends as Teapacks and Knesiyat Hasekhel, the Firqat Alnoor Orchestra (Jewish- and Arab musicians) hosting singer Nasreen Qadri, also queen of Israeli-Indian grove Liora Itzhak, Yemenite-flavoured music performed by A-WA and Yemen Blues, as well as the funk, afrobeat, reggae fusion of the Kutiman Orchestra.

An event not for the faint-hearted is “And What Will I do with this Sword?”, in which veteran director, hypnotic artist and phenomenal performer Angėlica Lidell (Spain) explores two real-life crimes of horrific violence in a performance spoken in Spanish, Japanese and French (with Hebrew surtitles) and lasting four and a half hours. Another multilingual performance is that of Thom Luz (Switzerland) “When I Die – A Ghost Story with Music”, telling the true story of an English woman communicating with dead composers in a theatrical/visual/musical style, taking the audience into a dreamlike fantasy world.  “Based on a True Story”, French choreographer Christian Rizzo places eight male dancers and two rock drummers on one stage, combining archaic intensity, ecstatic repetition and folklore in a show that has much to say about compassion, community and the world of men.  The Israel Festival offers too many original and different events to mention here; one unique concept, however, will be represented in two events: “Night Shift” (June 15, starting at 8 p.m. and running into the wee hours of the morning) will invite the audience to wander around the various spaces of the Jerusalem Theatre to experience dance, theatre, pop, DJs and video in an electrifying nocturnal time tunnel. Also, inviting audiences to spontaneously amble around the Jerusalem Theatre, “Sound Charter” (Israel-Poland) on June 7^th will offer the festival-goer the opportunity of moving between darkness and light, open- and closed space, listening from close and far and of hearing iconic works of the past as well as contemporary works.

And on the subject of music at this year’s Israel Festival, early music aficionados will enjoy hearing Ars Antiqua Austria (June 2^nd), Ensemble Tourbillon (Czech Republic-Israel) in a program titled “Vienna 1709” and the Sarband Ensemble (Turkey, Germany, Greece), whose program is inspired by early western music and music from the east - from the Ottoman Empire to China! The Eden-Tamir Music Center will continue its tradition of Saturday morning chamber concerts with musicians from the USA, Israel and China. A large-scale collaboration between the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Mendi Rodan Orchestra (Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance), the Jerusalem Academy of Music Chamber Choir and the Chamber Choir of the Franz Liszt University of Music (Weimar, Germany) is “Psalms” (June 7^th). It will open with a Persian folk song and will include Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms”, Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” and Israeli composer Tzvi Avni’s a cappella “Song of Psalms”.

Forty years following the death of Tirza Atar, “West of Here” (June 8^th) is a tribute to the eminent Israeli poet, song-writer, author and translator. In interesting new arrangements involving oriental percussion instruments and contemporary electronic settings, Efrat Ben Zur, Dikla, Yuval Dayan, Shlomo Saranga, Eran Tzur and Atar’s son Nathan Slor will present a selection of the poet’s famous works in familiar- and new arrangements.

The festival will include conferences, discussions and master classes. In a different and original festival event, Israeli Ensemble Can’s “Operation Silk Gloves” (June 6^th, 9^th,13^th, 16^th) guides will show people through the Israel Museum’s galleries, subverting the established narrative with personal and thought-provoking ideas, blurring the boundaries between spectator and performer.  As to the visual arts represented in this year’s Israel Festival, Yochai Matos will offer a new perspective on the space of the Jerusalem Theatre lobby in a light and video installation and, in “Distr(action)”, students, teachers and graduates of the Musrara Naggar Multidisciplinary School of Art and Society, celebrating 30 years of its existence, will rearrange the Rebecca Crown Theatre on June 15^th for an event focusing on the relationship between sound, visual image and live action.

www.israel-festival.org.il

 

 

The upcoming Abu Gosh Vocal Music Festival offers varied concert fare

Kiryat Yearim Church (photo: Danny Herman)

The 51^st Abu Gosh Vocal Music Festival will take place from May 30^th to June 3^rd 2017.  Singer and conductor Hanna Tzur has been the festival’s musical director since 1995. Concerts are held in the spacious Church of the Ark of the Covenant gracing the Kiryat Yearim hilltop and in the intimate Crypt of the 12^th century Benedictine Crusader Church nestling in a peaceful, exotic garden. People from all over Israel attend the festival, taking time out from the bustle of everyday life to immerse themselves in good music, enjoy the views over the Judean Hills, to picnic with friends, get a taste of the outdoor performances and browse the craft stalls.

A ground-breaking event of the 51st Abu Gosh Vocal Music Festival is "A Brazilian Requiem for a Portuguese Queen", in which the Ensemble PHOENIX will play on authentic instruments of the Classical period, offering an orchestral sound quality rarely heard in Israel. This year’s Shavuot festival will host the Delaware University Choir from the USA (conductor: Paul D. Head); they will perform two concerts covering a wide repertoire: in “Bach, Africa and Spirituals” (Concert No.1) the singers will be joined by virtuoso percussionist Chen Zimbalista, their second performance (Concert No.5) engaging in “Celebrations, Sorrows, Jazz and Spirituals”.  In “Jazz and Classic Meet in Abu Gosh” (Concert No.7) the Yaron Gottfried Trio will collaborate with the Moran Vocal Quartet in music of Vivaldi, Purcell, Britten and numbers from the King’s Singers’ stylish arrangements.

For Baroque music aficionados, the Tel Aviv Chamber Choir (Conductor: Michael Shani) will be joined by Ensemble Barrocade and soloists in “Vivaldi – Magnificat, Gloria and Concerto” (Concert No.9). “I Love Bach the Most” (Concert No.6), will feature the Shahar Choir (conductor: Gilla Brill) and soloists in works of J.S.Bach and conclude with some popular Israeli pieces inspired by the great German Baroque master; also performing Bach together with lighter fare,  the Moran Vocal Octet will extol the virtues of a-cappella singing in “Bach and the Beatles with Vocal Octet” (Concert No.13).

In “He Pastures among the Lilies” (Concert No.15), Israeli opera singer Hadar Atari will offer concert-goers a glimpse into her two different musical worlds in a program including both Mozart and Yemenite Jewish songs. In a concert with a distinct French flavour, Ronen Borshevsky will conduct the Ihud Choir and soloists in “Gounod – Missa Solemnis for Santa Cecilia” (Concert No.4). With the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition taking place as I write this, the Abu Gosh Vocal Music Festival’s concert “Winner of the 15^th Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition” (Concert No.3) will feature pianist Idit Zvi (director of the piano competition), soprano Keren Hadar and pianist Irit Rub, as well as the Ramat Gan Chamber Choir, conducted by Hanna Tzur herself.

An Abu Gosh Festival tradition, hearing singers of the Meitar Opera Studio (Young Artists Program of the Israeli Opera), with their musical director, arranger and pianist David Sebba, is always a delight; performed by Israel’s new generation of opera singers, “Hallelujah -  Leonard in America” (Concert No.10) will include music of both Leonard Bernstein and Leonard Cohen.

A number of concerts will cater to lovers of traditional- and folk music. Taking us into the world of Fado music, its longing and fate, is Hagit Noam’s presentation of “Amalia Rodrigues, Queen of Fado – From Portugal with Love” (Concert No.14). The Kibbutz Artzi Choir (conductor: Yuval Benozer) and the Raanana Symphonette will be joined by alto Silvia Kigel in “Theodorakis – Zorba the Greek” (Concert No.2). Soprano Revital Raviv will be accompanied three instrumentalists in repertoire memorable as performed by Greek songstress Nana Mouskouri in “A Tribute to Nana Mouskouri’s Songs” (Concert No.12). Soprano Daniela Skorka and guitarist Eyal Leber will team up to create “South American in Songs” (Concert No.11) and “Folk Songs from Spain, Russia, England and France” (Concert No.16) will be performed by the Alla Breve Quartet, with Eliav Lavi on guitar.

 

 

 Sofia Pedro (photo:Smiljka Boskov) 

As mentioned above, a  unique and festive event of the 51^st Abu Gosh Vocal Music Festival will be “A Brazilian Requiem for a Portuguese Queen” by José Maurício Nunes Garcia (Concert No.8). The production will be a collaboration between Ensemble PHOENIX (director: Myrna Herzog) and the Upper Galilee Choir (director: Ron Zarchi), solo singers and overseas guests: Brazilians - violinist Luis Otávio Santos and bassoonist Ricardo Rapoport (who will play an original Classical bassoon and the cavaquinho - a Brazilian folk instrument) and Portuguese soprano Sofia Pedro. Creating the specific and astoundingly distinct Classical orchestral timbre will be Classical clarinets, Classical flute, natural horns, early timpani and period stringed instruments played with Classical bows. Brazilian-born Dr. Myrna Herzog, who will be the conductor of the event, writes: “The year of 2017 marks the 250^th anniversary of the birth of José Maurício Nunes Garcia (1767-1830), the most important Brazilian colonial composer. His music was never performed in Israel, where he is unknown. PHOENIX takes the opportunity to reveal this excellent composer to the Israeli public, premiering his remarkable Requiem from 1816. Our program also includes the music of Portuguese composer Marcos Portugal, of Damião Barbosa de Araújo from Bahia, active in Rio during this period, and a popular dance, the Lundu.” 

Musica Nova presents the Israeli premiere of Morton Feldman's "Piano and String Quartet" at Hateiva (Jaffa)

Morton Feldman (photo: Jan Williams)

An auspicious event of the 2016-2017 Israeli concert season was the Israeli premiere of Morton Feldman’s “Piano and String Quartet”, performed by Musica Nova on April 19^th 2017 at “Hateiva” in Jaffa, near Tel Aviv. Performing the work were Assaf Shatil (piano), violinists Yael Barolsky and Liora Altschuler, Amit Landau (viola) and Dan Weinstein (‘cello). Hateiva’s intimate basement hall, the home of contemporary music in Israel, was quick to fill to capacity with people from the world of music and other modern music aficionados curious to experience this work. 

With the strongest influence on his formative years in New York being the music and encouragement of John Cage, Morton Feldman (1926-1987) was one of a group of New York experimental composers that included Christian Wolff, John Cage and Earle Brown; he was also surrounded by literary figures and such painters as Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Philip Guston.  “Piano and String Quartet”, composed by Feldman in 1985 two years before his death, consists of one movement lasting some 80 minutes. Typical of the composer’s late chamber works, it is by no means the longest (the lengthiest being his Second String Quartet, which takes five hours to perform!) A work of unvaried tempo and of a dynamic range not venturing above a delicate piano sound, the pianist (as implied in the work’s title) mostly plays material of a separate agenda to that of the string quartet: a fragile arpeggio figure, whose content and direction undergo transformations, but which is never abandoned for long. The string players mostly answer the piano with short homophonic utterances wrought of high, pastel sounds, their otherworldly textures pigmented with the whispered bowing of harmonics. An acoustic effect, conspicuous at the Jaffa performance, was that of the piano’s sustaining pedal gathering and blending lingering string sonorities with its own. One could mention the work’s ‘cello solos of haunting, single pizzicato notes, the occasional hesitating piano solo, the rising or falling minor second (interval) motif that emerges and dominates, eventually extending to larger intervals, the string quartet’s subsequent ascending arpeggios and the work’s fragile wistful clusters. Feldman’s focus, however, is not on development - rather on the sonority of any given moment. In Morton Feldman, Essays, ed. W. Zimmermann (Cologne, 1985), the composer writes: "The most interesting aspect for me, composing exclusively with patterns, is that there is not one organizational procedure more advantageous than another, perhaps because no one pattern ever takes precedence over the others.” Towards the end of the work, I personally began to discover a sense of the tonic (anchor of a scale) weaving its way into the translucent soundscape, establishing itself my mind… Feldman, however, writes: “…there is a suggestion that what we hear is functional and directional, but we soon realize that this is an illusion.” (Ibid). With each listener experiencing the work with Feldman’s parameters in mind but, nevertheless, through the prism of his own mind, this was a work to be heard and seen live.

Following two weeks of rehearsals, the five Musica Nova players (not a permanent ensemble) re-created the work’s timeless atmosphere with playing that was precise, strategically timed, superbly coordinated, controlled and focused, as they presented its fragments and filigree, lush, haunting and sensual sounds, inviting the listener to examine each timbre and combination as it arose out of a background of icy silence. Leaving aside the pressures of time dominating contemporary life (and us), they highlighted the priorities of Feldman’s late music. Their playing was dedicated, single-minded and constantly engaging. Pianist/composer Assaf Shatil spoke of the project as a “journey” for both players and audience. With the Musica Nova artists each choosing (and sometimes creating) their own event, this undertaking was Shatil’s personal choice, his wish to perform the work he referred to as having “no manipulations…only time”.

 

 

Batia Murvitz, Igal Levin and Laura Albers perform trios and duos at the Brigham Young University, Jerusalem

Laura Albers,Batia Murvitz,Igal Levin (photo:Nadav Horesh)

Two members of Ensemble Colláge Tel Aviv -  pianist Batia Murvitz and clarinettist Igal Levin – hosted violinist Laura Albers (USA) at a Sunday Evening Classics concert at the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, Brigham Young (Mormon) University, Mount of Olives, on April 9^th 2017.

Opening the program of European music spanning the 18^th to 20^th centuries, the artists performed Darius Milhaud’s Suite for violin, clarinet and piano op.157b. The trio’s playing of the light, playful Ouverture set the scene with bold gestures, its hints of jazz- and Latin styles making for an altogether colourful and hearty performance. Following the Divertissement, in which violin and clarinet begin in imitative dialogue without the piano, with all three then engaging in the delicate dovetailing of its polyphonic strands, the third movement – Jeu (Game) – played by clarinet and violin, resorts to a hearty folk melody, with Albers’ easeful and convincing playing evoking the style of traditional fiddling and Levin’s agenda also suggesting strumming, folksy elements. The opening tutti of the final movement, with its unsmiling, substantial piano chords, whisks away any memory of the jocular Jeu, only to quickly give way to light-hearted music, peppered with Milhaud’s characteristic jazz-flavoured polytonal writing and small harmonic jests, to end with the wink of an eye. Composed in Paris in 1932, the work, showcasing the composer’s adept incorporating of instrumental colours, his theatrical blend of styles and ideas, was given a delightfully entertaining performance.

Then to the wistful mood of W.A.Mozart’s Sonata for piano and violin in E-minor K.304 (from his time in Paris, which ended with his mother’s death), its dramatic intensity signalling the 22-year-old composer’s emotional upheaval. From its piano-and-violin unison opening, Albers and Murvitz’ playing was incisive, intense at times, at others – tender, it was dynamic and well-shaped. Based on attentive listening, their rendering of the work constituted a feast of eloquent, melodic playing, textures, balance, articulacy and expressiveness. With Albers’ cantabile melodious sound and Murvitz’ discreet use of flexing and of the sustaining pedal, their playing was rewarding, the work’s soul-searching message delivered with subtlety.

In 1849, a year for Robert Schumann of many new works, also the publication of “Album for the Young” and of an increased income as a result, the composer wrote: “I have never been busier or happier with my work”. One of the chamber works seeing light that year was his Three Romances for oboe and piano op.94, which he presented to his wife Clara as a Christmas present. He also published versions of it for violin or clarinet (and it can be heard on the’ cello and horn). In fact, the Three Romances were first performed at the Schumann home with Joseph Joachim on violin with Clara at the piano. Introducing it at the Jerusalem concert, Levin spoke of the work as indicative of the “Romantic, international language”. He and Murvitz both initiated and intertwined Schumann’s sweeping melodic lines in the first expressly tranquil piece, in the second marked “Einfach, innig” (Simple, ardently), the middle section – urgent rather than stormy – was comfortably placed between the two honeyed outer sections. Moving together in the outer sections of the third, the central section saw the artists tossing ideas to each other in friendly banter, then allowing for small hesitations to lead them to the end of the work. A work focusing less on virtuosity than on profound expressiveness, playing its long, meandering phrases makes great demands on the wind player’s breath control. Igal Levin’s tone is supple and vibrant and his performance gave credit to the clarinet’s larger dynamic range than that of the oboe, although, by nature, the clarinet’s tone quality will always be less plaintive than that of the oboe. Murvitz’ playing was vigilant and sensitive.

Concluding the concert on a very “different note”, the trio played the Suite from Igor Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale”. The work, based on a Russian folk tale, a collaboration between Stravinsky and Swiss writer C.-F. Ramuz, was referred to by the composer as a work “to be read, played and danced”. Its original scoring calls for two dancers, three speaking parts and seven instruments. The Suite for piano, violin and clarinet was first performed in Lausanne in November 1919, long before the work in its original setting for seven instruments was performed publicly.  To put the audience at the Mormon University into the picture, Igal Levin recounted the story – of a deserting soldier possessing a magic violin, which he trades with the devil, who promises to grant him his every wish. One wish is winning the hand of the king’s daughter. Throughout the story, the devil proves to be a cunning and tricky protagonist. The artists’ playing of the Suite opened with “The Soldier’s March”, a parody on militarism, vivacious and feisty in its cynicism, followed by the typically Stravinsky repetitiveness of “The Soldier’s Violin”. Taut, seamless and unrelenting, “The Little Concert” was presented boldly in its vivid and defiant idiom, as it constantly shifted between atonal textures and modality, to be followed by the “Tango-Waltz-Ragtime”, with the artists displaying Stravinsky’s somewhat disturbing distortions of them. Altogether, their outstanding- and carefully detailed performance enquired into the dry, acerbic agenda of the work, whose text (and the musical motifs threaded throughout) concludes with a few tough home truths:

You must not seek to add
To what you have, what you once had;
You have no right to share
What you are with what you were.

No one can have it all,
That is forbidden.
You must learn to choose between.

One happy thing is every happy thing:
Two, is as if they had never been.

Giving their all to the triumphant, jeering and diabolical “Devil’s Dance”, Albers, Levin and Murvitz ended their recital, one of chamber music of the highest standard.