Centennial of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" at the Tel Aviv Opera House

The Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion and the Israel Ballet collaborated in a gala concert celebrating the centennial of the premiere of Stravinsky’s ballet music “The Rite of Spring”. The event took place to a packed hall of the Opera House at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center on July 28th 2013 in the presence of Ms. Limor Livnat, Minister of Culture and Sport. The Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, founded in 1988, also serving as the resident orchestra of the New Israeli Opera, has established itself as one of Israel’s finest orchestras, performing the gamut of orchestral music. It was the first Israeli orchestra to perform works by Richard Strauss, Alexander Zemlinsky and other composers, has issued CDs of live performances, including those of Israeli works, and has made concert tours in Europe and South America. Born in Israel in 1971, Dan Ettinger, the ISO’s musical director, began his musical career as a baritone singer, performing with the Israeli Opera and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He is an accomplished pianist, accompanist and coach and was a faculty member of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and Tel Aviv University. Today Ettinger also serves as the general music director of the Mannheim Opera and of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. With the orchestra on stage, the event opened with Alexander Borodin’s (1833-1887) “Polovtsian Dances” from his opera “Prince Igor”. In 1869, Borodin began working on “Prince Igor”, an opera based on a Russian epic from the 12th century. It tells of the heroic Russian warrior, Prince Igor, who goes to war with the Polovtsi, a Tatar warrior tribe. When a sudden eclipse of the sun portends the defeat of his army, the prince is captured by the Polovtsi leader who tries to seduce Igor by means of the sensuous dancing of the Polovtsian slave maidens. Igor, however, manages to escape. Borodin and his colleagues were intrigued by all aspects of music from the regions of the vast Russian steppe. Borodin, himself, conducted his own research into the music of the Polovtsian tribes; this, however, does not mean that this work bears direct correlation with the authentic, ethnic, musical style of the Polovtsi tribes. The original version of the Polovtsian Dances was for chorus and orchestra. The version we heard – for orchestra – is that most commonly performed today. (In addition to its role as ballet music, themes from the dances are familiar to many of us from the 1953 Broadway musical “Kismet”.) Ettinger and his large number of players conjured up the work’s modal evocation of exotic “orientalism”. This is a work calling for fine wind- and percussion playing and the ISO did not disappoint, from the opening whirling melody on clarinet and oboe, to the famous “Stranger in Paradise” tune on oboe and English horn, to such percussion instruments as tambourines and finger cymbals. This is a wonderful concert piece; Ettinger, contrasting its nostalgic moments with its hedonistic aspects, retains an orchestral sound that is well blended and balanced. For the second work – and the centre piece of the program - the orchestra remained seated on stage. Presenting Igor Stravinsky’s (1882-1971) “Rite of Spring”, members of the Israel Ballet would perform Jerusalem-born dancer and choreographer Ido Tadmor’s dance version of the work at the front of the stage. Composed on the eve of World War I and the Russian Revolution, its notorious premiere, with Nijinsky’s groundbreaking and provocative choreography, elicited so much resistance that the music itself was frequently inaudible. But its musical style, too, where gestures interact and superimpose with each other with daring, challenged the musical perspective and logic present for centuries in Europe, exalting a new and explosive sense of movement. Ido Tadmor’s choreography took a very different approach to that of Nijinsky. He creates beautiful patterns with his dancers, who are essentially classical ballet dancers. With women on points, the dancers are elegant, coordinated, pleasing to the eye and certainly energetic. Here is a “Rite of Spring” less libidinous, less dramatic in its development, less jagged, less urgent and less based on tribal intensity. Tadmor (b. 1964, Jerusalem, artistic director of the Israel Ballet since 2013, head of the

dance department of the Ironi H High School in Haifa and artistic advisor to the Haifa Municipality and Haifa Theatre) is not out to recreate atavistic primitivism; neither is he interested in reenacting a scandalous scenario as of 100 years ago. What was most effective was the visual experience of watching both orchestra and dancers creating the work on the same stage. The ISO presented the complex score, unfolding before the audience’s eyes, beginning with that unforgettable eerie, high unaccompanied bassoon solo and, in the course of the piece, punctuated by the unique, threatening and spine-chilling sword motif. And, as we hear and watch it all happening, we are reminded that, from small, simple melodic patterns, Stravinsky has fashioned a canvas that is harsh, sensual, savage and haunting, but also lyrical, from dissonances peppered with pulsating cross-rhythms, crunching harmonies and the multi-layering of rhythmic motifs. Ettinger juggles all of these with amazing eloquence and intelligible clarity, not advocating opaque textures in the name of pagan ritual music. For the third work on the program, with the orchestra now placed in orchestra pit, we moved back n style to the world of classical white ballet with Michel Fokine’s choreography of “Les Sylphides”. Premiered in 1907 as a ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, this is a ballet with no story line; the music consists of Glazunov’s orchestration of Frédéric Chopin piano pieces in a ballet titled “Chopiniana” – well-loved waltzes, mazurkas, a nocturne and a prelude. When the curtain rose at the Tel Aviv Opera House performance, a lush, tranquil backdrop suggesting a moonlit park set the work’s Romantic, dreamy mood. In the ballet, a young man (sometimes referred to as a poet) walking at night encounters a group of white sylphs dancing in the moonlight. The man joins in and dances with the sylphs. The Israel Ballet gave a performance that was visually very charming, authentic in style and dress and elegant. The solos were pleasing. Once again, Dan Ettinger and the ISO Rishon LeZion gave a well-shaped and detailed reading of the score. The impressive Opera House hall constituted a suitable venue for this festive event.

Christiane Kessler in an organ recital at the Redeemer Church, Jerusalem



On July 20^th 2013, Christiane Kessler played an organ recital at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old City of Jerusalem. Ms. Kessler, a church organist and choral conductor from Marburg (Germany), gives two to four recitals per year; she was in Jerusalem for a month also to accompany services at the Lutheran Church. This was her first recital in Israel. The organ of the Redeemer Church was built in Berlin by Karl Schuke in 1971. It has 21 registers connected to two manuals and the pedal. It is an instrument rich in color and energy. From 1976 to 1980 Christiane Kessler studied Church Music in Frankfurt am Main, working as a regional church musician near Frankfurt from 1981 to 1994. Moving to Marburg in 2000, Ms. Kessler is organ professor in Schluechtern and a tutor at the Summer Academies for young Organists at the Baltic Sea.

The concert opened with Concerto in G major by the little-known North German composer Christoph Wolfgang Drückenmüller, of whom there are few works. Kessler’s playing of the work was vivacious, fresh, exact and well defined in character. This was followed by Venetian composer Tomaso Albinoni’s (1671-1750) Adagio in g minor, a work only discovered in 1940 by musicologist Remo Giazotto in the Dresden State Library. A reconstruction based on realization of the figured bass, possibly for organ, it was probably a fragment of a sonata da chiesa. The work is mostly Giazotto’s, with Albinoni’s two thematic elements consisting of only six bars. Kessler presented the work’s poignant pathos, its melodic tranquility and elegiac character.

An interesting item on the program was Fantasia in g minor by Czechoslovakian organist, harpsichordist and composer Jan Křtitel Kuchař, one of the first musicians to recognize and publicize Mozart’s works. Bohemia’s leading organist of the Rococo style and one of the few composers to see the organ as a full-blown solo instrument, Kuchař’s best-known compositions are those for organ. Constructed in an ABCBA cyclic form, one hears the influence of Mozart’s style and the polyphonic richness of organ repertoire in the g minor Fantasia. Kessler brought out its spontaneous character and textural possibilities – ranging from intense denseness to light, bell-like and even naïve utterances.

It takes an organ recital of this kind to remind the concert-goer that the great and versatile musician and artist Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was both an accomplished organist, a skilful improviser on the instrument and the first composer of international renown after Bach to return to the organ. He composed several dozen organ pieces of one kind or another.  One important collection is that of the “Three Preludes and Fugues” opus 37 (1837), dedicated to the English organist Thomas Attwood, with whom Mendelssohn was acquainted. Christiane Kessler’s playing of two preludes showed Mendelssohn at his most traditional, with Baroque forms and Romantic techniques not at all incompatible.  The Prelude in G major exuded a sense of well-being, with the C major played in more strident timbres. Also of the German organ repertoire, we heard Josef Gabriel Rheinberger’s (1839-1901) Cantilena in F major opus 148 from one of his 20 organ sonatas. Rheinberger’s organ had no swell division; dynamic changes could be created only by adding or taking off stops. He disliked ostentation and avoided dramatic writing. The Cantilena is, therefore, conservative and Classical in concept, but the piece is highly melodious, accessible and wistfully sentimental, with ascending and descending octaves in the pedal.

Moving to France, Théodore Salomé (1834-1896) was well-known not only for his brilliant organ-playing but also for his chamber music, piano pieces, songs and church music. The three pieces of his Kessler played are probably used in church services; they displayed the compelling grandness and full use of organ sonority. French organist and composer Louis Lefébure-Wély (1817-1869), who was instrumental in the development of French organ music, in particular, in the evolution of French symphonic organ style, also wrote other instrumental music and a comic opera. A highly respected figure on the music scene and in the bourgeois salons of Paris, he held some of the most prestigious organ posts the city. He was known for his exceptional pedal technique. Christiane Kessler chose to perform two contrasting pieces by Lefébure-Wély. The first was Andante: “Choeur de Voix humaines” (Chorus of the Nuns) – an interesting and especially lush combination of dark-colored bass sounds, reedy melody and a brighter embellishing voice.  Kessler’s energetic playing displayed the panache (and the composer’s penchant for secular music) in her playing of the flamboyant “Boléro de concert”. The latter piece boasted much Spanish flavor, its middle section evoking a village fairground.  

Austin Lovelace (1919-2012) was one of America’s most distinguished church musicians, a prolific composer of hymnody and organ music and educator in the field. His “Gigue for Fanfare Trumpet”, although tonal, avoids cliché writing. Its joyful mood makes good use of woodwind- and brass stops. We heard a short piece by another American composer – David German (b.1954). “Festive Trumpet Tune”, also tonal in concept, features the festive sound of the trumpet (the score includes a separate trumpet part).

This was an especially interesting selection of organ works, introducing the audience to some lesser-known works and covering three centuries of music from Europe and the USA. Christiane Kessler’s playing is vivid and informed and audiences can enjoy her interest in the wide gamut of organ repertoire. Talking to her over a glass of wine following the recital, Ms. Kessler said she was looking forward to having more time to explore the dynamic action of the organ in the Redeemer Church. 

Doret Florentin and Gideon Brettler perform at the Redeemer Church, Jerusalem



Once Jerusalem’s summer evenings become pleasant and balmy, it is delightful to attend concerts

of the “Summer Nights in the Courtyard” series. The “courtyard” refers to the medieval cloister that forms an inner courtyard to the complex of the Lutheran Redeemer Church in the Muristan Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. It was June 29^th 2013 and we were to hear a recital by recorder-player Doret Florentin and guitarist Gideon Brettler.

Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Doret Florentin took bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music at Tel Aviv University, with a B.A. also in Mathematics and Statistics, then continuing her studies at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague. Since 2003, she has been studying the historical bassoon. A founding member of the “Me La Amargates Tú” ensemble, she has performed internationally as a soloist and with various groups. Back in Israel since 2008, Florentin performs and teaches recorder in various places, including the Levinsky College (Tel Aviv).

Gideon Brettler took music studies at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and the Mannes College of Music (New York), following with a post-graduate degree with Laura Young at the Escuela Luthier (Barcelona). He performs as a soloist, at festivals and with various chamber ensembles. In 2005, Brettler won first prize in the Israeli National Guitar Competition as well as a special prize awarded by the Spanish Embassy in Israel for the interpretation of Spanish Music.

I was seated in the courtyard of the Lutheran Redeemer Church for some minutes before the beginning of the concert; the sounds all around us were a random mix of the muezzin calling to prayer and the excited twittering of hundreds of birds wheeling around the twilit sky above us. But, as people took their seats and the last rays of sunset took their leave, evening silence and tranquility descended on the leafy outdoor venue and the concert began.

Works performed encompassed music of the 16^th to the 20^th centuries, beginning with Florentin’s solo performance of “The English Nightingale” from Jacob van Eyck’s (1590-1657) “The Flute’s Garden of Delights”. 140 melodies with variations, this collection would have been a staple of 17^th century Dutch household music, played by the Utrecht carillonneur (van Eyck), himself a virtuoso recorder player, and by other competent amateurs. This is some of the most challenging material for the soprano recorder. Florentin presented the charming piece with clear two-voiced banter, variously shaped bird calls (also using Flatterzunge), plenty of temperament and ornaments galore.

We then heard a number of works for alto recorder from the Baroque repertoire, with Brettler providing the harpsichord basso continuo role on the guitar, no mean feat. The first was G.P.Telemann’s (1681-1767) Sonata in C major, composed specifically for recorder around 1727 - delightful music for both players and listeners. G.F.Händel’s (1685-1759) Sonata in F major HWV 369, opened with the noble and velvety Grave movement. Florentin has a love of embellishment; in this movement, she adds ornamentation without losing sight of its tranquil character. The two fast movements were entertaining rather than showy. The artists took the Siciliano movement at a relaxed pace, creating a mood piece seemingly enhanced by the gentle swaying of trees in the courtyard, the occasional leaf floating down in free flight. From oboist, flautist and recorder-player Giuseppe Baldassare Sammartini’s (1695-1750) “24 Sonatas for Flute and Bass”, Florentin and Brettler performed Sonata no. 7. This single-movement, late-Baroque work consists of a theme and variations, the virtuoso recorder part handled in great detail by Florentin, with her palette of imaginative effects and textures coming into play. Here was a good opportunity to hear a work by an undeservedly neglected composer who was actually an exceptionally influential and forward-looking composer of his time!   

Also representative of German Baroque repertoire for solo alto recorder are Telemann’s “Twelve Fantasias for Solo Flute”, published in Hamburg (1732-1733). Performing Sonata no.2 in a minor, Florentin shows the audience that the work – apparantly a sonata da chiesa – is, indeed, a fantasia. In fact, only an artist who is daring and spontaneous can really catch the spirit of this unique music. Florentin spells out the contrasts between each of the small movements, playing them with freedom and imagination and emphasizing the work’s rhetorical character.

Prior to performing works written specifically for the guitar, Gideon Brettler performed an arrangement of Domenico Scarlatti’s (1685-1757) Harpsichord Sonata in A major K.208. Marked “Andante e cantabile”, this is one of the 555 short keyboard sonatas best suited for transcription to guitar. Beginning with a leisurely rising arpeggio, Brettler fuses Scarlatti’s anticipations and chromatic alterations into a spontaneous whole as he bends rhythmic ideas in an expressive, personal manner to create a poignant reverie.  Then, to Isaac Albéniz’ ((1860-1909) prelude “Asturias” opus 47, no.5 of “Suite Espanola”, composed (originally for piano) in the early 1890s in London, in which the composer expresses nostalgia for his native Spain. This is expressed through references to flamenco music and that of Moorish tradition. The work has become one of the most important of classical guitar repertoire. Brettler’s reading of it is dexterous, the piece’s excitement tempered with poise and clarity. In his sensitive performance of Prelude no.4 in e minor of the six composed in 1940 by Heitor Villa-Lobos’ (1887-1959), Brettler brings out the work’s mystery, its mellow and exotic timbres, colored with echoes of Impressionism and the music of the Indians of Brazil.

 

Moving to Italy, we heard Duet no. 1 in D major opus 158 by the Italian-turned-Parisian guitar master Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841).  This straight-forward salon music, now being rediscovered, offers much melodic elegance…almost Mozartian in character. Florentin and Brettler’s skillful playing displayed the music’s vitality and charm, their close interaction and interweaving of timbres fresh and surprising.

The concert ended on a breezy, upbeat note, with one of Argentinean composer Ástor Piazzolla’s (1921-1992) most popular works - “Libertango”. Composed in 1974, the composer referred to it as “a sort of song of liberty”. Brettler and Florentin juggled the piece’s pulsing rhythms and its textures and South American flavors, with Florentin winding the sinuous and irresistible themes in and around the ostinato accompaniment. For an encore, the artists played Scott Joplin’s (1868-1917) rag “The Strenuous Life” (1902), the title inspired by Theodore Roosevelt’s collection of essays in which he advocates that Americans should work hard and accomplish more. Naïve and dancelike, making use of the brighter sound of the soprano recorder, the carefree music seems unrelated  to Roosevelt’s weighty texts, its small twists and teasing moments ending the concert with the wink of an eye!

Following the concert, Wolfgang Schmidt, Provost of the Church of the Redeemer, invited the audience for a glass of wine and to attend the opening of an exhibition in the refectory - “Sum-E Calligraphy of the Soul” and “The Road for Peace” - by Belgian artist Annie Fischler.     

The Arcadia String Quartet at the Israel Conservatory of Music




The Arcadia Quartet was formed when its founding members were all students in the chamber music class of Professor Nicusor Silaghi at the Gh. Dima Music Academy of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Today, the members are violinists Ana Török and Răsvan Dumitru, violist Traian Boală (who joined the quartet in 2009) and ‘cellist Zsolt Török. From 2012 to 2011, the members of the Arcadia Quartet were post-graduate students at the Vienna University of Music and the Performing Arts. The recipient of several prizes, the quartet today runs a busy international performing schedule. 

The Arcadia Quartet’s first Israeli concert tour began with a concert at the Israel Conservatory of Music on June 26^th 2013. The Israel Conservatory’s chamber music series is administered by Dr. Raz Binyamini. Words of greeting were offered by the Romanian Ambassador to Israel Mr. Edward Iosiper. Mr. Iosiper expressed his pleasure at offering an evening of music in recognition of 65 years of uninterrupted political-, economic- and cultural diplomatic relations between Romania and Israel; he thanked the Romanian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv for making the concert possible.

The Arcadia Quartet opened with Joseph Haydn’s (1732-1809) String Quartet in F minor opus 20 no.5, one of the six revolutionary and experimental opus 20 “Sun” Quartets. This piece holds an important place as one of the first of the composer’s more dramatic works, using the darker musical imagery of Haydn’s “Sturm und Drang” manner. The artists gave a sensitive and lyrical reading of the opening Allegro moderato movement, placing emphasis on the expressiveness of each gesture. Their playing of the Minuet was tinged with nostalgia, relieved by the major Trio, touching in its small hesitations, the return of the Minuet reintroducing the darker shadows of the minor key. The third movement – Adagio – was all delight in its pastoral mood, with violinist Török weaving filigree ornamental melodic strands through and around the lilting Siciliano dance rhythm. With Haydn’s pre-occupation with counterpoint present in the sophisticated fugue of the finale, the players brought out its complexities and intensity, their playing never ensnared, however, into the use of opaque, dense textures.  Alongside the darker musical imagery of Haydn’s “Sturm und Drang” language, the artists retained a sense of the Classical, Haydnesque style in a performance that was flexible, refined and illuminating.

We then heard String Quartet no.2 in G major opus 22/2 by the Rumanian violin virtuoso, teacher, composer and conductor George Enescu (1881-1955). Enescu is now seen as the most important figure in the musical history of his native country. String Quartet no.2 was completed in 1951, having been the final form of a work begun before World War I. Its construction is of motivic connections throughout. Once again, the Arcadia Quartet displayed much delicacy: the opening Molto moderato was contemplative and serene, the players presenting its kaleidoscope of melodies with articulacy, these giving way to a march-like middle section, finally returning to the relaxed pace of the first. With the opening of the second movement – Andante molto sostenuto ed espressivo - recalling the first theme of the first movement, ‘cellist Zsolt Török’s playing was highly expressive. The movement, subdued in mood, abounded in hints and veiled textures, its sul ponticello section adding to the mood, the peace broken by a forceful climax. The ‘cello was given the final word in this Andante movement. The third movement, a Scherzo, exuded an underlying but nevertheless present sense of disquiet, ending on a cluster chord. The final movement, varied, direct and celebratory, showed the influence of Romanian music, perhaps folk dances. Violist Traian Boală’s solo was engaging. Keeping in mind that the work was written when the composer’s confidence and self-esteem were at a very low ebb, the Arcadia Quartet evoked the work’s sense of restraint, suffering and ascetic searching.

Choosing to play Franz Schubert’s (1797-1828) String Quartet in D minor D.810 “Death and the Maiden” is no easy decision nowadays, considering the number of recordings and performances we have heard of late. The Arcadia Quartet’s reading of it, however, proved more than rewarding. Taking the audience into the various aspects of the work - its programmatic source in the reuse of a part of Schubert’s own setting of Matthias Claudius’ Romantic poem “Death and the Maiden”, its terrifying moments, its gentleness, its Austrian melodiousness and the clearly autobiographical content – all aspects came together in a performance that was moving and compelling, with the macabre fanfare opening the first movement. In the theme and variations on the song in the Andante con moto, with Ana Török leading with assurance and presenting the melody’s fragility, the players take pianissimo phrases down to a daring hush. Zsolt Török’s high ‘cello solo in the second variation was reedy and rich. Following the carefully fashioned phrases moving between both violinists in the more positive 4^th Variation, the final variation was both ghostly and vehement. The artists gave energy to the Scherzo:Allegro, the spectre of the ghostly visitor, however, still apparent alongside the movement’s comforting mood. The final tarantella-like movement took references from previous movements. Here, the artists juggled weightless moments with a sense of chase before spiraling into the work’s conclusion. In the work’s final burst of energy, the artists’ approach was confrontational and vulnerable at the same time. Creating a rich, personal and dramatic musical canvas of Schubert’s work, their assertiveness was equal in all parts.

The Arcadia Quartet bases its performance on deep enquiry into each work, on intelligent, objective reading of each text and good taste. The players’ fine technical know-how serves their oneness of intention in performance that is genuine, sincere and beautifully shaped. This was surely a highlight of the 2012-2013 concert season!

"See the Voices" - Tzvi Avni and Ya'akov Boussidan at the Jerusalem Music Centre







 Guests entering the foyer of the Jerusalem Music Centre in Jerusalem’s Mishkenot Sha’ananim neighborhood took time to wander around,

viewing a new exhibit – works by Ya’akov Boussidan relating to the texts of the Song of Songs and the Jewish Legend. The event, “See the Voices: a Musical Vision”,  June 23^rd 2013, was held in honor of Israeli composer Tzvi Avni’s 85^th birthday and of artist Ya’akov Boussidan, whose exhibition of modern, abstract, poetic and communicative works (curator - Arturo Schwarz) was opened that same evening. Devorah Finkelstein moderated at the event. Hed Sella, executive director of the Jerusalem Music Centre, opened the festive evening, speaking of it as unique in its connection between music and the plastic arts and between Tzvi Avni and Ya’akov Boussidan. Performing Avni’s works, we heard players of the Meitar Ensemble. The program was supported by ACUM’s social and promotional fund.

Tzvi Avni (b.1927, Germany) immigrated to Israel as a child. Initially self-taught, he then studied with Paul Ben-Haim, Abel Erlich and Mordecai Seter. He furthered his studies at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center with Vladimir Ussachevsky and, in Tanglewood, with Aaron Copland and Lukas Foss. Since 1971, he has taught at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, heading the electronic music studio and is Professor of Theory and Composition. Avni’s works include choral- and vocal music, orchestral music, chamber music, electronic music, music for ballet, theatre, art films, radio plays and more, and are performed widely.  He has a profound interest in the plastic arts and in Jewish mysticism. Tzvi Avni is the recipient of several prestigious awards, among them, the Israel Prize (2001).

Born in Port Said, Egypt, in 1939, Ya’akov Boussidan immigrated to Israel at age 10. His artistic training began with Joseph Schwartzmann. He studied sculpture and ceramics with Rudi Lehmann and Hedwig Grossman, with guidance as to modern and abstract styles from Shlomo Vitkin. He continued his studies at the Goldsmith College in London, where he graduated with distinction for his abstract version of the “Song of Songs”. His work also includes etching, printing and calligraphy. In 1990, he was awarded the Jesselson Prize of Judaica from the Israel Museum. Boussidan’s celebrated art book “Jerusalem – Names in Praise” was launched at the Israel Museum in 2006 and at the British Parliament in 2007. After working and teaching in London for forty years, Boussidan has returned to Israel.

The evening’s program opened with the Israeli premiere of Tzvi Avni’s Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet.  The world premiere took place in Germany. The composer’s intentions (and humor) are reflected in the programmatic- and visually-oriented titles of each movement, opening with “The Unexpected Guest”, this guest apparently being the sonata form! With pizzicato chords ushering in the clarinet, we hear different instruments in solo moments, both lyrical and more rhythmical, all intensely human in their expression, with Gilad Harel’s playing often creating a strong association with human speech and emotion. “The Committee Discussion” is a musical description of such an event – from the orderly utterances of violin, viola and ‘cello, to a mix of pizzicato- and arco textures, with the clarinet then seemingly calling all to order. However, as in most committee meetings, all voices insist on talking together, with the movement ending on just one surprising pizzicato sound. “Presence of the Past” strikes a very different note; this calm and poignant movement is thoughtful and nostalgic, with some stronger, unveiled emotions welling up. Once again, the clarinet (Gilad Harel) comes across as intensely human in expression. “The Spider’s Breakfast” (with the clarinet representing the menu – a fly) mixes the whimsical with the not-so-savory reality of the insect world:  these are described with glissandi, jagged string sounds, the weightless softly buzzing sounds of insects heard in nature and, then, anguished sounds emanating from the clarinet. In “Evening Soliloquy”, we hear Harel alone in an evocative and moving solo. Here, he paces the piece’s course leisurely, shaping, flexing, coloring and breathing meaning into each gesture, the piece’s hushed ending leaving the listener to trail off into his own thoughts. “Ça, c’est ne pas une tarantelle” (This is Not a Tarantella) plays with associations (also with that of René Magritte’s picture of a pipe titled “Ceci n’est pas une pipe), sounding energetic and feisty tarantella rhythms and departures from them into other moods.

A much earlier work, Avni’s “Leda and the Swan” for soprano and clarinet, premiered in 1975 by Adi Etzion-Zak and Richard Lesser at the Israel Festival, is based on a story from Greek mythology, in which the god Zeus takes on the form of a swan, seducing Leda, Queen of Sparta.  The story has been the inspiration of paintings, poetry and, here, of music. We were informed that Ya’akov Boussidan spent a whole night drawing different versions of “Leda and the Swan”, one of the pencil drawings appearing in the printed program. The vocal part contains no real words and has no literal or associative meaning, rather, syllables strung together to give the impression of words and phrases in a merely sonorous sense. The fact that the singer did not sing actual words put her (Ayelet Amotz-Abramson) and the clarinet (Gilad Harel) on an equal footing musically and theatrically. As the artists perform fragments and phrases, some independent, some intertwined or connected in unison phrases or sometimes with Amotz-Abramson a beat after Harel, the listener creates the story in his mind. With careful detail and variously colored textures, the artists set the work’s score before us in all its detail, skillfully evoking the spirit of this Greek myth in its drama, tenderness and eroticism.  

We then watched “Jerusalem – Names in Praise”, a film presenting Ya’akov Boussidan’s spiritual- and emotional connection to Jerusalem in views of his work and many of Jerusalem. The film’s emphasis lay on the many names attributed to the city, reflecting the many meanings the city has for different people. And how nice it was watching the calligrapher’s sure hand at his art!  

Ayelet Amotz-Abramson and Gilad Harel presented the world premiere of Tzvi Avni’s short work “To Seers and Dreamers” for soprano and clarinet, to a poem written by Ya’akov Boussidan. The work exists in two versions - for baritone and ‘cello, with the present setting being the second. In his program notes, Avni explains that the accompanying instrument sometimes serves a contrapuntal role to the singer’s line, at others, constituting a second voice to hers. Once again, we heard Amotz-Abramson and Harel in a performance that was probing and meaningful.

Concluding the evening, we heard four of the seven movements of Avni’s duo “Controversies” for violin and ‘cello. The piece was composed spontaneously in 2002 as a dialogue between a violin and ‘cello. (After completing the work, the composer felt it could also be played by a group of violinists and ‘cellists.) “Controversies” addresses the psychological essence of these dialogues, each representing a specific atmosphere of verbal give-and-take - at times confrontational, at others, in mutual agreement. “Despite the fact that the titles are taken, as it were, from proceedings of the law court”, in the composer’s words, “the pieces do not describe actual arguments between rivals in any theatrical sense, rather representing a private dialogue of one person in the light of the phenomena around him, of which he is a part.” The pieces we heard were Argument, Cross-Examination, The Precedent and Epilogue. Performed by violinist Moshe Aharonov and ‘cellist Jonathan Gotlibovich, the work’s concept of the interaction of dialogue persisted throughout, with both parties at times talking at cross-purposes.  In “The Precedent”, Avni quotes and utilizes the subject of the Fugue in g sharp minor from Book One of J.S.Bach’s “Well-tempered Clavier”, its melody long representing an intimate and prayerful utterance  for the composer.

The evening offered a glimpse into the creative work and minds of both artists. Concerning Tzvi Avni’s music, we heard a varied selection of the composer’s works in high-quality performances by players of the Meitar Ensemble. In his closing remarks, Professor Avni spoke of the moving experience of writing notes on the page.    

     

The Whiffenpoofs and the Jerusalem Youth Chorus perform at the Jerusalem YMCA



The Whiffenpoofs were in Israel this month of June 2013. Yale University’s most prestigious a  cappella ensemble, the Whiffs, as they are often referred to, began in 1909 as a quartet of men who met weekly for concerts at Mory’s Temple Bar, a famous Yale tavern. The Whiffenpoofs are the oldest male collegiate group of its kind, continuing to uphold the many Whiffenpoof traditions to today. They still wear tails and white gloves, sing at Mory’s on a weekly basis and end each performance with the Whiffenpoof Song. Consisting of 16 male students, each ensemble works for one academic year, then making an extensive world concert tour. The 2013 Whiffenpoofs left on their world tour of 25 countries in May; their Jerusalem concert took place June 19^th in the Mary Nathaniel Golden Hall of Friendship of the Jerusalem International YMCA. It was sponsored by the Rotary Club and the Yale Club.

Micah Hendler, a 2011 Whiffenpoof, has immigrated to Israel and set up the Jerusalem Youth Chorus. Meeting at the Jerusalem International YMCA, this choir is aims to provide a space for young people from East and West Jerusalem to “grow together in song and dialogue”, in Hendler’s words. “Through the co-creation of music and the sharing of stories, we seek to empower our singers to become leaders in their communities…to create an experience for our singers that is both life-changing and a lot of fun.” Weekly meetings consist of both singing and dialogue, with Hendler directing the musical content and two facilitators from the YMCA leading the dialogue, one in Hebrew and one in Arabic. Introducing the young choir, Hendler greeted the audience in Hebrew, Arabic and English. The 14 members of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus opened the evening with three songs, each in a different language, the first being a jaunty performance of a song of the Hawaiian singer Keali’i Reichel:
‘I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me
To see the beauty of the world through my own eyes…’

The young singers managed admirably with a version of “Hine ma Tov” from Psalm 133 (Behold how good and how pleasing if brothers sit together), an arrangement bristling with melodic layers and cross-rhythms. The third item was a setting of a Sufi chant; against an interesting, multi-voiced screen of independent sounds, we heard solos and sections singing the melody. Hendler and his singers performed with joy, energy and true dedication.

Enter the Whiffenpoofs from the back of the hall singing a Bohemian marching song. With Andy Berry ("Pitchpipe") conducting, the evening proceeded with sophisticated arrangements of songs, ranging from traditional Yale songs, to original compositions, to hits of all times, mostly arrangements of choir members over the years. We heard such numbers as “On Broadway” (The Drifters), “I Only Have Eyes for You” (Warren & Dubin), “Midnight Train to Georgia” (Weatherly), “Too Darn Hot” (Cole Porter, who was a Whiff exactly 100 years ago), “All Love is Fair” (Wonder) and more. Then there were some of the wonderful sentimental songs that never fail to tug at the heartstrings – “Nature Boy” (Nat King Cole), Kurt Weill’s “September Song” and the traditional Irish song “Down by the Sally Gardens”. Pieces like “Ride the Chariot” and a medley of Yale football songs belong more specifically to the Whiffenpoof repertoire.  An ensemble of outstanding voices, we heard some superb solos and small solo groups. Ben Wexler’s theatrical arrangement of Mika’s “Grace Kelly” was given a jaunty, lively performance, with McKay Nield singing the solo. Tenor McKay Nield is an entertainer; his flexible range took him with ease into “falsetto land” for this song. Nield is the group’s “joker”, sporting a colored bow-tie (not the uniform white one) and a funky hairdo…another Whiffenpoof tradition.  The Whiffenpoofs function at high energy levels, using some choreography, vocal percussion and other effects accompanying songs, with lots of humor and hi-jinks on stage.

Both choirs joined to sing a South African freedom song in Zulu, Hebrew and Arabic, with two of the younger singers adding percussion on darbuka (goblet drum) and shaker. The Whiffenpoofs bring with them much exuberance and young energy. As singers and stage artists, they are also highly trained and professional, offering performance that is polished. Their evening, shared with the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, was pure delight!

The Jerusalem Oratorio Chamber Choir at Christ Church, Jerusalem

The Jerusalem Oratorio Chamber Choir performed its final concert for the 2012-2013 season at Christ Church in Jerusalem’s Old City. Completing his first year as full-time musical director of the ensemble, Ofer dal Lal conducted the singers in the concert, with Dror Schweid at the piano. The 30-member Chamber Choir is the representative ensemble of the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir, regularly performing in churches and concert venues in Israel and overseas. The Jerusalem Oratorio Choir is supported by the Israeli Ministry of Culture and the Jerusalem Municipality.

Ofer dal Lal is a graduate of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he studied choral conducting with Professor Stanley Sperber, orchestral conducting with Professor Eitan Globerson and composition with Professor Menachem Zur. He is presently taking graduate studies in choral conducting with Mr. Ronen Borshevsky and orchestral conducting with Mr. Yi-An Xu at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv. Dal Lal has long served as assistant to both Professor Sperber and Mr, Ronen Borshevsky and conducted the premiere of "Loquimini Veritatem" by Israeli composer Sarah Shoham in 2012.

Works performed in the evening’s program spanned the 15^th to 20^th centuries. The concert opened with Franco-Flemish composer Guillaume Dufay’s (1400-1474) Marian antiphon “Ave Maris Stella” (Hail, Star of the Sea), the chant setting we heard performed cleanly and with elegance; vocal parts were clearly delineated, with the plainchant melody remaining audible. This was followed by the somewhat enigmatic English composer Richard Nicholson’s (1570-1639) setting of “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem”, an anthem highlighting “sound” and melody, but constructed with rather static harmonies. More interesting was Ofer dal Lal’s 5-voiced vocal setting of John Dowland’s “Flow My Tears”, a lute song reworked several times by the composer himself, by Byrd, Morley, Farnaby and others, also cited by poets and playwrights. Dal Lal’s reading of it drew attention to the poem and its key words (“happy” for example in this gloomy setting!), an emphasis practised by Dowland’s contemporaries in light of the enriched beauty of Elizabethan language. In a lighter vein, there was a pleasing, dynamic performance of Dowland’s whimsical madrigal “Come Away”, its double-entendres amusing, at the same time enumerating a lady’s disdain and rejection.

Two late sacred works by W.A.Mozart (1756-1791) constituted a major section of the concert. In lieu of a string orchestra, Dror Schweid accompanied the singers on the (unfortunately out-of-tune) piano. The first was Mozart’s exquisitely simple and compact “Ave Verum Corpus” K.618 (Hail, true Body), with dal Lal and his singers bringing out the piece’s meditational, tranquil, otherworldly mood. We then heard selected movements from Mozart’s Requiem Mass in d minor K.626. Soloist was soprano Noga Shahar.  The performance addressed the work’s sacred agenda, its drama and its pathos (the more relaxed sections sometimes a little behind the beat) in an expansive range of dynamic changes. The Requiem’s arcane counterpoint and evocation of strange liturgical archaism came together in a performance that could indeed be described as majestic and impassioned. Schweid dealt courageously with the role of evoking Mozart’s full orchestral score. 

We heard the Oratorio Chamber Choir in Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s 1843 setting of Psalm 43 “Richte mich, Gott” (Do me justice, o God), a work for eight voices but not scored as two equal choirs – rather, in gender groups. Opening with imposing singing of the lower voice motif, the various different sections of the piece contrasted well, moving into the imposing and rousing final section. The choir’s German pronunciation needs some work.

Moving into the 20^th century and back to a cappella singing, we heard Benjamin Britten’s (1913-1976) “A Hymn to the Virgin” for two choirs, composed (in 1930, revised 1934) to an anonymous text. The ensemble gave a convincing performance of the piece, addressing its beauty of line and spare clarity of texture. With the first choir singing the text in English, the second – Naomi Brill Engel, Orna Harari, Shlomo Tirosh and Benny Schwarzwald, placed in the balcony – responded in Latin, creating a concept close to the format of traditional English devotional music.

With events in Israel currently celebrating composer Tzvi Avni’s 85^th birthday, it was indeed fitting that the Oratorio Chamber Choir should perform a work of his. Avni’s “Piyutim LeShabbat” (Sabbath Melodies), a work composed in 1971 and based on Babylonian Jewish Melodies, constitutes one of several works in which Avni (b. 1927, Germany) has created an individual synthesis of oriental elements with his own personal musical language. A work of delicate textures and gentle dissonances, the ensemble gave Avni’s articulate choral writing and simple melodies that merge in flowing lines a pleasing reading. Shira Cohen was soloist.

The ensemble performed three Afro-American spirituals with infectious enjoyment. The members’ singing was confident and well-shaped, their English pronunciation suitably leaning towards the American. Elia Talbar Reznik’s earthy, well-endowed voice made for a fine and spirited solo in “Daniel”.

The program concluded with a work by one of today’s most important British composers of church music - organist, choral conductor and composer Colin Mawby (b.1936). In an interview with Kevin Mayhew, Mawby was quoted as saying “My composition is instinctive and I take no notice of musical fashion which, I feel militates against the sense of the spiritual…I try and write music that speaks to people’s souls, music that listeners can respond to emotionally and spiritually”. His “Ave Verum Corpus”, composed in 1978 for eight voices and organ (or orchestra) ended the concert on a tranquil and devotional note. Ofer dal Lal and his singers gave expression to the work’s stately, contemplative mood, its lush, sonorous texture of autumnal harmonies, set off by splendid melodiousness.

With much fine singing and a strong sense of collaboration between conductor and singers, the Jerusalem Oratorio Chamber Choir gave the audience a rich sampling of the many styles of music in its repertoire and what we may expect in the future.