 |
| The Jerusalem Street Orchestra, soloist Ori Wissner Levy (Yael Ilan) |
On July 21st 2021, a balmy Jerusalem evening, there
was excitement in the air as hundreds of people of all ages took their seats on
the terrace of the Jerusalem Music Centre (Mishkenot Sha’ananim) in the
capital’s picturesque Yemin Moshe quarter. This was the third and final event
of the 2021 Jerusalem Rooftop Festival - a symphony concert performed by the
Jerusalem Street Orchestra, conducted by its founder and musical director
Ido Shpitalnik, with solo violinist Ori Wissner Levy. Established in 2013, the
Jerusalem Street Orchestra is a chamber orchestra comprising talented
young music graduates. The ensemble aims to make classical music accessible to
new audiences, enrich the public scene with high-quality culture and to
provide a stage for members of Jerusalem’s young creative community and
musicians.
It seems that there is nothing more reposeful than
listening to good music with a glass of wine in hand and watching the subtly
changing colours of sunset over Jerusalem’s Old City, an experience so aptly
put by English writer, essayist, and literary critic: “Call for the grandest of all
earthly spectacles, what is that? It is the sun going to his rest.”
Following words of welcome from concert- and masterclass director of the
Jerusalem Music Centre Uri Dror, the concert opened with Joseph Haydn’s
Symphony No.19 in D major, Hob I:19. Composed c.1759, this work was to
change the composer’s life. Old Prince Antonio Esterházy had gone to visit
Count Morzin, who had in his service a large, handpicked orchestra. After
hearing this symphony by Haydn, the Prince took a liking to the composer’s
style and urged the Count to let him have the man. The Count, who had been
considering dismissing his orchestra for financial reasons, was happy to
comply with the prince’s wishes. The Street Orchestra’s playing of the
symphony’s outer movements abounded in Haydnesque joy and good spirit, these
sections highlighting the orchestra’s fine wind-playing. The touching,
appealing D minor Andante movement, (I saw smiles on people’s faces around me)
is scored for strings alone, a practice probably deriving from the desire to
give the hard-working wind players a rest before launching into the vigorous
finale.
Next on the program was Benjamin Britten’s “Simple Symphony”, introduced
by Shpitalnik as a piece that is “not at all simple to perform”. Composed at
age 20, the work, scored for small string orchestra, is entirely based on a
collection of melodies and small works which the composer had written between
the ages of nine and twelve. (The actual sources are given in footnotes to each
of the movements.) Not making use of typical classical tempo indications,
Britten’s somewhat whimsical titles to each of the short movements allude to
his unassuming humour and neoclassical inclination. Shpitalnik and the
string players presented the essence and charm of each movement with
articulacy: the Boisterous Bourée’s lively motivic interplay suggesting
neo-Baroque contrapuntal textures, followed by the play of featherlight
pizzicato textures tripping along brazenly, making up the Playful Pizzicato,
with some folksy, stomping accents heard in the slower trio. A tinge of
nostalgia coloured the Street Orchestra’s dynamic playing of the modal-type
melody of the Sentimental Sarabande, as it swelled to bold symphonic utterance,
to end with a haunting, muted coda. As to the Frolicsome Finale, opening with a
unison burst of sound, conductor and instrumentalists reminded the audience of
themes and techniques from the earlier three movements, from cheeky pizzicato
interludes to the dance-like style of the Bourée. So English in flavour,
Britten’s “Simple Symphony” is a work that reveals its charms even at first
hearing, making for splendid concert fare.
The festive evening concluded with W.A. Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 5 “Turkish”,
featuring soloist Ori Wissner Levy. Like Mozart's other violin concertos, this
is an early work, dating from December 1775, when the composer was
nineteen years old. For whom it was written is not known, but there is a
possibility that it was played by Mozart himself, at that time, employed at the
Salzburg court, where one of his chief duties was to lead the court orchestra
from the violin. In his performance of this work, one of strikingly original ideas, Wissner Levy
guides the listener through its unpredictable formal trail by dint of his
deep-felt melodic sense, as he explores each gesture, maintaining constant eye
contact with his fellow musicians. Cadenzas (by Joseph Joachim) were
played with a sense of freshness, discovery and adventure. As to the concerto’s
Turkish content, it suddenly appears as a minor-mode Allegro in the
middle of the graceful (final) Minuet movement, with soloist and orchestra
playing what is intended to suggest wild Turkish music. Turkish culture enjoyed
considerable popularity in 18th century Europe, with the introduction of
Turkish coffee, Turkish subjects in drama and paintings, popular stories about
Turkey in many operas and with some rulers even creating strident-sounding
Janissary bands for their armies. In this violin concerto, Mozart uses no
percussion or outdoor wind instruments; instead, he imitates the “Turkish”
effect with strong accents, exotic chromatic scales, sudden crescendos and a
percussive drone of the cellos and basses playing col legno, with the
soloist engaging in energetic figures of a folk-like nature. Following
this unleashed middle section, the music returns to its graceful Minuet format,
ending gracefully in quiet simplicity. The Rooftop Festival audience loved it!
Wissner Levy communicated to them through his own sense of enjoyment, his warm,
mellifluous tone, easeful playing and outstanding musicianship.
Born in New York (1990) Ori Wissner Levy has studied and performed
worldwide. He will presently be moving to Tel Aviv from Leipzig, Germany where he
lived and worked prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Kudos to the excellent Jerusalem
Street Orchestra; also, to Maestro Ido Shpitalnik for his hearty and appealing programming,
its inspiring delivery and his own infectious joie-de-vivre!
 |
| Maestro Ido Shpitalnik (Yael Ilan) |
No comments:
Post a Comment