Benjamin Britten's War Requiem staged at the Tel Aviv Opera. The Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, the Israeli Opera Chorus, the Moran Children's Choir, vocal soloists. Conductor: Alexander Joel. Director: Ido Ricklin.

 

Photo: Yossi Zwecker

The first performance of the War Requiem by Benjamin Britten took place at the dedication of the new St. Michael’s Cathedral, Coventry (UK) on May 30, 1962, the edifice built to replace the basilica destroyed in an air raid on the night of November 14-15, 1940. At the premiere, Britten himself conducted the chamber orchestra. The Israeli premiere of Britten’s War Requiem took place at the Tel Aviv Opera on December 6th 2024. Conducting the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion was British-born Alexander Joel. Directing the production was Ido Ricklin, Ula Shevtsov was stage/costume designer, lighting design was by Nadav Barnea, movement design - Nophar Levinger. Vocal soloists were sopranos Shaked Strul and Alla Vasilevitsky, tenors Aaron Blake (UK), Anthony Webb (USA) and Peter Wedd (UK) and baritones Eric Greene (USA), Yair Polishook and Oded Reich, as well as soloists from the Israel Opera Chorus (chorus master: Etay Berkovitch). The Moran Children's Choir was conducted by Carmel Antopolsky Amit. The English- and Hebrew surtitles were translated by Ido Ricklin and edited by Israel Ouval.

 

Marking the composer’s readiness to treat the topic of war explicitly, rather than as a parable or in symbolic form, Britten interspersed the traditional Latin Missa pro Defunctis with settings of the chillingly evocative and pessimistic anti-war poetry “from the trenches” of the British soldier-poet Wilfred Owen (a compositional strategy distressful to the strongholds of tradition of the time.) Owen's poetry is remarkable not only for its content, but also for its use of half rhyme and assonance instead of full rhyme, a style that he is credited with popularizing. His rejection of traditional poetic form and reaction to the horrors of World War I are textbook examples of modernism in poetry. Owen, regarded by many as the greatest poet of the First World War, died in battle in France at age 25 just one week before the end of World War I. Britten produced a powerful, uncompromising coupling of the two texts, their contrasts and ironies, the result being a score of striking originality, one combining the apocalyptic visions of destruction, suffering, and, ultimately, of the eternal (but, from Britten’s pen, unquiet) peace of the Mass for the Dead. Indeed, Britten renders the music of the two texts subtly and disquietingly interrelated through his use of the tritone (known from the late Middle Ages as "diabolus in musica") an element pervading almost every page of the work. He divides the musical forces into three groups - the soprano soloist (here two) and choir accompanied by the full orchestra, the baritone and tenor soloists accompanied by the chamber orchestra and the boys' choir (here, the Moran Children's Choir) accompanied on a small portative organ. (Following one appearance on stage in the opening scene, the children's choir then performed from one of the balconies.) If the War Requiem expresses Britten's passionate statement on the futility of war, Ido Ricklin's production takes it a step further, reinforcing this message through the power of the visual and the theatrical, the production's intensity clearly fueled by the current events of warfare. With the opera choir placed behind them, the soloists performed on the front of the stage. Ricklin also added a (non-singing) child actor (Daniel Cohen). Present on the stage throughout, the boy symbolizes the children who have perished in war. 

 

Ricklin divides the parts of the two male singers among six men. Taking on the roles of both soldiers and civilians, they add a broader dramatic sweep to the concert version. (Eric Greene, for example, takes on the role of a grave digger.) The male singers portrayed Owen's dark texts with involvement and articulate diction; to mention some items sung by them: "Be slowly lifted up" (Yair Polishook), "Bugles sang" (Eric Greene), "Move him" (Peter Wedd), "What passing bells" (Anthony Webb) and "After the blast" (Oded Reich). One of the work's most unheralded and moving moments occurs in the setting of a poem Owen titled "Strange Meeting", in which, in a dark, irreverent afterlife, a puzzled young soldier, either dying or dead, meets a soldier from the enemy “side”, to bring about a poignant, understated reconciliation: “I am the enemy you killed, my friend." (Aaron Blake, Oded Reich). As to Britten's single soprano role, Ricklin engages two singers, creating two very different roles: clad in white, the angel, representing compassion, was performed superbly by Alla Vasilevtsky, a singer of strong stage presence. Her singing of the Lacrimosa was as fragile as it was heart-rending. No less impressive, Shaked Strul, portraying the wretched status of the female war victim, gave an impassioned performance, spending much of the time grovelling on the floor before finally dying. Her treatment of the ominous Libera me solo was gripping and disturbing. 

 

The Tel Aviv Opera Hall was plunged into darkness. Lighting effects were apt, never excessive. As the performance proceeded, six graves opened up on stage - a chilling sight - as each, in turn, claimed its victim. At one point, via the aisle in the choir area, a corpse, covered with a white sheet, was wheeled through to the front of the stage. Was this shocking sight one gesture too many? Taking on the merging of the great liturgy and the personal anguish of one poet-soldier, Maestro Alexander Joel, in his Israeli Opera debut, brought all the forces together with conviction and impressive articulacy. Britten's marvellous orchestration resounded in all its timbral interest, symbolism, fantasy and impact. The Israeli Opera chorus gave precise and powerful expression to the work's stark soundscape. As to the young members of the Moran Children's Choir, they met the score's challenges admirably, singing with clarity and competence. Spatially and emotionally removed from the intensity of the work's other agendas, producing a very strange, distant sound, they presented their texts with the naivete of children untouched by earthly grief, guilt or fear. Yet, at its conclusion, we are left with the discomfort of the War Requiem's dual ending, as the children sing the tritone and the choir resolves it with an F- major chord.

 

At the head of his score Britten quotes the words with which Owen prefaced his poems:

"My subject is War, and the pity of War.
       The poetry is in the pity.
       All a poet can do is warn."

 

 

Ido Ricklin (israeli-opera.co.il)

 

 

 

 

 

 

A NEW SONG, HALLELUJAH - Assaf Bènraf directs the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, choirs and soloists in the festive opening of the 2024 Hallelujah Festival

Irena Svetova (Courtesy IS)

 

Maestro Assaf Bènraf (Uri Elkayam)

Eliyahu Svetov (Courtesy ES)

Drawing a large audience to the Henry Crown Auditorium of the Jerusalem Theatre on November 30th, "A NEW SONG, HALLELUJAH" was the opening event of the 2024 Hallelujah Festival. Under the baton of Assaf Bènraf, a string ensemble of players of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the A-Capella Vocal Ensemble Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir and Valery Oleshko (piano/organ) were joined by soloists Rinatya Nessim (soprano) and Eliyahu Svetov (piano/organ).. 

 

"Alleluia" - so many composers have set this word’s four syllables, playing with its vowel colours, its lightweight consonants and the endless possibilities of word stress, rhythm, and meaning. In "Alleluia" (1940), American composer Randall Thompson's best-known work, the composer steers away from the word's celebratory connotations. Deeply affected by events in Europe, particularly by the fall of France, Thompson takes inspiration for the piece from the Book of Job. Opening the event with this work, Bènraf led the two choirs and organ (Oleshko) through the work's journey of emotions - from reverence, introspection, uncertainty and anxiety to exuberant hope, before ending in a tranquil allusion to peace. In performance that was lush, velvety and beautifully blended, Thompson's choral meditation on a single word - "Alleluia" - followed by a simple "Amen", was moving, indeed mystical.

 

Francis Poulenc's "Gloria" FP 177, here accompanied on the piano (Oleshko), never fails to raise a few questions as a sacred work. Bènraf and his singers dealt admirably with its challenges - namely, the contrast of moods and gestures - as they effectively and articulately captured its buoyant, celebratory spirit, indeed, its eccentric nature. One could discern elements from jazz, dance, reference to earlier French composers such as Fauré, as well as elements of sardonic humour. Even the peaceful serenity of the work's radiant closing pages is disturbed by one last, loud interjection at the first "Amen". Renatya Nessim's performance of the solos was unforced, her mellifluous voice well projected, weaving melodies gracefully, negotiating the tricky, unconventional leaps of the “Domine Deus” with poise.

 

Enter ten string players of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. They played W.A.Mozart's Divertimento in D major, K.136, a fine example of the 16-year-old composer's sophisticated craftsmanship in a genre traditionally defined and designated as "light" music. Performing with suave good taste, transparency, charm and a touch of Haydnesque humour, the instrumentalists invited the audience to join them at a musical soirée in the home or gardens of one of Salzburg's leading residents, for which events Mozart composed and frequently performed. 

 

Then, to the second movement (Larghetto) of Frederic Chopin's Piano Concerto No.2 in f minor, Op.21, with Eliyahu Svetov as soloist. A nocturne in the "stile brillante" tradition, Svetov gave the stage to Chopin's virtuosic writing for the piano, its style a reminder that Chopin himself was a brilliant improviser. The soloist brought out the composer's ravishing ornamenting of the filigree-fine melodies with elegance, shape and shimmering delicacy. Composed shortly before Chopin left Poland, the movement was inspired by Konstancja Gładkowska, a young soprano with whom he claimed to be in love, but was too shy to tell. This was followed by Mozart's "Ave verum corpus" in D major K.618 for mixed choir, strings and organ. Under the baton of Maestro Bènraf, the motet's serene, unhurried, homophonic fabric (46 measures in all!) emerged in a fine blend of subtlety, luminosity, balance, precision and restraint.

 

Concluding the concert of high-quality performance was the Israeli premiere of Irena Svetova's 2014 setting of Psalm 33 "Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous", performed by the joint choirs, string players and piano. The work, modal, intense and engaging, displays the composer's insight into musical setting of the Hebrew language, its shapes and intonation, as the words flowed naturally through the weave of the score. Indeed, the singers gave articulate and transparent expression to her explicit and skilful choral writing. Notable also was some impressive writing for the piano (Svetov.)  Born in Moscow, Irena Svetova immigrated to Israel in 1991.

Gideon (Gidi) Meir performs organ works of Buxtehude, J.S.Bach, Sweelinck and Byrd at the Brigham Young University, Jerusalem Center

 

Gideon Meir (Alexander Kotov)

The auditorium of the Brigham Young University, Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, boasts one of the city's finest pipe organs. It was built by Marcussen & Søn (a Danish family business of pipe organ builders established in 1806) and was inaugurated in 1987. The largest pipe organ in the Middle East, it has 3,165 pipes. Contemporary in design, the horizontal reed pipes on the front of the case add interest and beauty to the instrument. Performing a program on the BYU organ on November 24th 2024, Gideon (Gidi) Meir dedicated the recital to the memory of his father 'cellist Menachem Meir (1924-2024) and to that of his organ teacher David Boe (1936-2020).

 

Dieterich Buxtehude's reputation as a composer lies mostly in his compositional oeuvre for the organ. Indeed, he was the greatest precursor to J.S. Bach as a composer for organ, and had a far-reaching influence on the generation to come, especially on Bach himself. With Buxtehude's Praeludium in G minor, Bux WV149 issued in with a bright, flamboyant flourish in the manuals and bolstered from the seventh bar by the pedals’ obsessive seven-note phrase, Gidi Meir got the evening's music off to an exuberant start. Proceeding on from this combination of ostinato and stylus phantasticus (Buxtehude's predilection for the stylus phantasticus demands much interpretative freedom on the part of performers) the work presents two fugues with related subjects: the first, solemn, played mainly in the manuals, the second an affective fuga pathetica in slow triple meter. Played here in full registration, the Praeludium culminates in a free coda. Addressing one of Buxtehude’s most frequently performed works, Meir highlighted the prelude's sophistication and complexity.

 

We then heard two (of the countless) settings of John Dowland's most famous "ayre" (originally a solo song with lute accompanied) "Flow My Tears", composed in 1596 under the name "Lachrimae pavane". In his setting of it, Dutch composer/organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (referred to as the “Orpheus of Amsterdam") does little more than transcribe for a different instrument material borrowed from his British contemporary, here and there embellishing and elaborating the original. Ornamenting the repeats, Meir chooses bright, even clamorous timbres. Of all the keyboard arrangements of this work, Dowland's "greatest hit", William Byrd’s is one of the finest and certainly among the most imaginative. The ample pavan framework invites Byrd (and the performer) to indulge in inventive figuration, extensive elaboration of the melody and to revel in its contrapuntal layering. A change of meter creates a whole different atmosphere. As to Byrd's departure from the model, Meir's solid, hearty reading brings to light elements of the original harmonic agenda. For the Dowland settings, Meir engaged the swell to create a lush, velvety, Renaissance-type sound.

 

The thread running through Gidi Meir's recital (indeed, running through a large portion of organ repertoire) was the use of melodies and hymns, some ancient, on which to build works, in particular, for chorale preludes and variations. In addition to some twenty preludes, Buxtehude's many surviving organ compositions include a large number of chorale preludes and variations on Lutheran chorale melodies. Of the latter genre, "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam" ("Christ our Lord came to the Jordan") based on a hymn by Martin Luther (1541), its text telling of Christ's baptism, has been set into many musical compositions. Here, in one of Buxtehude's most uplifting chorale settings, Meir uses a strongly projected and majestic approach, the registrations fitting the piece splendidly. J.S.Bach's chorale arrangement of "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam" brims with effervescence. As the chorale melody emerges in long notes in the pedal, the ripples of the Jordan River are evoked in fast notes over two keyboards. The latter scoring would have been unconventionally different to  Bach's audience! 

 

With Advent in western churches beginning on the Sunday nearest to November 30th, Meir chose two settings of the Martin Luther chorale "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" (Now come, Saviour of the heathens). In Buxtehude's setting of the Bux WV211 chorale, the stately, full-bodied accompaniment supporting an ornamented setting of the melody evokes the solemnity of the season of Advent; it concludes with a flourish, as typical of chorale preludes of the period. Meir's performance of it reflects the radiance and depth evident in Buxtehude's organ works. J.S.Bach's working of the same chorale (BWV 659) is one of the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668, all characterized by the composer's long, freely written episodes between cantus firmus lines. Above the slow-stepping walking bass in the pedal, we hear an alluring, highly ornamented soprano line carrying the chorale melody, the piece evoking the mystical expectation of the incarnation.

 

The program concluded on an ebullient note with the chorale prelude "Gott der Vater wohn’ uns bei" (God, the Father, stay with us). Formerly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach as BWV 748, researchers now claim it was composed by Johann Gottfried Walther, a scholar, accomplished performer and composer. Born one year before Bach, Walther struck up a friendship with Bach – his second cousin – in 1708, a friendship that inspired him to set over 130 chorale preludes and variations on Lutheran chorale melodies. Creating a rich, bright, reedy soundscape, Meir saw the work as a counter-piece to the opening Buxtehude Praeludium.

 

For his encore, Meir chose to play Sweelinck's Variations on "Unter der Linden Grüne" (Under the Linden Green), an example of the composer’s mastery in the art of variation and in his writing for the organ. Displaying Sweelinck's characteristic sense of humour, the melody used was one popular in Holland in Sweelinck’s time. The jolly variations offered Meir multiple opportunities to display the Marcussen organ's variety and the beauty of its many flute- and reed stops. Adding a touch of magic to the final variation, he activated the organ's Zimbelstern stop, (a “toy” stop consisting of a metal or wooden star or wheel on which several small bells are mounted. When the stop is engaged, the star rotates, producing a continuous tinkling sound.) Meir felt this sparkling timbre reflected the night scenery as seen by the audience through the auditorium's large, scenic front window. Interestingly, the performer seated at the Marcussen organ was also reflected in the window!

 

Gideon Meir has spent much time familiarizing himself with this particular organ and choosing a program that would be suited to it, to the hall and to the time of year. The recital was inspired and uplifting.

 

Organ of the BYU auditorium.Spanish trumpets on view

Flute sounds in Ein Kerem: Noam Buchman (flute) and string-playing friends perform mostly serenades at the Eden-Tamir Music Center, Jerusalem

 

Noam Buchman (Ilan Besor)

The musical terms "serenade" and "divertimento", with several examples appearing in 18th-century musical repertoire, are often interchangeable. They represent pieces that are light-hearted and easy to listen to, often performed on social occasions, such as at banquets or as after-dinner music. On November 16th 2024, one of those mild, sunny Jerusalem Autumn mornings, this writer joined the audience attending "Mostly Serenades", the most recent concert of the Eden-Tamir Music Centre's "Flute Sounds in Ein Kerem - Noam Buchman and Friends" series. The artists performing were Gilad Hildesheim - violin, Irit Livne - viola, Yoram Alperin - 'cello and, of course, Noam Buchman - flute. 

 

Joseph Haydn's Divertimenti in G and C major, published in London, were the composer's first chamber works for flute, a popular instrument in England for domestic music making, especially among those women who could not perform in public. The Jerusalem program opened with Haydn's Divertimento for flute, violin and 'cello in G major, Hob.IV:7, with playing articulate, rich in contrasts, with tempi gently flexed, the trio's playing bubbling over with Haydn's esprit. Their reading of the Adagio (2nd movement), was singing, carefully paced and with some attractive embellishments in the flute part. As to the "comments" by the 'cello, we were reminded of the melodic importance Haydn addressed to this instrument.

 

Max Reger's music came under harsh disapproval on the part of critics, who accused him of “a lack of feeling” and being "too complicated”. Influenced by the tradition of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, he also borrowed extensively from the rich chromatic harmonies and style of Richard Wagner and his followers. The instrumentation for his Serenade Op.141a for flute, violin and viola, however, is distinctive, opting for the bright tones of the flute, violin and viola, indeed, endorsing the overall enchanting mood of the piece. Buchman, Hildesheim and Livne articulated the features of the piece - the playful, witty unpredictable turns of the opening Vivace, the more pared-down, hymn-like Larghetto and the lively romp of the Presto movement, its dancelike theme interspersed with more tranquil, reflective moments, the. performance seamlessly negotiating the music’s capricious kaleidoscope of moods and tempi.

 

An atypical work, and one probably unfamiliar to many in the Eden-Tamir Centre audience, was Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos' "Assobio a Játo" (The Jet Whistle) for flute and 'cello (1950), a piece reflecting various aspects of the composer - his interest in Brazilian folk idiom as well as in more traditional musical forms, his eccentricity and his sense of humour. Attesting to the composer's predilection for writing high- and low-voiced instrumental duos, the piece is primarily a musical joke, yet cleverly playing on the natural characteristics and sound production of both instruments. Throughout the three short, nuanced movements, Alperin and Buchman partner in fluid lines and masterful teamwork, switching lead and accompaniment, sometimes playing together in such tortuous, conflicting counterpoint as to create a semblance of total independence. The artists create the work's chromatic soundscape, its large range of timbres and its many states of mind, from the pensive to the uninhibited. Then, as they reach the third movement (Vivo - poco meno), they meet the score's directive demanding that the flautist blow directly and forcefully into the flute, his (or her) hand almost covering the mouthpiece. Combined with a glissando, the resulting strident whistling sounds like a jet plane taking off…or was the inspiration for this work the coffee machine at Villa-Lobos' local cafe?

 

As to the program's flying visit to Germany, Austria and Brazil, landing in Hungary felt like we were in transit, hearing just one movement of Ernö Dohnányi's Serenade for string trio in C major Op. 10. Clearly inspired by the serenade tradition, the work's laconic use of form and economy of means constituted groundbreaking writing in 1902. Hildesheim, Livne and Alperin gave a zesty, fresh and articulate reading of the final movement, a bustling Rondo propelled by a rapid main theme framing contrasting episodes and associative of the folk character prevalent in the music of Dohnányi’s countrymen.

 

The Saturday morning program concluded with L.van Beethoven's Serenade for flute, violin and viola in D major Op.25 (1801). Comprising six movements and written primarily for the profitable domestic market, its layout is in accordance with the pattern of the Classical serenade or divertimento of Mozart’s and Haydn’s time. Observing all repeats in the name of formal balance, the artists showed the audience through the work with charm and vivacity. In the Serenade’s centrepiece, a set of variations on a theme announced by the strings in double stopping, each instrument takes the lead in turn with florid passages as the theme becomes varied. Altogether, the artists gave splendid expression to the work's range of gestures and to the bright buoyancy of music for which the viola serves as its bass instrument. Indeed, whatever or whoever prompted Beethoven to write a composition for this unusual yet agreeable mix of instruments (was it a nobleman playing chamber music with friends?), the Serenade is invariably cheerful, creating the style and ambience reflecting the growing appreciation for informal outdoor music among Vienna’s elite.

 

But the serenades did not finish with Beethoven. For an encore, the artists performed the mellifluous Andante cantabile from the Serenade for Strings Op.3 No.5 in F major, a work attributed to Haydn, but possibly written by Roman Hofstetter.

It was a concert of high-quality performance and interesting programming.

 

Gilad Hildesheim,Irit Livne,Noam Buchman,Yoram Alperin (Yoram Livne)

Yuval Rabin performs organ works of Bach, Mendelssohn, Lewandowski and Y.Rabin at a house concert in Jerusalem

 

Courtesy Terra Sancta Organ Festival

Among the instruments on view in the music room of Yuval Rabin's home in Jerusalem are an upright piano, a harpsichord, a clavichord, a pipe organ and a didgeridoo! The event we were attending was a house concert on November 5th 2024, performed by Dr. Rabin on the pipe organ, a German-built instrument boasting eleven registers and four basic timbres.

 

Leipzig Germany was the location of the program's first items, opening with J.S.Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, written some time between 1706 and 1713 when the composer was in his early twenties. Often heard played on large church organs that highlight the work's imposing majesty, it is conceivable that Bach might have written this piece with the pedal harpsichord in mind. Articulate, and sparingly embellished, Rabin's playing gave expression to the contrasts and variety of the Passacaglia's 21 variations, the Fugue building up to a massive climax of suspended harmonies and full instrumental sonority. Bach's Six Organ Trio Sonatas, representing a new organ genre established by the composer c.1727-1730, were written for his son Wilhelm Friedemann to study. These sonatas, attractive and immediately appealing to the listener, pose ferocious interpretive and technical demands for the player, requiring the right and left hand to play independent melodic lines on separate keyboards while the feet play the basso continuo. From the buoyant, good natured opening movement, through the gently undulating Siciliano, to the witty dialogue in bell-like timbres of the final Allegro, Yuval Rabin's performance of Sonata No.1 in E-flat major BWV 525 presented the piece's supremely Italianate character, as he chose to give each voice distinct tone colourings to allow Bach’s counterpoint to be heard clearly. 

 

J.S.Bach was a central figure in the music education of the prodigious young Felix Mendelssohn, the latter's versatile music career including organ recitals, in which he was known to be a fine improvisor. Both the counterpoint and the chorale movements of his organ sonatas reflect his lifelong immersion in the music of Bach. Mendelssohn reached new heights of awareness in his composition in the 1830s, as heard in his last and most significant works for the organ -  Six Sonatas Op.65. Especially fond of Mendelssohn's organ music, Rabin chose to perform Sonata No. 4 in B-flat major of the Op. 65 collection. The flamboyant, grand opening Allegro con brio, a toccata offering trumpet-like passages, was followed by an Andante religioso, its expressive melody reminiscent of Bach’s chorale movements. Another tranquil movement, a lyrical and charming Allegretto, its melody accompanied by an obbligato of continuous semi-quavers, gave no hint as to the tour de force to follow -  the Allegro maestoso e vivace, a majestic, ebullient fugue, its subject beginning with sixteenth notes in the pedals, book-ended by majestic opening and closing sections. Rabin's playing reflected the elegance and impetuous vitality which characterize Mendelssohn's music in general.

 

Moving to Berlin, we heard a short work by Polish-German composer Louis Lewandowski (1821–1894). Thanks to the support of Alexander Mendelssohn, a cousin of Felix Mendelssohn, Lewandowski was able to attend the Berlin Academy of  Music, an institution which did not admit Jewish students. Lewandowski was then to become one of the pioneers of the central European cantorial style.  Rabin performed one of the Fünf Fest-Präludien, Op. 37, written during Lewandowski's tenure as musical director at the Neue Synagoge in Berlin. Each of the Preludes relates to a specific Jewish holiday, each highly melodic, each composed in the strict four-part harmony of church music, with many of the pieces based on ancient cantorial modal melodies. The artist played Prelude No.2, based on the Kol Nidrei melody, sung on the eve of the Day of Atonement, the piece's opening evoking the momentousness and aura of the occasion, its musical quotations clearly emerging as they weave through the fabric of the piece.

 

The thread running through the program culminated in a composition of Yuval Rabin himself - "Hommage à Mendelssohn".  Based on "Yedid Nefesh" (Lover of my soul), a Sabbath melody, Rabin incorporates many musical turns of phrase from Mendelssohn's writing. Following statement of the melody itself, we hear four vivid and challenging variations inspired by Mendelssohn's stylish organ phraseology, the final variation an elaborate fugue. An impressive work, well handled.

 

Dr. Yuval Rabin serves as president of the Israel Organ Association.

 

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor: Lahav Shani, performs a concert of the Hatikva Project in Jerusalem. Soloists: Shay Bloch, Dmitry Ratush

 

Courtesy Miri Shamir

Offering 18 concerts in 13 cities throughout Israel over the course of five days, the Hatikva Project was conceived by Sharon Azrieli (chair of the advisory council of the Azrieli Music, Arts and Culture Centre) for the Azrieli Foundation in collaboration with Israel's professional- and youth orchestras. With "Music heals community" as its slogan, the project's goal was to spread new hope across the nation. ("Hatikva", the title of Israel's national anthem, translates into English as "hope".) All the concert programs featured, among other works, compositions of Israeli composers, as well as Jewish sacred music. This writer attended a concert of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by its music director Lahav Shani, at the Jerusalem Theatre on November 3rd, 2024. Soloists were Dmitry Ratush (viola) and Shay Bloch (mezzo-soprano).

 

The program opened with "Therefore Choose Life" by Boris Pigovat (b.1953, Odessa, USSR), who immigrated to Israel in 1990. "Therefore Choose Life" (Deuteronomy 30:19), premiered September 2017, is tonal in concept, the work's opening's intense, foreboding message glazed with dissonances, indeed, with some clusters. To the listener's surprise, the foreboding dark sound world gives way to sounds of hope, the latter free of dissonances, the new musical agenda brightened with the timbral lustre of harp, xylophones and celesta, the tutti now bringing a new message. A winsome folk-like melody pervades the final part of the work. This fine piece is well suited to the IPO's forces - to its marvellous tutti playing, but also to the poignant soloing on the part of its players. Of "Therefore Choose Life", Pigovat writes: "...I tried to express my feeling that life (with all its pain, suffering and tragedies) is meant to be filled with beauty, hope, light and love." A work of profound humanity that rings applicable to our times.

 

Two works on the program featured Shay Bloch. Her performance of Maurice Ravel's "Two Hebrew Melodies" for voice and orchestra (originally for voice and piano in 1914, orchestrated by the composer in 1919) brought out the melismatic, unhurried, spontaneous manner and deep, emotional mystique of the "Kaddish" prayer (sung in Aramaic), its tragic pathos followed by the whimsical, cynical melancholy of "The Eternal Riddle" (sung in Yiddish), with its defiantly repetitive accompaniment. The IPO's attentive, subtle realization of the instrumental score endorsed the meaning of both movements. Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No.1, "Jeremiah" (1942), a remarkably challenging, imaginative and spiritual work to emerge from the pen of a 24-year-old composer, proved to be a prediction not only of his future success but also of the tragedy that would befall his own people. His astonishing mastery in depicting of the "intensity of the prophet’s pleas with his people" (the composer's own words) in "Prophecy" (1st movement) and of the "destruction and chaos brought on by the pagan corruption within the priesthood and the people" in "Profanation" (2nd movement) took shape as vivid, dazzling canvases, attesting to the IPO's forces, its rich array of orchestral colours and timbres and to the players' precision, their dynamic- and expressive command. Joining the orchestra in "Lamentation", the final movement, with texts (in Hebrew) from the Book of Lamentations, Bloch's performance was gripping and sensitive, her voice substantial, resonant and mellow, as she fervently evoked Jeremiah's mourning over his beloved Jerusalem. The vocal line was punctuated by elegantly-shaped orchestral interludes.

 

The program's Israeli content was provided by two short instrumental works. In "Tefillah" for string orchestra (1961), Tzvi Avni takes the listener through a generous sweep of emotions, from introspective-, inward-looking-, even whispy,otherworldly moments, to extravagant, breathless dance-like rhythms, the sections' contrasting agendas proceeding seamlessly by virtue of the composer's large palette of melodic ideas, combinations and textures. Fine concert fare! Principal violist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (1938-1956) Oedoen Partos composed "Yizkor" (In Memoriam) for viola and string orchestra in 1946 to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. Current IPO principal violist Dmitry Ratush gave an outstanding performance of this modal tone poem, his playing meticulously shaped, introspective and expressive, yet restrained, inviting the music itself to communicate its tragic message to the listener.

 

 Maestro Shani led the orchestra and soloists with eloquence.

A new recording by Myrna Herzog and Tal Arbel - "MATTHEW LOCKE: DUOS on Lewis viols from the same tree" - performed on twin historic bass viols

 

From what we have read, composer/theorist Matthew Locke (?1621-1677) was a headstrong, outspoken character who bore grudges and spoke his mind without much regard for the consequences. These traits did not, however, prevent him from becoming ranked as one of England's finest composers, albeit a composer living in turbulent times, times which saw the execution of a king, the temporary triumph of Republicanism and then the restoration of monarchy. When he died in August 1677, he had risen to become Charles II's Composer of the Wind Music and Composer for the Violins, and was at the forefront of re-establishing music at the Restoration. His works include a number of operas and the processional march for Charles II's coronation in 1661. Locke, however, has become a fairly obscure composer these days and unaccountably neglected, largely due to the fact that a lot of his music no longer exists. Nevertheless, an extensive collection of his chamber music has survived, thanks to the composer's own publishing efforts in the late 1660s. A recently-issued recording - "MATTHEW LOCKE: DUOS on Lewis viols from the same tree" - played by Myrna Herzog (Brazil-Israel) and Tal Arbel (Israel) offers listeners the opportunity to hear Locke's Duos for two bass viols, composed in 1652. They divide into four three-movement suites, each taking the form of two short fantasias followed by a triple-time dance.

 

What is unique here is that Herzog and Arbel play on twin historic viols produced at the turn of the 17^th century by distinguished British instrument maker Edward Lewis (1651-1717). Dendrochronology (the scientific method used to determine the age of a tree) has revealed that these two instruments were indeed made from the log of the same tree, felled around 1665. The more one listens to the suites, the more aware one becomes of the fact that each miniature movement is a perfectly constructed musical jewel, its richly beguiling melodic strains masterfully dovetailed. As each role challenges players with constant leaps between low and high registers, there is no 1st or 2nd part and the viols’ shared unique tonal harmony means that the listener is unable to distinguish between who is playing what and when! Two like-minded artists playing on identical twin instruments produce the perfect timbral blend. Herzog and Arbel's diligent reading into the pieces offers subtle reminders of Locke's experimenting with major/minor key clashes and contrasting rhythms. Waving the banner for English music, Locke has been quoted as saying that he "never yet saw any foreign instrumental composition worthy an English man's transcribing", but adding "a few French Corants excepted".  Indeed, evidence of his familiarity with the French style is present here via the presence of courants, although Locke's writing would have been significantly more virtuosic than French writing for viols at that time. Both the D major- and C minor Duos conclude with a fairly solid Corant, with the D major- and C major Duos each winding up with a buoyant, frisky Saraband, justifying this dance's place at the end as the fastest dance of the 17th-century suite.

 

I love the raw, real sound of the two Lewis viols; Myrna Herzog and Tal Arbel's playing on them emerges clean, unmannered and tasteful, both delicate and hearty, offering some eloquent affects, the overall soundscape nevertheless creating a colourful picture of the eccentric, inspired and daring composer himself. And, as they present the fine detail of each vignette, the players are obviously relishing their convivial musical conversations! The Duos juxtapose what Locke himself had referred to as "art and contrivance" with "light and airy musick".  Written for friends to play, and considered a part of the standard repertoire of gambists, this richly imaginative music is rarely performed in public. "MATTHEW LOCKE: DUOS on Lewis viols from the same tree" was recorded in May, 2024 by Eliahu Feldman at Ensemble PHOENIX’s centre in Raanana, Israel. Mastering was carried out by David Feldman, skilfully recreating the historical resonant ambiance suited to the viol sound. The cover photo was taken by Shlomo Moyal, the luthier who restored one of the viols following damage caused to it on a flight. Appearing on a number of digital platforms, the recording offers a rare opportunity to delight listeners in this pivotal and marvellous repertoire of the viol ensemble genre. 

 

 

J.C.F.Bach: Six Sonatas “für das Clavier mit Begleitung einer Flöte oder Violine” - a new recording on period instruments by Jochewed Schwarz (square piano) and Ashley Solomon (Baroque flute)

 

A recently-issued disc of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach’s Six Sonatas “für das Clavier mit Begleitung einer Flöte oder Violine” (for the Clavier, with flute or violin accompaniment), performed by Ashley Solomon (flute) and Jochewed Schwarz (pianoforte), offers the listening public an opportunity to visit works of the lesser-known third of Johann Sebastian Bach’s four composing sons. Born in Leipzig, the sixteenth of J.S.Bach’s twenty children, and the ninth child born from the union with Anna Magdalena, J.C.F.Bach (1732-1795) received his musical education from his father and from a distant cousin Johann Elias Bach, who lived in the Bach house, serving as J.S. Bach’s personal assistant. Christoph Friedrich also served as his father’s copyist for a number of years and, like his brothers and father, was known as a virtuoso keyboard player. In 1750, the year of his father's death, Friedrich was offered the position of harpsichordist at the court of Count Wilhelm of Schaumberg-Lippe in Bückeburg, nine years later being promoted to Konzertmeister. (To avoid confusion with other members of the Bach family, he is often referred to as "Friedrich" or the "Bückeburg Bach".)  In 1778, Friedrich took leave of absence from his post, travelling to London to visit his brother Johann Christian. While in London, he was exposed to the music of Mozart and the burgeoning Classical style, the music he heard in London influencing his later works. Friedrich was a versatile composer, writing in a variety of forms, including symphonies, chamber music, keyboard music and vocal works. The number of printed compositions was limited, however, by the cost of printing and publishing and his music remained mostly in manuscript form. Sadly, a considerable part of it was lost in World War II.

 

Friedrich developed musically in keeping with the stylistic fashions of his time: his mature style is  hybrid, equally influenced by Italian and German characteristics, while his late works clearly belong to the Classical style. It was the Italianate tastes of Count Wilhelm that forced Friedrich Bach to assimilate the characteristics of that style in his middle period works, including the works on this recording, which attest to the galant style. Jochewed Schwarz spoke of this salon music as having been written not for professional- or virtuosic musicians (albeit not without challenges) but for the personal enjoyment and creativity of  players, the players, in this case, possibly including Count Wilhelm himself. Composed in the standard three-movement form some time before 1776 and published in Riga in 1777, the piano parts appeared in the C-clef. Indeed, to date, only three of the six have been published in modern notation.

 

In contrast to the title given to these sonatas, the melody instrument (the transverse Baroque flute here) does not accompany the harpsichord; different as they are in character and timbre, the two instruments perform as equal partners, their roles intertwining, commenting and imitating, at times, each busy with their own agendas. The artists' choice of instruments bears mentioning: Ashley Solomon chose to play a flute by Martin Wenner (2005) after Carlo Palanca (c.1750). In contrast to many other Baroque flutes, Turin bassoonist/instrument maker Palanca built his instruments with an oval embouchure, making for a more powerful sound, not rough in timbre, but rather offering diverse tonal shadings. Jochewed Schwarz plays a square piano by Johannes Zumpe and Gabriel Buntebart (1769). It seems that the oldest known square pianos were made in 1766 by Zumpe himself, a German instrument maker working in London and the first to inspire general interest in this instrument. Gabriel Buntebart, another of the numerous German piano makers settling in London during the mid-18th century, worked with the famous Johannes Zumpe until 1778. This square piano (housed in the Cobbe Collection) possesses a more metallic sound than Zumpe's later instruments, which were larger and fuller in sound.

 

Splendid salon music, the sonatas, although less elitist than some court repertoire of the time, are far from superficial. They invite players to be creative and spontaneous. Schwarz and Solomon's performance of the Six Sonatas vouches for well-oiled teamwork, their sense of rediscovery and fine-spun music-making giving splendid expression to J.C.F.Bach's wealth of lyrical melodies, his delicate textures and to the composer's refined sense of harmony, as the artists engage individually in a diversity of embellishments. The very different timbres of the two instruments do not hinder one's concept of the music; indeed, they make for a transparent texture, inviting the listener to choose how to listen to its various strands and textures at any given moment. As to dance forms, Minuets conclude five of the sonatas, with the Polonaise, evoking proudly-stepping couples, appearing (Andante alla Polacca) as the second movement of four of the sonatas. All the sonatas are in major keys except for Sonata No.1 in D minor, which the artists have strategically placed as the fifth item on the disc. Following the flowing, busy, spirited opening of Sonata No.1's Allegretto, the Andante presents a scene atypical of the works of this collection - sections of their elegiac, introspective joint playing are punctuated by recitative-type keyboard sections, with Schwarz' solos of an improvisatory- and harmonically audacious nature emerging as spontaneous, as each new moment of musical speculation asks to be probed. Then, whisking away any trace of the enigmatic Andante, the final Allegro takes us back to Friedrich's vibrant, ebullient music, its lengthy phrases enhanced by some inégal playing. 

 

Recorded in February 2023 at the Cobbe Collection Trust, Surrey, UK, a handsome property of the National Trust, this disc provides insight into both the constraints and breadth of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach's writing in his employ at the court of Count Wilhelm of Schaumberg-Lippe. Enquiring deeply into this very specific repertoire and its cultural background, Jochewed Schwarz (Israel) and Ashley Solomon (UK) present the interplay of two fascinating period instruments, creating much interest for the listener. Recorded for the Meridian label, the CD's natural, clean sound zeroes in on the artists' mindfulness of fine detail, highlighting their understanding of the personal character of the music. 

Sheer delight!

 

Jochewed Schwarz & Ashley Solomon (Luisa Salomon)

Ensemble Nuria performs traditional Italian-Jewish music at the Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art, Jerusalem

 

Ensemble Nuria  (Ari Bloch)

Located in the building of the Italian Synagogue, Jerusalem, the Museum of Italian Jewish Art provided the ideal setting for a concert of Italian Jewish music performed by Ensemble Nuria (artistic director - Ayela Seidelman, original arrangements - Bari Moscovitz) on September 19th 2024. Welcoming the audience was Daniel Niv, curator of the Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art. Ruth Diskin, director of the Culture and Arts Projects department of the Jerusalem Foundation, spoke of the Jerusalem Foundation's support of local culture.

 

All the melodies performed in the program stemmed from the Jewish traditional music of Venice, Rome, Ferrara, Florence, Livorno and other Italian communities. Most were Hebrew liturgical songs and poems known as "Piyyutim". Following the annihilation of Italian Jewry in the Holocaust, this repertoire was in danger of being lost, were it not for the tireless effort of Italian-Israeli ethnomusicologist Leo Levi, who, following World War II, devoted decades to recording traditional melodies sung by 20 Italian-Jewish communities. It is due to him that this cultural legacy has been preserved. (Two of Levi's daughters were present at the concert.) Of Ensemble Nuria's contribution to this auspicious project, Ayela Seidelman writes: "The task of reviving these pieces and preserving them in the fuller context of the Italian culture they inhibited was fascinating, as the works revealed themselves in their unique beauty and spirit".

 

Ensemble Nuria comprises an impressive line-up of international singers and instrumentalists, the instrumental ensemble made up of an uncommon mix of instruments, the four singers taking part in this event being Keren Kedem, Yair Harel, David Lavi and Fr. Alberto Pari. Each item presented different timbral settings, highlighting the song texts as well as the versatility of the artists. To mention just a few: a rendition of "Ki Lo Naeh" (He is worthy of our praise), a Passover song from the community of Alessandria, opened with tenor/guitarist David Lavi's beautiful singing of the melody, its instrumental solos and hearty build-up of textures then to include all four singers. Issuing in an emotional setting of "Kol Nidrei" (All vows), the declaration opening the Day of Atonement, was Keren Kedem, followed by David Lavi, the unison singing of the vocalists subscribing to the significance of the Day of Atonement, emerging all the more compelling with the haunting sounds of tubular bells and Yair Harel's spiritual, richly-timbred and imposing treatment of the melody.

 

No concert of Italian Jewish music would be complete without a work of Italian-Jewish violinist/court composer Salamone Rossi (Mantua). David Lavi's discerningly-phrased and cantabile singing of Rossi's setting of "Barechu" (Let us praise) from Rossi's "Songs of Solomon" (1623) was complemented by mellifluous playing on the part of the bowed instruments.  And from Catholic composer Benedetto Marcello's 13 transcriptions of piyyutim from Venetian synagogues, we heard the Passover song "Avadim Hayinu/Schiavi fummo" (We were slaves), featuring the warm, mellow tenor voice of  Fr. Pari (Franciscan Order, director of the Magnificat Music School, Jerusalem) singing in both Hebrew and Italian (the Hebrew text replacing the Latin used by Marcello), with instrumental "comments" featuring, among others, Adi Silberberg's imaginative and elaborate recorder-playing.

 

Formerly known as "Ensemble Bet Hagat", Ensemble Nuria, founded by Canadian-born 'cellist Ayela Seidelman, has assumed the important mission of keeping alive almost-forgotten treasures of early Jewish music, such as were heard at the Jerusalem concert. In his rich, subtle arrangements, Bari Moscovitz (lute/theorbo) mixes timbres of the (mostly) period instruments, (those including early percussion) with those of the singers in music-making that inspires both performers and listeners. The artists' polished performance and lush collaborative ensemble sound, together with their deep enquiry into this repertoire, invited the audience to experience the different sound worlds of each piece as well as the individual musical expression of each artist.  The Ensemble's debut album "Illumination - Italian-Jewish Spiritual Music" was selected by the American Record Guide as one of the best albums of 2020.

Mozart - the Girl Prodigy. Keyboard artist Gili Loftus gives a lecture-recital at the 2024 Witches? Festival in Jerusalem

Gili Loftus (SergioVeranesStudio)

 

The Witches? Festival (music director: David Shemer), an annual event under the auspices of the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, addresses the subject of women composers and performers in music. "Mozart: the Girl Prodigy", taking place in the conference hall of the Jerusalem International YMCA on September 17th, 2024, was presented by keyboard artist Gili Loftus (Canada-Israel), performing on a fortepiano by Chris Maene (Ruiselede Belgium, 2009), a copy of an instrument by Walter, 1790, Vienna. The lecture-recital shed light on W.A.Mozart's elder sister Maria Anna, usually referred to as Nannerl, their mother Anna Maria Walburga Mozart and on the close ties within the Mozart family.

 

Hearing readings on how Nannerl toured Europe with her father (Leopold) and younger brother Wolfgang, we understand that she was far from being in her brother’s shadow. In fact, in a letter, Leopold Mozart had written that "my little girl, although she is only 12 years old, is one of the most skilful players in Europe.” Nannerl also composed. In a painting by Johann Nepomuk Della Croce 1780/1781 showing the siblings at the keyboard, Leopold standing at the side, with a portrait of (the deceased) Anna Maria on the wall, we see that Wolfgang and Nannerl continued to engage in music-making into their late 20s. When Nannerl reached marriageable age, her father stopped taking her on tour. She carried on composing until her marriage in 1784. Sadly, no works of hers survive.

 

For the first musical item of the evening, Gili Loftus was joined by David Shemer to perform Mozart's Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in D major, K. 381/123a (1772), a piece Wolfgang and Nannerl played when touring Europe as child prodigies. (They would most likely have played it on the harpsichord, since the hammered fortepiano did not replace the former until the following decade. The lack of dynamic markings in the manuscript probably indicates that the piece was indeed written for harpsichord.) The artists addressed the work's large (somewhat orchestrally-conceived) range of gestures and textures in the effervescent outer movements, the Andante (second) movement's direct songfulness, with its effective use of low bass tones, enriched by some imaginative ornamenting, to be followed by the comic-opera-style repartee of the final Allegro molto. 

 

A far cry from Mozart's cheerful, spry sonata oeuvre composed up to that point, Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K.310/300d, the first of only two Mozart piano sonatas in minor keys, was composed in the summer of 1778. At that time, the composer was visiting Paris and tending to his ailing mother. She would die there on July 3rd. Mozart was 22. (Although the sonata's darker "terrain" tends to be linked to the death of Mozart’s mother, and this cannot be ruled out, there is no authentic evidence that points to such a connection.) Following the energy generated by the bold, defiant gestures of the opening movement, Loftus' playing of the second movement (Andante cantabile) was poignant, reflective and resourcefully embellished, emerging with an air of spontaneity, then to be swept aside by her candid, energetic reading of the Presto, her meticulous finger-work producing each gesture with clarity. An outstanding performance!

 

Georges Bizet, a virtuoso pianist himself, transcribed the entire "Don Givanni" opera for piano solo at the request of Heugel & Cie (published 1866). Loftus made a hearty reference to Mozart the opera composer with three movements from "Don Giovanni" (arr. Bizet/Loftus), her spirited, forthright and genial presentation of moments from this "dramma giocoso" emerging characterful, vividly conveyed and engaging the fortepiano's imposing timbral and dynamic palette. With Zerlina's sweetly coquettish aria "Vedrai carino" (You'll see, dear one) sandwiched between the zesty Overtura and the cheeky "Eh via buffone" (Go on, fool), this item made for vivid, entertaining concert fare.

 

The recital concluded on a personal note, with Gili Loftus' pensive, insightful rendition of the Largo from Sonata in A minor Wq 50/3 by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. 

 

Known for her expertise on fortepiano, modern piano and harpsichord, for her publications and for her solo- and collaborative performances, Gili Loftus today makes her home in Montreal.

"Schubert" - a recent release: Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg (Silver-Garburg piano duo) record late Schubert works for four hands

 

The tradition of composing music for piano four hands originated in the genial salons of the Austro-German upper class. No other prominent composer has left as many works for piano duet as Franz Schubert. His 54 works of the genre (one being his earliest work) would have provided the composer and his friends with many hours of enjoyable music-making, filled with energy and virtuosity, taking place in the lively atmosphere of salon gatherings. As of his early teens and until the final year of his life, Schubert wrote 4-hand works in various forms, those works including fantasias, dances, marches, variations, rondos, sonatas, and more. Several of Schubert's most significant works for four hands had their origins in his two visits to the summer residence of Count Esterházy at Zseliz, Hungary (1818, 1824) where the composer was employed to provide music for the family to play, in addition to giving piano and singing lessons to the two young countesses - Caroline and Marie. By the last years of Schubert's life, there was also an increase in households that could afford to buy pianos, motivating him to write piano duets remarkable in quality and quantity. In the Silver-Garburg Piano Duo's recently-issued two-disc album "Schubert", Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg explore some of Schubert's four-hand repertoire from the composer's latter years. 

On this recording, Silver and Garburg perform one of the major works of the second Zseliz visit - the Variations on an Original Theme in A flat major D.813, published in February 1825. From their plain-sailing, noble presentation of the Allegretto theme, the artists show the listener through the gamut of the variations' contrasting moods, gestures and textures, the cantabile shaping of melodies a constant reminder of Schubert the Lied composer, as the work concludes with a zesty Siciliano offering the primo a concerto-like display of virtuosity. 

As to Schubert's Grand Duo Sonata in C major (1824), the magnum opus of the composer's oeuvre for piano duo (also composed in Schubert's second visit to Zseliz) Silver and Garburg create a coherent stream seamlessly connecting gesture to gesture, unfolding the sudden unconventional shifts woven via the composer's new harmonic routes, with their playing constantly provoking fresh curiosity on the part of the listener. Following the splendid expression the artists give to the restless energy of the Allegro moderato, their reading of the second movement (Andante), carefully paced, empathic and introspective, seems to reflect Schubert's own personal soul-searching. From the Scherzo, ebullient and unbridled, juxtaposing the two main ideas propelling the convivial, zestful conversation between the two sets of hands, the Trio - suddenly sombre, plangent and indrawn - takes the listener once again into Schubert's wistful, ruminative inner world. Delivering the final movement (Allegro vivace) with clarity and vibrance, the artists present its kaleidoscope of splendid, richly dovetailed melodies (one drawing its inspiration from a Hungarian dance loved by the Esterházy patrons) with transitions played out with a touch of whimsy. Schumann had considered the Grand Duo a study for a symphony. Brahms arranged it for orchestra in 1855. Silver and Garburg's performance of it, however, speaks of pianistic expression, articulacy, poise, good taste and balance.

The year of Schubert’s death (he died November 19th 1828) was marked - particularly from its springtime - by an extraordinary burst of artistic creativity, propelled by a frenetic working pace. The four works from 1828 heard on this disc call to mind the diversity of Schubert's writing even in his last months. 

Composed at the beginning of his last year (January-March 1828) and dedicated to Caroline Esterházy (with whom it seems Schubert was deeply in love) the Fantasia in F minor D 940 Op. 103, a work of monumental structure, stands alone in musical repertoire. From the hauntingly beautiful opening melody, via its quicksilver major-minor shifts between journeys to unexpected tonalities, Silver and Garburg present the piece's enormous range of emotions - a stern, majestic section of trills, defiant double-dotted gestures, the playful, kindly “con delicatezza” section and finally a fugue that spirals into a massive structure, finally to invite back the opening melody. One of the subtler performances of the Fantasie I have heard, I feel these artists stand back in order to reveal what lies behind the written notes on the page, as they present the work's rich soundscape and poetry, always staying well clear of over-statement. 

Silver and Garburg create a richly crafted musical canvas in their playing of the magnificent Allegro in A minor Op. Posth.144 D.947 (May 1828), also known as "Lebensstürme" (“Storms of Life”, this sobriquet given posthumously by Anton Diabelli), a work offering insight into the emotional complexity of Schubert’s inner life. From the compelling clamour of the opening chords, through imposing sonorities, rhythmic energy and Schubert's harmonic daring set in the unsmiling key of A minor, to the enigmatic second subject, a somewhat otherworldly hymn-like chorale in the remote territory of A-flat major, the two players conjoin consummately to give voice to the work's electrifying drama and sublimity of expression.

The duo's playing of the Rondo in A major Op.107, D.951 (June,1828) gives delightful expression to the piece's sunny, flowing lyricism, its mood of contented innocence and freely treated decorative themes, their relaxed dialogue enhanced by shimmering statements from the Steinway & Sons piano's silvery descant register. 

The only work Schubert wrote for the organ, the Fugue in E minor, posth.152, D.952 (July, 1828), followed his personal encounter with the works of Georg Friedrich Händel, prompting the composer to endeavour to improve his own grasp of fugue and counterpoint writing, a weakness he perceived in himself. Silver and Garburg's unmannered and transparent reading of the piece proves otherwise, as their clean, uncluttered playing calls attention to every entry of the fugue subject (either true or false), the brilliant interconnecting of the work's thematic material leading to Bach-like sophisticated multi layering.

Israeli-born Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg, now residing in Berlin, have an impressive series of recordings to their names, this double album holding particular meaning for the duo: the first work they played together as students was Schubert's F minor Fantasia. Recorded in September 2021, a coproduction of Radio Bremen and Berlin Classics, the disc highlights the pianists' profound reading into each of the works, their insight, subtlety, aesthetic sense, their understanding of the Romantic musical salon environment and their flawless teamwork. Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg have dedicated the album to the memory of sound engineer Renate Wolter-Seevers, the duo's long-time collaborator and friend. 

 

 

At the concert opening its 87th season, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra hosts Omer Meir Wellber and Jacob Reuven in a program of music of Vivaldi and Dvorak

 

Jacob Reuven & Omer Meir Wellber (www.jso.co.il)

The Henry Crown Auditorium of the Jerusalem Theatre was alive with anticipation on September 5th 2024 for the opening concert of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra's 87th Classical Series. Conducting the concert was Omer Meir Wellber (also harpsichord, accordion) and Jacob Reuven (mandolin). Both artists were born in Be'er Sheva, Israel.

 

The event began with one of the earliest examples of the program music genre - Antonio Vivaldi's "Le quattro stagioni” (The Four Seasons) - four violin concertos published with accompanying poems (possibly written by Vivaldi himself) - the score replete with details and images relating to each season. At this festive concert, we were to hear the work in a different setting. There would be no violin soloist. Omer Meir Wellber's setting, calling for strings, continuo, accordion and mandolin, originated from Jacob Reuven's desire to perform the virtuosic violin solo role of "The Four Seasons" on mandolin (Reuven himself has done adaptations of several virtuosic works) together with Maestro Wellber's own wish to explore new contemporary approaches to continuo-playing. Seated next to Reuven at the front of the stage was Wellber at the harpsichord, facing the strings behind him, the accordion strapped to his back, allowing him both to conduct, to turn to Reuven and constantly to switch from accordion to harpsichord. The result was a vibrant, richly-timbred and deep inquiry into this highly familiar work, fired by the captivating detail and brilliance of Reuven's mandolin playing, in collaboration with Wellber's own quick-witted, articulate and well-shaped delivery and his guiding of the JSO string players. This sparkling, zesty musical setting, in keeping with how Vivaldi intended it to depict Nature's beauty and sound associations, offers tender dialogues between Wellber and Reuven, the duets and other ensemble moments also involving orchestral players. A bold, original artist, Wellber creates Vivaldi's marvellously contrasted soundscapes with his own palette of timbres, rendering idyllic, lush nature depictions, pulsating, forthright tutti wrought of Italian joie-de-vivre and a sense of spontaneity, down to the finest spun, gossamer-like pianississimo utterances. Adding the accordion and mandolin to the work opens up a new, beguiling mix of musical colours. Under the fingers of Wellber, with his innovative approach to continuo-playing, the accordion weaves finely-sculpted, mellifluous melodies, at times, manifesting a gripping, pivotal presence. Under Reuven's fingers, the mandolin's tremolo sings and serenades in subtle tones of elegant delivery, then to transform into an instrument capable of substantial, dense textures and dramatic expression despite its modest size! In an interview in 2022, Maestro Wellber summed up the project (which also includes Piazzolla's "Four Seasons of Buenos Aires") as resulting from "when musicians come together with a shared passion for pushing boundaries and creating something truly extraordinary." and "the joy of experiencing familiar music in an entirely new light". The audience at the Jerusalem Theatre was exhilarated and delighted to be part of this experiential revisiting of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons".  For their encore, Wellber and Reuven entertained listeners with a gently sentimental Venetian waltz, performed with charm and a touch of whimsy.

 

Of his Symphony No.8 in G major, Op.88, B.163 (1889), Antonin Dvořák had said that he wanted “to write a work different from my other symphonies, with individual ideas worked out in a new manner.” With the key of G major considered more appropriate to folk music and song than to symphonic works, the composer discloses the work's inspiration as deriving from the Bohemian folk music he so loved. Calling for a large orchestra, the work's heart-warming Czech melodies and symphonic mastery make for appealing concert fare. Communicating convincingly and overtly with his players, Maestro Wellber (sans baton) spares no energy in recreating the work's many moods swiftly flowing in a colourful and invigorating sequence of lyrical pastoral images, dance- and march temperaments as well as its moments of pathos and drama alongside passages reflecting Dvorak's poetic voice. With the 'cellos carrying much of the melodic weight, there was also much fine playing on the part of the woodwinds and some splendid solos.

 

The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra saw in the 2024-2025 concert season with an evening brimming with dazzling sounds, interest, originality and the joy and optimism good music has to offer.

 

 

 

 

 

"Polyphony", a collaborative concert of Baroque music performed in Jerusalem by the Mezzo Ensemble, Ensemble Naya and the Jerusalem Vocal Consort. Vocal soloists: Yeela Avital, Yaniv d'Or

 

Claudio Monteverdi

Salamone Rossi manuscript

The Mezzo Ensemble (artistic director: Doret Florentin) hosted Ensemble Naya and the Jerusalem Vocal Consort in “Polyphony”, an evening of mostly Italian Baroque works at the Eastern Music Center, Jerusalem, on June 30th, 2024. Vocal soloists were Yeela Avital (soprano) and Yaniv d'Or (countertenor). Playing on Baroque period instruments were Doret Florentin (recorders), Noam Schuss (violin), Orit Messer-Jacobi ('cello), Gideon Brettler (guitar) and Aviad Stier (harpsichord). 

Works of Claudio Monteverdi constituted a major part of the evening's program, meaning that emotions would be running high as, within the course of just a few bars, Monteverdi's madrigals would take  performers and listeners through a whole realm of human experience. Yeela Avital and Yaniv d'Or, the vocal ensemble and instrumentalists opened with “Ardo, avvampo mi struggo” (“I burn, I burn, in flames I melt.”) in which love is, quite literally, a disaster as the singers urge to “tell everyone of the danger!” In “Et e pur dunque vero” (Is it then true), to an ostinato bass and affected by Monteverdi's use of dissonance, Avital, haughty yet vulnerable, was convincing in the role of the slighted, angry lover. Then, introduced by two solo singers, we heard a fresh, well-integrated performance of "Vago augelletto che cantando vai" (Pretty little bird, you that are singing), distinctive for its dance rhythms and changing moods and tempi. In "Si dolce è’l tormento" (So sweet is the torment), its wistful text telling of a broken heart leading it to the "victim" being suspended between hope and pain, we are reminded of how Monteverdi renders texts with a radically modern sense of human subjectivity. The song provided a fine template for d'Or's expressive facility, with hearty sonic interest added by the guitar (Brettler) and an embellished version of the melody played by Florentin. But that wasn't all: on stage, engaging in movement and some vocalization, three women dancers (choreography: Michal Grover-Friedlander) conveyed the text's theme of heartbreak and unreciprocated love. In "Lamento della Ninfa" (the Nymph’s Lament), written over the ground-bass pattern moving through a descending minor tetrachord ("lament emblem"), we hear the nymph (Avital) lamenting her fate in the middle section and the choir of pastori (male choir members) introducing, commenting and concluding the nymph's story in splendidly blended singing (note again the daring Monteverdi dissonances!) Prefacing this piece, the composer had specified that the soloist was "to sing according to her emotions" (al tempo dell’affetto del animo), while the pastori were expected to sing at a regular beat (al tempo della mano). Avital's interpretation gave poignant expression to the nymph's depth of despair.

When Claudio Monteverdi arrived at the court of Mantua, he was initially engaged there as a viol player (a fact often overlooked), where instrumental music played an important role. The latter was largely dominated by the violinist Salomone Rossi. Playing the upper parts of Rossi's "Sonata dialogo detta la Viena", Noam Schuss and Doret Florentin highlighted the piece's conversational nature, with the two parts taking turns, playing independently rather than sharing themes. Anchored onto a mostly harmonic bass line, the unique style of this trio sonata (Rossi was a pioneer of the trio sonata form) invited Schuss and Florentin to attest to the work's improvised nature, as each retained her individual style of performance. Rossi’s great claim to Jewish musical fame came with his publication in 1623 of "Ha-Shirim Asher li-Shelomo", a collection of 33 Psalms and other liturgical poems (with Hebrew texts) set for combinations of from three to eight voices and intended for use on festive synagogue occasions. There is little information as to the manner in which any of  Ha-Shirim were performed. In "Barekhu'' (Bless the Lord), the solo was sung by d'Or (the precentor), with sections sung by the vocal ensemble (congregation) and some instrumental solos, the harpsichord solo (Aviad Stier) concluding the piece. Rossi's "Kaddish" (a doxology sanctifying God’s name) was sung a-cappella. The singers gave lively expression to this strophic song written in the balletto style, colouring its joyous dancelike manner with dynamic-, textural and tempo variety and the use of a tambourine. 

 

 

 It is always a joy to revisit Tarquinio Merula's exuberant Ciaccona from the "Canzoni overo sonate concertate per chiesa e camera" (1637), its short bass ostinato pattern (here, introduced by Orit Messer-Jacobj) providing the treble instruments with the structure for variation and melodic invention.  Florentin and Schuss handled these roles with gusto and mastery. The final Italian work on the program was Antonio Lotti's 8-voiced "Crucifixus". Issued in by the lowest basses, the choral weave builds up with suspensions, the texture soaring into piercing intensity by the time the highest voice enters. The singers called attention to the motet's variety, incessant invention and outrageous, luscious harmonies, the work representative of music written for the Basilica of San Marco in Venice at a time when expense and extravagance were not spared!

 

The concert concluded with works of J.S.Bach, beginning with "Leget Euch dem Heiland" (Lay yourselves beneath the Saviour) from “Himmelskönig sei willkommen” BWV 182, the aria given a moving and profound rendering by d'Or, with Florentin's playing of the recorder obbligato elegantly shaped. Concluding the program was "Ich lasse dich nicht" (I will not let you go), Bach’s earliest known motet, written not later than 1712, and possibly his most unusual (leading scholars to be suspicious about it being from the pen of J.S. Bach). Both introspective and playful, the two-movement motet for double choir made for a rewarding and moving conclusion to the program. And there was one more offering - J.S.Bach's funeral chorale "Dir, Jesu, Gottes Sohn, sei Preis" (To you Jesus, God's son, be praise) performed by all singers and instrumentalists.

It was an evening of fine collaboration and informed, high-quality performance.