Concerts celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
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The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Celebrating 75 RECENT ENTRIES
Years of Music Making Opera at the Salzburg Summer
Festival
By Dr. Irving Spitz on September 13, 2011 5:06 PM | Comments | Of the three new productions, one was
outstanding, one academic and the third
This year is the 75th anniversary of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO), traditional.The 2011 Salzburg Festival featured
six full…
originally known as the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra and founded by the
By Dr. Irving Spitz
violinist Bronislaw Huberman. The inaugural concert was conducted by Arturo
Toscanini in December 1936. The current season also celebrated the 50 year
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra:
anniversary of Zubin Mehta’s first appearance with the IPO. He was appointed
music director in 1977 and music director for life in 1981. To commemorate
Celebrating 75 Years of Music
these milestones, the IPO put on special performances. Making
This year is the 75th anniversary of the Israel
Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO), originally known
The pianist Daniel Barenboim performed all five Beethoven piano concertos in as the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra and…
two concerts with Zubin Mehta and the IPO. In the concert that I attended, he By Dr. Irving Spitz
gave a most memorable account of the second, third and fourth concertos.
Barenboim’s stamina is phenomenal. How many pianists can play three Jerusalem's Season of Culture: An
concertos in one evening? The last time I heard such a tour de force was innovative approach spanning the
with the legendary Arthur Rubinstein with the same orchestra in Jerusalem worlds of music, dance, poetry and
in the early 70’s. I also once heard, Barenboim playing the two gigantic
philosophy
Brahms concerti in a single concert in New York. This year saw the inauguration of the first
Jerusalem Season of Culture. One of the highly
Rehearsal time seemed to have been minimum. This showed though in the acclaimed events of this…
rendition of the second piano concerto where in the first movement, piano and By Dr. Irving Spitz
orchestra were not always in perfect unison and some of the orchestral
entrances were somewhat tentative. However everything came together in the
adagio slow movement where conductor, orchestra and pianist were in perfect
unison. The music just flowed and pianist and orchestra ended the third
movement with a flourish. The influence of Haydn and Mozart in this concerto
(which was actually Beethoven’s first piano concerto) was very evident.
Barenboim’s deeply probing account of the more mature third concerto was
revelatory. Once again, he captured all the subtleties of the largo and was
accompanied by very accomplished woodwind playing. There was also a well
articulated powerful introspective rendering of the fourth piano concerto with
beautiful nuanced playing. Again, most impressive of all was the andante con
moto slow movement. His tempi and emphasis were right on the mark. Again
brass, woodwinds and strings played admirably. The ebullient final movement
ended with a flourish and brought the dramatic concert to a fitting end.
Barenboim’s interpretation can serve as a gold standard with which one can
judge future performances.
At this concert at the home base of the IPO in Tel Aviv’s Mann auditorium,
there were two huge screens on either side of the stage where pianist,
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conductor and orchestra were projected. I have never seen this before in a
concert hall although it is a well established practice in large open air
performances. This is a good idea and gives the audience sitting on the right
side of the hall the possibility of visualizing the pianist’s finger-work. However
to be fully effective, the camera crew must have an understanding of the score.
In this instance, the cameras were not always appropriately focused on the key
event of the moment.
In another show stopping event, Zubin Mehta gave an incandescent rendering
of Schoenberg’s Gurreliede with the IPO. In addition to his prowess as an
operatic conductor, Mehta excels in the repertoire of Mahler, Stravinsky,
Shostakovich, Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School. He clearly feels a
great affinity for Gurreliede which he has conducted previously with the IPO
and as I recollect, it was the last work he conducted as he concluded his 13 year
tenure with the New York Philharmonic.
Gurreliede is based on poems by the Danish novelist Jens Peter Jacobsen and
revolves around the love of the Danish king Waldemar for his mistress Tove
who was murdered by Waldemar's jealous Queen.
Schoenberg began the project in 1900 in a late-romantic style influenced by
Wagner, Bruckner and Mahler. He soon abandoned it and spent most of the
decade developing his atonal 12-tone music for which he is associated today.
Later, he returned to the score and completed the orchestration. The work was
premiered in 1913. By this time, Schoenberg had completely abandoned this
romantic style.
This large scale choral work requires a huge orchestra, two choirs and five vocal
soloists as well as a narrator. The IPO responded appropriately and strings,
percussion, brass and woodwind played impeccably. All vocal soloists were
impressive. Particularly noteworthy were soprano Jennifer Wilson as Tove and
mezzo-soprano Daniela Denschlag as the Wood Dove. Tenor Daniel Kirch was
an excellent Waldemar. Also making significant contributions were the Prague
Philharmonic Choir and the Gary Bertini Israeli Choir. Gurreliede represented
a fitting climax to a noteworthy season.
From where I was sitting in the Mann Auditorium, acoustics seemed somewhat
muffled and wooden. The auditorium has been in continuous use since it
opened in 1957 and is scheduled to undergo acoustic renewal and
refurbishment over the next year. In the following season, concerts will be
performed in other venues in the city. One hopes that these structural
alterations will enhance the acoustics of this Tel Aviv landmark.
