Music in Israel
by Natan Mishori
In the early years of the
state, some 13 years after the central "towers" of music in
Israel were built - the Israel
Philharmonic Orchestra, which was founded in Tel
Aviv in 1936 on the initiative of the Jewish violinist, Bronislav
Huberman who brought the best Jewish players from Europe, and the
Israel Broadcasting Authority Orchestra, which was founded in
Jerusalem in the same year - every music loving citizen could travel
to hear concerts performed, mainly by musicians from the
"towers," and only seldom would he have to choose between
two concerts on the same day. Today the situation is radically
different. Anyone willing to devote an entire week to hearing the
concerts given throughout Israel, could not manage it. Even hearing
more than one concert a day, one could attend but a minuscule part of
all the musical events in the country, which, geographically
speaking, is one of the smallest among the countries of western
musical culture, but one constantly expanding in breadth and depth.
For example, on a typical
Friday morning, one could hear concerts with explanations given by
the Tel Aviv Symphony Orchestra in the auditorium of the Israel
Conservatory or a chamber-music concert at the Tel Aviv Museum. In
the afternoon, one could choose between a symphonic concert performed
by the Philharmonic in the Mann Auditorium, or a performance of the
New Israel Opera in the Golda Meir Arts Centre, inaugurated in
October, 1994. If music-lovers would rather hear Bach's B minor Mass,
they could go to the Recanati Auditorium in the Tel Aviv Museum or
drive to the church in Abu-Ghosh near Jerusalem.
One could also attend a concert of Jewish and Israeli music, given in
the Bnei Zion Auditorium of the Diaspora Museum on the campus of Tel
Aviv University. If the music lovers prefer to hear chamber music or
a recital while sitting at a table with coffee and cake, they can
drive to the Yuval Club in Ramat Hasharon in the evening, after the
other concerts are finished. Or one could drive to Kibbutz Shefayim,
not far from Tel Aviv, which regularly hosts the Kibbutz Chamber
Orchestra.
Those who are attracted to
the various forms of Jewish religious music could attend one of the
many synagogue services throughout Israel on Sabbath morning.
Afterwards, they can choose one of the choral, orchestral, chamber,
or solo concerts that regularly take place at the Tzavta Club in Tel
Aviv, or in Beit Alon in the nearby town of Givatayim, or drive
further afield.
After the Sabbath,
music bursts forth at full volume. By way of example, on Saturday
night, January 28, 1995, in the Tel Aviv area alone, one could have
(1) listened to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, led by the Russian
conductor Gennadi Rozhdestvensky at the Mann Auditorium, presenting
the premiere of a cello concerto by the Israeli composer (an
immigrant from the USSR), Yan Freidelin, with the cellist Michael
Haran, and works by Dvorcak and Shostakovich; or (2) Rossini's
"The Barber of Seville" performed by Israeli and guest
singers conducted by Steven Sloan, with unconventional scenery by the
director, Dario Po in the Golda Meir Arts Centre, or (3) in the Tel
Aviv Museum, a programme of lieder, chamber music, lectures and films
in a concert dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the
French composer Gabriel Faure; or (4) in the excellent new auditorium
of the Israel Conservatory in Tel Aviv, the Campus Orchestra
performed works by Haydn and Mozart conducted by Sam Zebba; or (5) in
the Emmanuel Church, Jaffa, works of the baroque and the 20th
century, played on an organ built by Gideon Shamir, accompanied by
Kashtaniot Camerata from Ramat-Ha-Sharon, a group of women string
players; or (6) in the Ramat Gan Theatre, the local chamber ensemble
performing works by Schubert and Schumann; or (7) in the Bikurei Ha-Itim
Centre in Tel Aviv, the composer Daniel Galai presenting several of
his works.
Other concerts took place in Jerusalem, in Haifa and elsewhere. However, since not all the concerts that are given
throughout the country are announced in the press, local music-lovers
will miss many concerts, and tourists will have a problem to learn of
their existence. Some 20 years ago, the American violinist Isaac
Stern, with the assistance of the America-Israel Cultural
Foundation, established the "Concert Network," the purpose
of which was to foster public performances of chamber music,
especially in the kibbutzim. This institution has now become the
music department of Omanut La'Am ("Art for the People,") a
division of the Ministry of Culture. Its purpose is defined by its
director, Vered Tsarfati, as "creating the possibility that
everyone throughout Israel may enjoy as rich a selection of music as
exists in Tel Aviv."
From Omanut La'Am, one may
learn of the abundant musical activity taking place all over the
country. A perusal of their booklet, Musika (1994), reveals both the
quantity and the variety in their concerts. Briefly, there were: 27
recitalists, including 21 pianists, three guitarists and lutanists,
two harpists and a percussionist; 39 duos; 19 trios; 12 quartets in
many different vocal and instrumental combinations in addition to
five string quartets, there were six others, including a vocal
quartet and a saxophone quartet; "special ensembles"
intended to perform specific works, especially contemporary Israeli
and international music by the Ensemble Musica Nova, and music for
wind bands performed by the wind players of the Israeli Chamber
Orchestra, and even African music performed by the Calabash Ensemble;
some 20 musicians and singers in various groups, concentrating on
early music from the Renaissance and Baroque, of which the flautist
Michael Meltzer is one of the leading participants; the Baroque
String Orchestra, directed and conducted by David Shamir; eight adult
choruses and five children's choruses, including one of immigrant
children from Ethiopia several of which have won international
prizes, the New Israel Opera, and finally, 14 orchestras.
Since the orchestras
represent a central fulcrum of the development of music in Israel, we
shall list the orchestras that take part in the activities of Omanut
La'Am, with the dates of their establishment: The Israeli
Philharmonic (1936); the Israel Broadcasting Authority/Jerusalem
Symphony Orchestra (1936); the Haifa Symphony Orchestra (1950); the
Israel Chamber Orchestra (1968); the Kibbutz Chamber Orchestra
(1970); the Israel Sinfonietta of Beersheba (1976); the Young
Philharmonic Orchestra (1984); the Rehovot Camerata Orchestra (1985);
the Symphonic Orchestra of Rishon Le-Zion; the Symphonette Orchestra
of Ra'anana (1991); Kashaniot Camerata (1991); the Tel Aviv Symphony
Orchestra (1992); the Givatayim Chamber Ensemble (1993); the Aviv
Orchestra (immigrant students at the Academy of Music and Tel Aviv
University, 1994).
There are many more
orchestras in Israel which do not appear under the aegis of Omanut
La'Am. The following orchestras, most of which are new, do not
exhaust the list, but they can serve as an indication that today
almost every town aspires to have its own orchestra: the Herzliya
Orchestra, the Yad-Harif Orchestra, the Atlas Orchestra, the Ashkelon
Orchestra, the Ashdod Orchestra, Hed ("Echo") Orchestra of
Yehud, the Promenade Orchestra of Eilat, the Academy Orchestras of
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. There are also many other soloists and
chamber groups aside from those mentioned. Consequently, the number
of concerts given throughout the country, relative to the size of the
population (about 5.3 million), is truly enormous. A significant
example is the expansion of the audience of the New Israel Opera
which grew nearly 400 percent from 1989 to 1994.
Omanut La'Am is connected to
46 regional councils, about 70 settlements, and about 150 community
centres. The extent of their activity greatly helps to alleviate the
problems of new immigrant professional musicians from the former
Soviet Union.
The central cause for the
expansion of musical activity in Israel to places outside the center,
including in the Arab sector which already has 14 music centres, is
this immigration from the former
USSR, starting in the early 1990s. Some three percent of the more
than 500,000 immigrants are artists, but 70 percent of the artists
are musicians! This expansion is facilitated by the Centre for the
Absorption Of Immigrant Artists of the Israel Culture Authority.
Their activities are concentrated on assisting the absorption of
immigrant musicians in existing orchestras, establishing immigrant
orchestras with the cooperation of local councils, but avoiding the
creation of immigrant " ghettos" by including young Israeli
musicians after army service and musical studies; developing musical
education to expose kindergarten and primary-school children to music
and thus give employment to some 700 artist-teachers; providing
grants for the repair of instruments and for purchasing new ones; the
employment of immigrant musicians in other projects, such as singers
in the New Israeli Opera, or playing in the hundreds of concerts
given in schools throughout the country.
A happy 'embarrass de
richesses' facing the Israeli music lover is the proliferation of
music festivals, with performances by Israelis and guests from
abroad. The oldest of these are the Ein-Gev Festival, the Israel
Festival in Jerusalem, the Festival of Vocal Music in Abu-Ghosh, and
the Zimriya Choral Festival. In the past decade this list has been
expanded with Music in the Upper Galilee (instrumental and choral
chamber music "Music Days" - at Kibbutz Kfar Blum), Musica
da Camera in Tel Aviv, Classical Winter (liturgical music) in
Jerusalem, Classical Spring in Tel Aviv. Other, newer festivals such
as the Renaissance Festival in the crusader castle of Yehiam, Music
in the Caves of Beit Govrin, Days of Music and Nature, Sounds in the
Mountain, and others, take advantage of the geographical and
archaeological attractions of the country. In March, 1996, a festival
of international contemporary music will take place in Tel Aviv, with
performances by some of the world's best musicians. As if this were
not enough, large audiences are drawn to prestigious international
competitions that take place in Israel including the Arthur
Rubinstein Piano Competition and the International Harp Competition;
as well as many local competitions for young musicians, such as the
Fracois Shapira competition, the Ben-Haim competition for the
performance of Israeli music, competitions of the Broadcasting
Authority for performers and composers, and more. Recently three new
international competitions for conductors, singers and composers in
honour of Leonard Bernstein were launched. Moreover, classical music
is broadcast on Kol Israel's "Voice of Music" from six am.
to midnight every day, and concerts and operas are often shown on
television.
Although, because of
budgetary problems, not all the goals have been achieved, first-grade
children hear a selection from about 4,000 concerts given with
explanations. The goal for primary schools, as defined by the chief
music inspector, Ofer Turiel, is "that every child should learn
to play an instrument, just like reading and writing." Today
this goal is being achieved for 45,000 pupils in 57 Jewish
settlements and 12 Arab towns, and the numbers are growing year by
year. Another important development is taking place in high schools.
Five years ago only 15 schools participated in the programme leading
to matriculation examinations in music. Today, the number of schools
has risen to 86, with 15 more joining each year, and some 400
students take the examination, performing a recital and writing a
musical dissertation. This, of course, is in addition to the high
schools for the arts, of which the foremost, the Thelma Yellin school
in Givatayim, has already produced a formidable crop of musicians.
These developments have
caused an increase in the number of music conservatories. Growing
from an infinitesimal number in the early years of the state, there
are now 37 conservatories (with 13,000 students, and 1,600 teachers),
at least another 30 institutions which have not yet received official
recognition, and many commercial schools and private teachers. Aside
from the professional education of the pupils, emphasis is placed on
the development of choruses, orchestras (some 100!) and chamber
ensembles. For example, at the Israel Conservatory of Tel Aviv,
directed by Daniella Rabinowitz, there are two choruses, three
orchestras, and about 15 chamber ensembles, permitting some 3,000
pupils of the schools in south Tel Aviv (mostly of Sephardi
background) to take part in musical activities as part of the general
social environment. Master classes for talented young players are
given at the Mishkenot Sha'ananim Music Centre in Jerusalem by some
of the greatest artists in the world. Benny Gilad, the director of
the centre, and of the America-Israel Culture Foundation (which
supports many projects and gives about 350 grants to young
musicians), is one of those responsible for the fact that every year
about 40 young people are accepted by the Israel
Defense Forces. The army maintains not only the IDF Orchestra and
the Air Force Orchestra, but also the Chamber Orchestra of the
Education Corps, the Gadna Orchestra, and other ensembles. The IDF
Orchestra maintains a musical college offering 2,800 hours of
courses, permitting the musician recruits to become certified youth
counsellors, orchestrators, and arrangers. By allowing these young
people to concentrate on music, future stars are born.
The main places for
nurturing future musical talent are the Rubin Academies in Jerusalem
and Tel Aviv, with approximately 1,000 students. Two years ago, the
orchestra of the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem, conducted by its
director, Mendi Rodan, gave very successful performances of symphonic
works by young Israeli composers to inaugurate the magnificent new
concert hall in Beit Gabriel, which was recently built on the
southern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Students of the Rubin
Academy at Tel Aviv University, upon the initiative of its director,
the composer Professor Ami Ma'ayani, gave strikingly successful
performances of works such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, conducted
by Noam Sharif. This year, the 50th anniversary of the Academy, there
are performances of Brahms Requiem and Bizet's Opera, Carmen. The
pianists of the Academy are performing the 32 sonatas of Beethoven,
and chamber ensembles from music academies in Germany, Switzerland,
Denmark, Austria, Portugal, Belgium, and Israel will give a festival
of 35 concerts in honor of the anniversary. The Academy also gives an
international course for pianists at Tel-Hai in Upper Galilee. The
expansion of musical activity to the peripheral areas of the country
and the efforts of the new orchestras to conquer the centre has
confronted the veteran orchestras with serious competition. However,
since the audience of music lovers has also grown, there seems to be
room for all. For example, the Philharmonic now has 28,000
subscribers, and sells some 300,000 tickets annually. It gives some
134 concerts in Israel and another 40 abroad, thus serving as a
cultural ambassador, and can be heard annually in Europe, North and
South America, and this year also in India, China, and Japan. Music
lovers in Europe and the United States can hear a minimum of another
80 concerts performed by the Jerusalem Symphony, the Haifa Symphony,
the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Kibbutz Chamber Orchestra, the
Israel Chamber Orchestra of Rehovot, and the Symphony Orchestra of
Rishon Le-Zion. The latter was founded by the composer and conductor
Shimon Cohen and was developed by Noam Sharif who places emphasis on
selecting young musicians on a high level and on a repertoire
including much Israeli and international contemporary music.
The founding of the New
Israel Opera in 1982 added renewed energy to operatic performances.
This season, the opera and the city of Tel Aviv have been graced with
the new Golda Meir Centre for the Performing Arts, with an auditorium
seating 1,600, containing the most advanced stage machinery, lighting
and sound equipment. This auditorium is capable of mounting
theatrical and musical productions on the highest international
level. The centre has already hosted important institutions from
abroad: the State Opera of Hamburg, the ballet companies of Frankfurt
and Stuttgart, the Netherlands Dance Theatre, the International Youth
Orchestra, and leading chamber ensembles from abroad. There have also
been performances by the Israel Ballet, the Batsheva Dance Company,
the Symphony orchestra of Rishon Le-Zion, the Israel Chamber
Orchestra, and others. Israel has always held an attraction for some
of the world's leading musicians. A few recent visitors included the
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, the
Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio
Abbado and Daniel Barenboim, the Polish Chamber Orchestra, the
International Orchestra of Schleswig-Holstein conducted by Justus
Franz, the Dresden Philharmonic, and the Russian National Orchestra
under the baton of Michael Pletnev, as well as the appearance of the
Alban Berg, Carmina, Tokyo and Hagen string quartets, the singers
Marianna Lipovetz and Peter Schreier, the pianist Ivo Pogorelich and
the pianist Joanne Dornman, at an interntional opera workshop,
arranged with the Metropolitan Opera Company, New York, whose
teachers are amongst the best in the world.
In addition to the visitors
who characterize the musical drawing power of Israel, a significant
number of Israeli musicians are involved with important international
orchestras. The conductors of some of the leading orchestras in the
world are Israeli: Daniel Barenboim, the East Berlin opera, Asher
Fisch, the Volksoper in Vienna, Daniel Oren, a leading conductor of
Italian opera, and Gary Bertini who until recently, directed the
Cologne Radio Orchestra and the Frankfurt opera. The violinists
Itzhak Perlman, Pinhas Zuckerman, Shlomo Mintz, Gil Shaham, Guy
Braunstein, and others continue in the tradition of Sascha Heifetz,
Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern.
Many of the performers are managed by the impresario Ruth Shahar
whose efforts have raised Israel to the level of a competitive
musical exporting" nation.
Israeli musical exports
include not only performers and teachers of master classes, but also
composers. The house composer of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is
Shulamit Ran. The composer Amnon Wollman is responsible for
electronic music at the University of Chicago. The composer Yan
Radzinski works at Yale University, and his works are performed by
major orchestras. The composer and pianist Ron Yedidya was invited to
edit, perform and record the works of the pianist Vladimir Horowitz
in New York. No fewer than 160 Israeli works were performed during a
period of a few months in Iceland, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Korea and
the United States. Yosef Tal's opera "Joseph" will have its
Israeli premiere this year at the Golda Meir Centre. Other composers
stich as Ben-Zion Orgad, Yehezkel Braun, Zvi Avni, Yardena Alotin,
and Noam Sharif, as well as veteran immigrants such as Andre Hadju,
Sergio Natra and Mark Kopytman have all received premieres abroad.
Composers of the younger generation, including Oded Zehavi, Michael
Wolpe, Tzipi Fleischer, Rachel Gal'in, Hagar Kadima, Yin'am Lif,
Reuben Seroussi, Haim Permont, Ari Ben Shabtai, Menachem Weisenberg,
Ron Weidberg, Eitan Steinberg and Dan Yuhas have been widely played
abroad and have won many prizes.
These are only a few of our
composers. At the end of the 1950s, the Israel Association of
Composers had only 50 members, whereas today it has 200, of whom some
20 are new immigrants. The youngest of them, Benyamin Yosifov, has
already won a prize. There exists in Israel, in addition to the
Institute for Israeli Music (IMT), two other publishing institutes;
IMP and the Israeli Music Centre. The number of works published
already approaches 3,000, and the number of tape cassettes and CDs is
constantly increasing. Festivals of Jewish and Israeli music have
been given in Germany and Lithuania, and soon one will take place in
Prague. The above survey of the state of music in Israel as we
approach the end of the century shows that in the 21st century, the
place of music in Israel is likely to be among the deepest, highest
and broadest of any in the world.
Since the above article was
first written, some significant developments have taken place in
Israel’s musical life which deserve noting.
The Tel Aviv Symphony
Orchestra has ceased to exist, but its members, most of which are
Russian-born, have joined other orchestras. Meanwhile, the Tel Aviv
municipality has created two new music centres, called respectively,
"Einav" and "Levin." These two centres present
classical music accompanied by lectures, as well as local and
international jazz and popular music. The Rehovot Camerata has become
the Jerusalem Camerata, under the director of its founder, the
conductor Avner Biron. In additon to the long-established music
festival at Abu Ghosh, the well-known choral director, Avner Itai,
has now organised a festival of Christian liturgical music in
Nazareth.
The Israel Opera goes from
strength to strength. This year, some eight operas will be performed
before as many as 150,000 people, including over 16,000 subscribers.
Special educational performances for children, soldiers and students
are shown on large-screen videos in the main square of the Opera
House. The Israel Opera has been invited to participate in festivals
in Baden-Baden, Germany and Sabolina, Finland.
1996-7 marked the 60th
anniversary of the Israel
Philharmonic Orchestra; an event that was marked by celebrations
throughout the musical world. The orchestra’s premier concert in
1936, was conducted by Arturo Toscanini, and some of the world’s
greatest conductors have appeared with it. Its permanent conductor
and "conductor-for-life" is Zubin Mehta. Perhaps Israel’s
leading cultural ambassador, the IPO has brought joy to generations
of audiences. Among the virtuosi who have performed with the
orchestra are Artur Rubinstein, Isaac Stern, Jascha Heifetz, Leonard
Bernstein, Itzhak Perlman, Daniel Barenboim, Pinhas Zuckerman, Ida
Haendel, Shlomo Mintz, and many more.
The IPO sees an important
part of its work in developing and nurturing young and gifted
musicians. This it does through scholarships, through support of the
"Young Philharmonic Orchestra" and the subscribers club,
for whom there is a special programme of youth concerts with
explanations and narration.
The above survey of the
state of music in Israel as we approach the end of the century shows
that in the 21st century, the place of music in Israel is likely to
be among the deepest, highest and broadest of any in the world.
Sources: Israeli
Foreign Ministry |