Oh . . . the *Israel* Philharmonic . . .
I went to the Israel Philharmonic concert at Disney Hall last night. When I first got there, I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t allowed to enter in the usual place. Finally, at the entrance, I saw some yahoos holding anti-Israel signs, and figured it out. Israel Philharmonic. You know, Israel. Of course.
And, as everyone knows, in between rehearsals, the members of the Philharmonic dictate policy on the government’s treatment of Palestinians.
I almost went over and yelled at these people, but I didn’t. I’m getting calmer in my old age. I did wonder where they would go while I was inside enjoying the music. Would they sit outside with their little signs? But I didn’t wonder long, as it’s hard to worry too much about idiots like that when Mendelssohn is playing.
It was a wonderful concert. Lorin Maazel conducts the way I’d like to think I would conduct — if, you know, I could conduct. (When you sit in the orchestra view seats, as I did last night, you are sitting right behind the orchestra, and can become preoccupied with the novel treat of watching the conductor as he faces you.) Maazel conducts with very precise hand movements, and doesn’t play with the tempi like so many of these conductors do. He lets the music speak for itself, and last night, it did.
Mendelssohn is one of my favorite composers, and the best symphonies are the Third and Fourth. The Israel Philharmonic’s rendition of the Fourth last night was absolutely spotless. The orchestra was perfectly balanced, so all the musical lines could be heard. The precision of all the players was extraordinary.
It was a big contrast from last Thursday, when the L.A. Philharmonic under Neville Marriner botched Mendelssohn’s Third Symphony. This reviewer from the L.A. Daily News loved it. (Apparently the L.A. Times couldn’t be bothered to do a review.) Weird, that. I can’t understand how two people can hear something so differently. Were we at the same concert?? Marriner’s abrupt tempo changes confused the orchestra so badly that there was one point when the brass was actually out of sync with the rest of the orchestra. And he took some parts so fast that the poor horns couldn’t keep up.
And Martin Chalifour’s performance was just embarrassing. He sounded flat a good portion of the time.
No such awkward moments were present in last night’s performance. If anyone could criticize it for any reason, I can imagine that some people might have found it too polished and too perfect.
But not me. As I said, Maazel let the music do the talking. And that’s the way I like it.
By the way, the yahoos were gone when the concert was over. I guess it had gotten too cold. I mean, the Palestinians are getting mistreated and everything, but . . . how’s about some hot chocolate?
The real reason the yahoos were protesting is that the “occupation” has suppressed the formation of a Palestinian Philharmonic Orchestra. You know that Big Bad Israel wants to prevent the Palestinians from enjoying classical music.
BTW, the IPO’s website is here.
aunursa (26babd) — 2/7/2007 @ 5:14 amActually, Lorin Maazel is famous for “play[ing] with the tempi,” although he is inconsistent about it, so maybe he didn’t do much of it when you saw him. But I certainly identify with your experience of having a reaction directly contrary to a reviewer’s. It happens to me all the time, and it’s maddening. At one time, it had me questioning my ability to evaluate music, but by now I just chalk up the NY Times reviews to a perverse form of Bush hatred.
Michael Hertzberg (a90377) — 2/7/2007 @ 7:48 amThe protesters were obviously angry that the IPO did not program any works by famous Palestinian composers. Oh, wait. There aren’t any famous Palestinian composers.
How were the Tchaikovsky and Ravel?
kishnevi (7a9e8b) — 2/7/2007 @ 9:24 pmThe Tchaikovsky actually was a little bloodless for the first 2/3 or so, but it really picked up at the end.
I don’t know the Ravel piece and can’t really comment.
They did a bit of the Bizet L’Arlesienne Suite as an encore. I liked that.
Patterico (a8fa4a) — 2/7/2007 @ 9:29 pmPatterico,
How cool to read a review of the IPO here in your blog! I’m a former SoCal resident who often frequented some of the same places you blog about, including the downtown performing arts halls, so little tidbits like this one bring back some great memories. But this post of yours is a tad bit more special for me…since I now live around the corner from the IPO’s home base in Tel Aviv, Israel. On countless evenings during the course of the year, you can watch thousands of Israelis of all ages (literally all ages, from pre-teens walking hand-in-hand with their parents, to octogenarians walking hand-in-hand with their spouses) making their way to the concert hall to enjoy the sounds of their very own IPO. As I sit in a nearby cafe, or have a beer at a nearby bar, it always puts a smile on my face to see them dutifully attending, no matter what the climate, either meterologically or politically, may be on any given night.
I’m not certain of the ethnic makeup of the orchestra, but I’m fairly certain that a good portion of them are former residents of the USSR who fled and made Aliyah (immigrated) to Israel, or who are the sons and daughters of people who did so. We are lucky to have them, and despite some of the problems Israel faces from day to day, I imagine they are happy to be here instead of there.
If you ever find yourself in Israel and wish to attend a concert of theirs in their own backyard, drop me an e-mail and let this former prosecutor show you and Mrs. P around.
Thanks again for the nice post about one of our prize jewels.
As far as the protestors outside the place, I find it incredibly ironic that palestinians, or arabs, or their left-wing sympathizers would protest outside an Israeli cultural event. Perhaps if they focused more attention on getting cultured and educated and less time blaming Israel for every ill that befalls them and mankind, they could one day begin balancing out what must be an incredibly embarrassing list, shown here:
http://www.masada2000.org/nobel.html
But who am I kidding…
Elliott (717d6d) — 2/9/2007 @ 3:18 am