IPOConducted by Lahav ShaniBronfman AuditoriumTel Aviv, July 4
Since becoming the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020, Lahav Shani has made some bold and refreshing decisions in its repertoire, now calibrated to our time. Thursday evening’s performance in Tel Aviv was a good example of that.
It opened with a world premiere for “The Prisoner’s Dilemma,” by Michael Seltenreich, a piece depicting the events of October 7 and his own reaction to them.
According to Seltenreich, it was “an outlet for the unbearable sadness, anger, guilt, betrayal, and desperation.”
The orchestration of the piece is lush, extravagant, and rich, without being ostentatious. Noteworthy was the second movement. It opened with brass sections describing the sirens heard in the early hours of October 7, with slow glissandos, dissonant chord formations, and high-pitched, shrieking trills of wood instruments, effectively evoking the anxieties of war and conflict.
Next, renowned viola player Tabea Zimmermann played Schnittke’s masterful Viola Concerto. Zimmermann’s performance was mesmerizing. She gave it everything – in fact, to the point that one of the viola strings broke mid concert!
In an act of resourcefulness, she turned to one of the other viola players sitting behind her, apologetically and hurriedly borrowing his viola, and continued playing almost without missing a beat, with great force and sensitivity, leading to the tragic dissipation of the piece.
Second half of the concert
In the second half of the concert, the IPO played Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, one of the greatest works in late-19th-century music. And though at first it was a bit difficult to accustom yourself to the sweeping romantic gestures of late-19th-century music, one soon became aware of just how great is Tchaikovsky, and what a well of comfort and solace his music offers.
Here, Shani was able to display his talents as a conductor. An excellent example of a modern-day conductor, he does not tower above the players, but, rather, perceives himself as a homogeneous part of the orchestra.
To summarize, the orchestra, with its cohort of young musicians, sounded wonderful, at times too loud, but the abundance of tones was impressive.
Shani’s bold programming and the orchestra’s vibrant energy mark this new era of the Israel Philharmonic.
