The Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Maestro Lahav Shani

This was the first post-COVID major performance for this orchestra, and everyone involved was thrilled and relieved to return to some semblance of normal performance practice.  This season opening performance presented a varied program featuring strong soloists, full of hits and very few misses.

The first piece, Tchaikovsky's "Rococo Variations" featuring cellist Jan Bogdan, featured some tentative playing by the orchestra, although this soloist's playing couldn't be faulted.  The next piece, Ibert's Flute Concerto featuring Avishai Srugo, demanded more playing from the orchestra, and they were up to the task.  Sometimes a dull accompanying part during a concerto makes for a complacent orchestra.  I loved this flute concerto, it is a modern piece (composed in 1934) full of vibrant, unconventional melodies and strained notes that stretch the range of the instrument in eye-opening ways.

After the break, soprano Yaara Atias performed two arias, the first (Mozart's "Se il padre perdei") was simply fine, but the second (Donizetti's "Il faut partir") was superlative and elicited strong reactions from the audience.  Finally, the full orchestra took the stage for Debussy's "La Mer", which was excellent and superbly conducted by Lahav Shani.  His somewhat underplayed Mahler 1 actually built my anticipation for this performance even more.  The things I didn't like about his Mahler (deliberate tempo and pacing, milking the slower, atmospheric parts) are perfect for "La Mer", and it didn't dissappoint.   

Opening of the Israel Philharmonic's 85th Anniversary Festivities

The IPO came up with a genius marketing plot to offer a first rate concert for the bargain price of 85 NIS as part of their 85th anniversary celebrations.  The absurdly low price guaranteed a packed house and an eclectic crowd.  On this night, the Bronfman Auditorium may have been the hippest spot to be seen in the city.    

I took immediately to "Prayer For String Orchestra", feeling the music's drawn out, solemn passages in my bones.  The composer of the work, Tzvi Avni, walked on stage for a bow at the conclusion of the piece in a very touching moment.  The next piece, Alphons Diepenbrock's "Im grossen Schweigen" (with Matthias Goerne performing the baritone solo), didn't connect with me in the same way, the lyrics cry out against to the loneliness of nature, but the music leaves me with little of that intended desperation or passion.     

Gustav Mahler's "Symphony No. 1" was beautifully played and elegantly conducted by Lahav Shani, but I found it underplayed in many key moments.  The third movement should alternate between a funereal lullaby and a folksy, slightly absurdist dance, but Shani played it as a rather straightforward slow movement.  I felt the symphony nearly ground to a halt around this point, although he did manage to pull things back together nicely for the second half of the fourth movement, leading to a suitably spectacular finale.