Jerusalem's Festival of Culture: Steve Reich and Renee Fleming
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Jerusalem's Season of Culture: An innovative RECENT ENTRIES
approach spanning the worlds of music, dance, Opera at the Salzburg Summer
Festival
poetry and philosophy Of the three new productions, one was
outstanding, one academic and the third
By Dr. Irving Spitz on August 23, 2011 12:32 PM | Comments |
traditionalThe 2011 Salzburg Festival featured six
full…
This year saw the inauguration of the first Jerusalem Season of Culture. One By Dr. Irving Spitz
of the highly acclaimed events of this festival featured performances of Steve
Reich’s “Different Trains” staged by the Jewish Theater of Stockholm in The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra:
collaboration with Jerusalem’s Tower of David Museum.
Celebrating 75 Years of Music
Making
Performances took place in the "Kishle," in Jerusalem's Old City. This old
This year is the 75th anniversary of the Israel
Turkish barracks and prison, was built on ancient ruins dating to the Roman Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO), originally known
occupation of the city and could well have been part of the original palace of the as the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra and…
Jewish king Herod. One section of this complex still serves today as a police By Dr. Irving Spitz
station. The rest is part of the Tower of David Museum and the site has lain
derelict for decades. It is currently undergoing archeological excavation and Jerusalem's Season of Culture: An
this is the first occasion when it was partially open to the public. This rep- innovative approach spanning the
resented a brilliant exploitation of a unique space and although not wheelchair worlds of music, dance, poetry and
friendly, one can only hope that this exciting venue will be used more philosophy
frequently in the future. This year saw the inauguration of the first
Jerusalem Season of Culture. One of the highly
acclaimed events of this…
Steve Reich, one of the foremost American current composers, is at the center
By Dr. Irving Spitz
of the modern minimalistic music scene and his compositions are highly
repetitive. “Different Trains” is a three-movement composition for string
quartet interwoven with recorded spoken voices and received a Grammy
Award.
The composition relates to the benign pleasurable train journeys from New
York to Chicago and Los Angeles undertaken by Steve Reich in his youth. These
are contrasted with the tragic train journeys in Europe in the early 40’s which
transported Nazi Holocaust victims to the death camps. This is the main focus
of the composition. The music and dialog were augmented by movies of trains
and scenes from the Holocaust. “Different Trains” was performed by the
Swedish ensemble "Fleshquartet" using modern electronic instruments and
there were taped recordings for the monotonous repetitive spoken dialog
which was fascinating and dovetailed with the music and videos.
The novel staging consisted of about eighty transparent or opaque glass
sculptures, designed by the Swedish artist, Ann Wahlstrom, which were sus-
pended from the ceiling or placed on the floor. The four Swedish musicians
were seated in the midst of these glass sculptures. At the two ends of the
rectangular performance space were screens where the video images of trains
and scenes from the Holocaust were projected.
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All the dazzling effects of this production were achieved through a combination
of music, voices, videos and sculpture together with dramatic lighting. It was put
together by Pia Forsgren, director of the Jewish Theater in Stockholm which has
become a vital part of contemporary Swedish culture. It premiered in Stockholm
in 2008. Ms Forsgren used Reich’s original composition and added to it the
video and incorporated the glass installation. This is the first foray of this
production outside Stockholm.
Following the Reich work, the quartet played their own exciting composition
“Tears Apart,” written as a reflection and commentary on “Different Trains.” In
addition to their electronic instruments, the four musicians made musical
sounds by playing on the glass sculptures.
Other events in Jerusalem’s Season of Culture included sessions devoted to
philosophy and poetry as well as valedictory performances by the Merce
Cunningham Dance Company as part of the troupe’s final world tour. The final
event was a performance by the renowned soprano Renee Fleming in her first
appearance in Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor
Zubin Mehta.
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Renee Fleming is rightly acknowledged as one of the foremost sopranos of the
time and this was made abundantly evident in this gala concert which was a
fund-raiser for the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. The concert got off to a
good start with a lively and dramatic performance of Verdi’s overture to Forza
del Destino. Ms Fleming gave a scintillating account of the Jewel song from
Gounod’s Faust and a riveting performance of Vissi d’Arte from Puccini’s
Tosca. Here she succeeded in spinning out every subtle nuance of the aria like a
silken thread.
She was joined in this concert with the up and coming Maltese tenor, Joseph
Calleja, who gave an impressive rendering of La Donna e mobile from Verdi’s
Rigoletto and E lucevan le stele from Tosca. Calleja’s voice is not of the light
Italian lyric quality but is nevertheless an impressive instrument and he was
crystal clear in the high, middle and lower registers of the tenor range.
Ms Fleming returned after intermission having changed into another flattering
evening gown resplendent with large earrings and necklace. Together with
Joseph Calleja there was a wonderful rendition of Parigi, o cara from La
Traviata as well as the love duet from Madame Butterfly.
As encores, Ms Fleming gave an unforgettable account of Puccini’s show
stopper O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi. She then took a microphone
and with audience participation, gave a spectacular rendering of Leonard
Cohen’s Hallelujah. The final contribution of the two stars was a lively account
of the Brindisi from La Traviata. This represented a fitting end to a great and
memorable concert.
According to the organizers of the Jerusalem Season of Culture, it is anticipated
that this will become an annual event. One can only hope it does. This certainly
