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TRANSCRIPT
ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
4
CONCERT PROGRAM
Amit Poznansky Footnote, Suite for Orchestra
Maurice RavelSuite No. 2 from Daphnis et ChloéI. Lever du jour –II. Pantomime –III. Danse générale
Intermission
Richard Strauss Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), Op. 40 David Radzynski, violinist
Saturday, October 28, 2017
8:00pm
Zubin Mehtaconductor
5
Peter OundjianMusic Director
After our triumphant visit to Israel in 2017, it is a great pleasure to welcome the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to Toronto. The legendary Zubin Mehta leads a concert of favourites. The first work is by the Israeli composer Amit Poznansky, his suite for the award-winning movie Footnote. This witty and engaging music perfectly mirrors the film's story of misunderstandings and rivalries. Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé is one of the greatest of all ballet scores, and represents the composer at the height of his orchestral skills. This is a true master at work, creating spectacular colours side-by-side with intimate details. The harmonic language is intense and brilliant, and influenced jazz composers for decades to follow. Richard Strauss was also a master orchestrator, and his tone poem Ein Heldenleben is almost a concerto for orchestra, although in length and sweep it is quite like a symphony. The music is magnificent, an apotheosis of German Romanticism, larger-than-life and tumultuous, with an uplifting grandeur that was so deeply a part of Strauss’s compositional style.
Canadian Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (CFIPO) is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
For more information on our programs, contact [email protected].
CANADIAN FRIENDS OF THE
ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
2017 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following donors
LEAD SPONSORS Adrienne Arsht
Rita and Charles Bronfman Rochelle and David A. Hirsch Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert
Lily Safra Marilyn Ziering
MAJOR BENEFACTORS
Nani & Austin Beutel and Family The Koffler and Boyman Family
The Gerald Schwartz & Heather Reisman Foundation Martin Selig and Catherine Mayer
Ukrainian Jewish Encounter
PATRONS
Robins Appleby LLP The Azrieli Foundation
Baskin Wealth Management Richard and Sara Charney
Wendy and Elliott Eisen Judith Gelber and Peter Rabinowitz
Stanley H. Hartt Warren and Debbie Kimel
Hon. Margaret Norrie McCain Susan and Barry Michaels PearTree Securities Jill and Joel Reitman Robins Appleby LLP Honey and Barry Sherman Lawrence & Judith Tanenbaum Family Fdn Carole and Bernard Zucker
THE DETAILS
Footnote, Suite for Orchestra, comprises several
of the main musical themes from the soundtrack
I composed for Joseph Cedar's film Footnote.
The Suite has a neo-classical character and
is built like a waltz, which undergoes many
transformations throughout it. The music
reflects the main characters in the film and their
contrasting forces: the strictness and seriousness
of Eliezer, the father, against the tenderness and
forgiveness of Uriel, the son. Yet, each one has
a hint of the other. These two forces collide
at times, but they create a beautiful harmonic
musical reflection of the complexity of the
storyline.
The film won the Cannes Film Festival Award for
Best Screenplay (2011) and was nominated for an
Academy Award in the category of Best Foreign
Language Film (2012), and the soundtrack was
chosen as Best Original Score (Feature Film) at
the International Samobor Film Music Festival in
Croatia (2013).
The original soundtrack was recorded by the
Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra under the baton
of Doron Salomon.
Program note by the composer
Amit Poznansky Footnote, Suite for Orchestra
Born: Tel Aviv, Israel, Mar 20, 1974 Composed: Original film score, 2011; suite, 2017
10min
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ABOUT THE COMPOSERAmit Poznansky is
an Israeli composer
of film and television
scores, music
for the theatre,
poems, concert,
chamber, choral,
and jazz music. He
is a prolific arranger and orchestrator in
a variety of music genres, and has been
working in both live and digital settings.
With a classical background as a pianist,
Poznansky began his career as a performer
and arranged music for numerous
productions in the Israeli repertory
theatre, primarily at The Cameri (Tel Aviv's
municipal theatre) and Habima (Israel’s
national theatre). His notable film scores
include Joseph Cedar’s Footnote; the late
Assi Dayan’s Dr. Pomerantz; Shira Geffen’s
Self-Made; Amos Gitai’s feature Rabin, the
Last Day; and Schnitzel. In 2012, Poznansky
scored the second season of the acclaimed
Israeli TV series Hatufim; directed by
Gideon Raff, which was adapted into the
hit American television series Homeland.
His works Waltz for Flute and Piano, Life of
the Dead—A Song Cycle for Female Choir,
and Four Miniatures for Violin and Piano are
published by Edition Svitzer, and have been
performed worldwide.
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THE DETAILS
The ballet Daphnis et Chloé was Ravel’s most
ambitious work for the stage. The composer
himself considered it (along with the ballet
Ma Mère l'Oye) his most important work, and
certainly it is a locus classicus of the Ravel style;
Stravinsky called it “one of the most beautiful
products in all of French music.” The ballet was
commissioned in 1909 by the great Russian
impresario Sergey Diaghilev, who was in Paris for
the début season of his Ballets Russes company.
Ravel laboured hard for three years before
completing Daphnis et Chloé. After many delays,
the première was given in Paris, by Diaghilev's
company, on June 8, 1912. Pierre Monteux
conducted, Michel Fokine did the choreography,
and the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky danced the
role of Daphnis. Ravel extracted two suites from
the score—the first in 1911, before the ballet was
even complete, the second in 1913. The latter is
the more popular and admired of the two, but
these days, both suites are heard more often
than the complete ballet.
The scenario of Daphnis et Chloé, in three
tableaux, was inspired by a famous pastoral
romance by the Greek writer Longus. In the
first two tableaux, the hero and heroine find
their love for each other threatened, first by
rival suitors and then by pirates, who abduct
Chloé. The three selections of Suite No. 2,
played without a break, give us the highlights
of the third and final tableau—picking up after
shepherds, with the help of the god Pan, have
rescued Chloé. In the first selection (“Lever du
jour”), Daphnis is awakened at dawn, and the
lovers are reunited. Ravel's shimmering music
unforgettably depicts a sunrise accompanied
by birdsong and the murmur of springs; a
great melody wells up from the bottom of the
orchestra and, at length, swells to an emotional
climax as the lovers fall into each other's arms.
In the second selection (“Pantomime”), the
lovers dance a mime in honour of the love of
Pan and Syrinx; tender, sensuous string chords
form a backdrop to piquant and flashy solos
in the woodwinds. The final selection ("Danse
générale") depicts the joyous tumult with
which the drama ends. Ravel spent a lot of time
revising and expanding this dance, and the
result was one of his most brilliant and virtuosic
orchestral pieces—rousing, rhythmically furious,
audaciously orchestrated.
Program note by Kevin Bazzana
Maurice RavelSuite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
Born: Ciboure, France, Mar 7, 1875Died: Paris, France, Dec 28, 1937Composed: Original ballet, 1909–1912; Suite No. 2, 1913
16min
Set design for Act I of Daphnis and Chloe by Léon Bakst, 1912
Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life, or more literally,
A Heroic Life) is an allegorical work: it offers
an honest portrait of its composer as hero,
exploring the struggles within him (self-doubt,
disgust, resignation) as well as his relations with
the rest of the world, including his critics. The
work divides into six parts. In Part 1, “The Hero”,
Strauss offers a vigorous, nuanced portrait of his
Hero, the many sides of his character captured
in a plethora of themes and motifs. A mighty
cadence is prepared, but interrupted by Part 2,
“The Hero’s Adversaries”, which for Strauss,
meant the critics, toward whom he felt great
bitterness despite considerable professional
success. “Rasping” staccato figures set in chattery
counterpoint in the woodwinds portray his critics
as petty, spiteful, insignificant philistines.
In a long cadenza for the concertmaster in
Part 3, “The Hero’s Companion”, Strauss offers
a compelling portrait of his own wife, the
soprano Pauline de Ahna, to whom he was
devoted for more than 50 years. This portrait
completed, the music swells up passionately in
what Strauss called a “love scene”, as he reveals
the depth of his feelings for Pauline. But this
bliss is soon interrupted by Part 4, “The Hero’s
Deeds of War”. From a distance, the critics
are heard again, along with war-like trumpet
fanfares, and with some reluctance the Hero
rouses himself to do battle with his adversaries.
This part, a development of motifs from the
previous three parts, features some of the most
ferociously cacophonous battle music ever
written.
The battle behind him (for now), the Hero returns
to his creative work in Part 5, “The Hero’s Works
of Peace”. This Strauss symbolizes with pointed
references to his own output—he weaves
together more than 30 quotations from his own
previous operas, tone poems, and songs. But
still the critics reappear, rousing the Hero, briefly,
to anger and self-doubt. Finally, in Part 6, “The
Hero’s Flight from the World and the Fulfillment
of his Life”, Strauss, who lived a frantically busy
and very public life in both Munich and Berlin,
crafts a vision of a quiet, creatively fulfilling
retirement. A gently rocking pastoral melody in
the English horn (mimicking a shepherd’s pipe)
tells us that Strauss longed to leave the city for
the countryside. In the closing pages, there is
a touching cantilena for solo violin, and as it
comes to an end, the trumpets recall the famous
opening motto from Also sprach Zarathustra.
Program note by Kevin Bazzana
Richard StraussEin Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), Op. 40
Born: Munich, now Germany, Jun 11, 1864 Died: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Sep 8, 1949Composed: 1897–1898
46min
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A MODEST HEROAs is often the case in Richard Strauss’s
tone poems, the music is much more
psychologically complex than its showy
and grandiose surface at first suggests,
and is principally concerned with exploring
the inner world of personality, emotion,
and psychology. Indeed, Ein Heldenleben,
for all its philosophical ambitions and
militaristic rhetoric, is a cheekily self-aware
work—heroic but also fun, for Strauss never
put on heroic airs in public without planting
his tongue very firmly in his cheek.
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Zubin Mehtaconductor
Born in Bombay, Zubin Mehta grew up in a musical
environment. His father, Mehli Mehta, founded the Bombay
Symphony and was Music Director of the American
Youth Symphony in Los Angeles. His initial field of study
was in medicine, but he abandoned it at the age of 18 to
attend the Vienna Academy of Music. Seven years later, he
conducted both the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics. He rapidly became one of the
world’s most sought-after conductors, holding positions such as Music Director of
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (1961–1967), Music Director of the Los Angeles
Philharmonic Orchestra (1962–1978), Music Director of the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra (1978–1991), and Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera (1998–2006).
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) appointed Mehta Music Advisor in 1969,
Music Director in 1977, and Music Director for Life in 1981. Combining concerts,
recordings, and tours, Zubin Mehta has conducted thousands of performances on
five continents with the IPO. Since 1985, he has also acted as Chief Conductor of the
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Italy, becoming Honorary Conductor for Life in 2006.
Zubin Mehta has received countless awards and distinctions, including the Kennedy
Center Honors; the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony in India; the Presidential
Medal of Distinction from Israeli President Shimon Peres; the Praemium Imperiale
from the Japanese Imperial Family; Honorary Doctorates by the Hebrew University,
Tel Aviv University, and the Weizmann Institute in Israel; a special prize at the
ceremony of the Israel Prize presentation; and a special distinction with a star on
Hollywood Boulevard. He is honorary citizen of both Florence and Tel Aviv and an
honorary member of the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, and the
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien. 2006 saw the publication in Germany and
Israel of his autobiography, Die Partitur meines Leben: Erinnerungen (The Score of
my Life: Memories).
Zubin Mehta continues to support the discovery and furtherance of musical talents
all over the world. Together with his brother Zarin, he is co-chairman of the Mehli
Mehta Music Foundation in Bombay, where more than 200 children are educated in
western classical music.
THE ARTISTS
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Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) is one of Israel’s
oldest and most influential cultural institutions. Since its
founding in 1936, the IPO has dedicated itself to presenting
the world’s greatest music to audiences in Israel and around
the world. Founded by Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman,
the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra represents the fulfillment
of his dream “to unite the desire of the country for an
orchestra with the desire of the Jewish musicians for a
country.” Huberman spent countless hours persuading first-
chair musicians of eastern European and German orchestras, who had lost their jobs as a
result of Nazism, to immigrate to Palestine. In doing so, Huberman created an “orchestra of
soloists,” which, under the esteemed leadership of Zubin Mehta, continues to absorb new
immigrants and act as a dynamic, global community for musicians from across the world.
Major soloists and conductors have always performed with the Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra. Its inaugural concert was conducted by Arturo Toscanini. The Orchestra has
enjoyed associations with such renowned artists as Emanuel Ax, Daniel Barenboim, Yefim
Bronfman, Yoel Levi, Yo-Yo Ma, Lorin Maazel, Honorary Guest Conductor Kurt Masur, Itzhak
Perlman, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Arthur Rubinstein, Gil Shaham, Isaac Stern, and Pinchas
Zukerman. Their time and talent have enriched the cultural life of Israel and have helped the
Orchestra to maintain its high artistic standards.
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is Israel’s premier cultural ambassador and travels
extensively throughout the world, particularly to countries where there is little or no Israeli
representation. Israel’s creative artists are promoted by many IPO premières of works by
Israeli composers. The goodwill created by these tours, which have included historic visits
to Japan, Argentina, Poland, Hungary, Russia, China, and India, is of enormous value to the
State of Israel. 2017 sees the Orchestra touring in China, the Republic of Georgia, and across
North America, including a first trip to Canada in 26 years.
2016 marked the 80th anniversary of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Currently, the
Orchestra gives more than 100 performances each year in Israel to their 26,000 subscribers,
where 14 different concert series are presented in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa. The IPO
KeyNote Education and Outreach Program brings classical music to the audience of the future.
David V. Foster, President & CEOLeonard Stein, Senior Vice President, Director, Touring DivisionRobert Berretta, Vice President, Manager, Artists & AttractionsTania Leong, Associate, Touring DivisionSamantha Cortez, Associate, Artists & Attractions
Kay McCavic, Company ManagerCarol Patella, Assistant Company ManagerJohn Gilliland, Assistant Company ManagerDon Irving, Stage Manager
Opus 3 Artists Management for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra:
12
ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
First ViolinsIlya KonovalovlCONCERTMASTER
David RadzynskilCONCERTMASTER
Gjorgi Dimcevski+CONCERTMASTER
Alexander StarkASST. CONCERTMASTER
MARILYN & SIGI Z"L ZIERING
FAMILY ENDOWED CHAIR
Saida Bar-LevNitzan CanettySharon CohenMarina DormanZhanna Gontarenko+Adelina GrodskyGenadi GurevichEleonora LutskySivann MaayaniRobert MozesDumitru PocitariGilad RivkinLazar ShusterYelena TishinDrorit ValkPolina Yehudin
Second ViolinsSemion Gavrikov*Yevgenia Pikovsky*Amnon Valk***Emanuel AronovichHadar CohenAlexander DobrinskyYitzhak Geras+Shmuel GlaserKalman LevinAsaf MaozHagar MaozMarianna PovolotzkyVitaly RemeniukMaria RosenblattElyakum Salzman+
Avital SteineruOlga SternElla Vaulin-Slatkin+
ViolasMiriam Hartman*SUSAN & ELIHU ROSE
ENDOWED CHAIR
Igor Polesitsky*+Roman Spitzer*u
CLAIRE & ALBERT SCHUSSLER
ENDOWED CHAIR
Amir van der Hal***Dmitri Ratush***Lotem Beider Ben
AharonJonathan GertnerVladislav KrasnovKlara NosovitskyMatan NoussimovitchEvgenia OrenGili Radian-SadeAharon Yaron
CellosGal Nyska*THE ANNENBERG
FOUNDATION CHAIR
Emanuele Silvestri*Linor Katz***Yoram Alperin+ Ruth Ziegler Endowed
ChairMarcel Bergman+Dmitri GoldermanSimon HoffmannIakov KashinEnrique MaltzKirill MihanovskyFelix NemirovskyYifat Weltman
Double BassesPeter Marck*Robin Ellsworth Kessekman*+Nir Comforty***Brad AnnisUri ArbelEran Borovich+Nimrod KlingNoam MassarikDavid SegalOmry Weinberger
HarpJulia Rovinsky*Zina Poliakov+
FlutesYossi Arnheim*ROCHELLE & DAVID A.
HIRSCH ENDOWED CHAIR
Guy Eshed*Boaz MeirovitchLior Eitan
OboesMarco Salvatori*+Dudu Carmel*MARILYN & SIGI Z"L ZIERING
FAMILY ENDOWED CHAIR
Merrill Greenberg+Dmitry MalkinTamar Narkiss-Melzer
English HornsMerrill Greenberg+Dmitry Malkin
ClarinetsRon Selka*Yevgeny Yehudin*Shelly DavisJonathan Hadas
Piccolo ClarinetsRon SelkaYevgeny Yehudin
Bass ClarinetJonathan Hadas
BassoonsDaniel Mazaki*Uzi Shalev***Gad LedermanCarol Patterson
ContrabassoonCarol Patterson
HornsJames Madison Cox*Dalit Segal***Michael Slatkin***Yoel AbadiItamar Leshem+Sally Meth Ben MosheMichal MossekGal Raviv+Amit Salomon+
TrumpetsYigal Meltzer*Ram Oren**Erez Hodara+Eran ReemyHANNAH & RANDY POLANSKY
ENDOWED CHAIR
Yuval Shapiro
TrombonesNir Erez*Yehoshua Pasternak***Tal Ben ReiMicha Davis
Bass TromboneMicha Davis
TubaShemuel Hershko*
TimpaniDan Moshayev*Elliot Beck***
PercussionTom Betsalel+Alexander NemirovskyNATALIE & MURRAY S. KATZ
ENDOWED CHAIR
Ayal Rafiah
HarpsichordIris Globerson Hirsh+
PianoIsabel Kastoriano+JUDITH & BURTON RESNICK
ENDOWED CHAIR
Principal LibrarianRachel DaliotAssistant Principal
LibrarianTal RockmanAssistant LibrarianYuval BronerOperational & Stage
ManagerAmit CohenTechnical AssistantDoron Amitay
l Canada Concertmaster Chair* Principal** Assoc. Principal*** Asst. Principalu On leave or sabbatical+ Guest player
Board of Directors: Aharon Fogel (Chm'n), Ephraim Abramson, Anath Levin, Rivka Saker, Michael ZellermayerIPO Management: Yoel Abadi (Chm'n), Lior Eitan, Aharon YaronSecretary General: Avi ShoshaniAudit Committee: Shlomo Handel (Chm'n), Prof. Shmuel Penchas, Gili IzkovichMusicians' Council: Amir van der Hal (Chm'n), Yoel Abadi, Lotem Beider Ben Aharon, Sharon Cohen, Lior Eitan, Asaf Maoz, Boaz Meirovitch, Michal Mossek, Aharon Yaron / Personnel Manager: Michal Bach / Inspector: Enrique Maltz / Assembly Chm'n: Uzi Shalev / Observers: Peter Marck, Daniel MazakiFinance Manager: Alex Ziv / Marketing Manager: Yael Yardeni-Sela / Chief Accountant: Anat Eldar / Treasurer: Racheli MizrachiKeyNote Director: Irit Rub / Mgr. Subscription Dept.: Nira Oryan / Team Mgr.: Bagrat Chen, Leon Franco / IT Mgr.: Shlomi MizrachiAsst. Sec. Gen.: Iris Abramovici Tevet / Tours Coordinator: Ziva Hefetz / Asst. Marketing Mgr.: Liz Fisher / Public Liaison: Rachel LevyAsst. Personnel Manager: Netta Pniny / Payroll Manager: Orly Zabib / Payroll Accountant: Liat Ohayon / Accountant: Mira Rotem / Bookkeeper: Orly GolanProgram Editor: Orly Tal / Asst. Program Editor: Tsilli Rudik / Archives Mgr.: Avivit Hochstadter / Public Relations: Shalom Tel Aviv
Legal Advisors: Jacob Katz & Co. Law Office / Auditors: Kost Forer & Gabbay
Music Director: Zubin MehtaTHE MUSIC DIRECTOR'S POSITION IS ENDOWED BY THE WILLIAM PETSCHEK FAMILY
Laureate Conductor (1947–1990): Leonard BernsteinHonorary Guest Conductor (1992–2015): Kurt MasurPrincipal Guest Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda