Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival

Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival

The Jerusalem International Music Festival is offering an especially gala program. There has never been anything like this in Israel. The Jerusalem International Music Festival, under the management of the pianist, Elena Bashkirova, is well known to us as the festival of chamber music festivals. This time, in honour of the festical's tenth anniversary, an especially gala even is expected.

In General, it is surprisinf to see how the wheel turns. Onces, the usual season concerts were our main staple diet and festivals were more like a dessert. Today it is the other way around: the festivals, those in Jerusalem for chamber music, and at the Red Sea in Eilat for symphonic music, have reached an epitome.
The Jerusalem Festival to be held this summer will bear the maxim: "Composers' last works". Try to imagine hearing, one after the other, the nasterworks of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Mahler. Try to imagine each concert starting with one fugue out of the "Art of Fugue by Bach. Could you allow yourselves to miss the violinist, Gidon Kremer opening a cencert with such Bach?

One peak leads to the next with the best singers meeting the world's best performers. The bass, Robert Holl, will present Schubert's "Song of the Swan" and Brahms' "Four Serious Songs". When recently did you hear those in Israel? Stella Dufexis, the singer who is driving the world crazy, will present Mahler's Kindertotrnlieder with the wonderful pianist, Kirill Gerstein. The young baritone, the rising star, Roman Trekel, will present Beethoven songs "To a distant beloved" and the cycle "Songs of a Wayfarer" by Mahler. For these, people are prepared to cross oceans, and with good reason. You, on the other hand, can save yourself this expense.

Bashkirova does the incredible: She will present, together with Roman Trekel, special lieder by Victor Ullman. These have never been performed in Israel. Ullman, who was a deep and wonderful Jewish composer, was sent to Theresienstadt and perished in the Holocaust. Bashkirova presents him with all due respect and you must take your hat off to her. She has also commissioned and Israeli work from the young accomplished composer, Avner Dorman. What this Bashkirova has forgotten, others have yet to learn.

All the greats will come here one by one. The cellist, Misha Maisky with Nabil Shehata aged 25, who is considered one of today's great double-bass players. The Israeli, Guy Braunstein, the principal violinist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, will shoe everyone how his violin can sing. And there is another surprise: Marie Luise Neunecker, one of the great horn players of our day, will play here in Israel.

Hanoch Ron, Yediot Aharonot - March 30, 2007

All concerts will take place at the YMCA Concert Hall, Jeruslem
Ticket Prices
13 concerts 1300 NIS
8 concerts 880 NIS
6 concerts 690 NIS
Single concert 120 NIS
Telephone: 02-6250444
In person: Festival Box Office, YMCA
Sunday - Thursday 10:00 � 19:00
Friday 9:00 � 13:00
Telephone messages can be left outside box office hours
Page last updated Aug/05/2007