The concerts will take place from February 3 to 5 in Rishon Lezion, Tel Aviv and Rehovot.
The program includes: Concerto for percussion and string orchestra “The Magician” by contemporary American composer John Corigliano, Beethoven’s “Coriolanus” overture and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Soloist – percussionist Tom Bezalel.
The concert opens with a work by American composer John Corigliano. John Corigliano is 88 years old, he is the winner of five Grammy and Oscar awards for the music for the film “The Red Violin” (where, by the way, he used a rhythmic figure from the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s 7th symphony), winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the Grawemeyer Prize. “The Magician”, his concerto for percussion and string orchestra, is the tenth in Corigliano’s series of concertos for soloist. When the composer was asked to write a concert for a percussionist, he admitted that he experienced some discomfort. Is the drummer in the spotlight? A musician who plays not just one instrument, but dozens? Many of them don’t even have a specific pitch, let alone a sustained tone like a violin or trumpet. But it was precisely this challenge that captivated John Corigliano.
Corigliano calls himself the heir of Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland and the same Bernstein, mentions the influence of Krzysztof Penderecki, but emphasizes: his priorities are romantic feeling and melody. Thanks to this, he remains one of the most performed contemporary composers. His music is played by Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, James Galway. His works are conducted by Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim, Marin Alsop.
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In this concert, the percussionist is the dominant figure, connecting the various groups of the orchestra. Soloist of the evening – Tom Bezalel, chief timpanist of the Israeli Symphony Orchestra of Rishon Lezion. Tom played in the Israeli youth brass band in his youth, and in parallel with his service in the IDF orchestra, he began studying with the master of percussion instruments Alon Bor. In 2007, he was accepted into the Orchestra of the West-East Divan under the direction of Barenboim, in 2010 he took first place in the soloist competition of the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, and in 2011-2015 he studied in the soloist class with the German master Peter Zadlo. Since the fall of 2014, Bezalel has been the main timpanist of the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Rishon Lezion. He has performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Munich and Georgia Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra. Collaborated with Barenboim, Boulez, Dudamel, Meta, Nagano, Petrenko. He played at Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Philharmonic Halls in Berlin and Cologne, Musikverein in Vienna, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. Tom studies traditional rhythmic idioms – Brazilian pandeiro playing, the Ewe drumming traditions of Ghana, Japanese percussion, Middle Eastern percussion. Since 2018 he has been the official representative of Marimba One.
After “The Magician” by Corigliano there will be an overture by L.V. Beethoven’s “Coriolanus”.
The Viennese playwright Heinrich von Collin based his “Coriolanus” on one of Shakespeare’s tragedies. But in Shakespeare Coriolanus dies at the hands of the conspirators, in Collin he falls on his own sword, and in Beethoven’s music he fades away and dissolves. Beethoven called this overture “the music of anger.” The image of Coriolanus was unusual for the composer: the hero fights not for the freedom of the people, but against them.
Beethoven worked on the overture during a difficult time for him. The year 1805 brought disappointment to the composer. In April, the first public performance of the Third Symphony met with public disapproval. At the end of November, the disastrous premiere performances of Fidelio, an opera on which Beethoven had high hopes, took place. In those days, the composer, in order to unwind, visited the court Burgtheater, where Collin’s drama “Coriolanus” was being performed. The playwright gave Ludwig a book with the text of the play, expressing the hope that the maestro would want to set it to music. Coriolanus really made a strong impression on the composer.
The first performance of Coriolanus took place in the palace of the Viennese philanthropist Prince Karl Lichnowsky in March 1807. The overture was well received by the audience, and Prince Franz Lobkowitz admired it. As a member of the theater management, he contributed to the return of Collin’s Coriolanus to the repertoire of the Vienna Court Theater, and on April 24, 1807, the tragedy was again staged with Beethoven’s overture.
The second part of the evening is L. V. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Work on it probably began in 1811, and was completed on May 5, 1812. Beethoven, on the advice of his doctors, spent the summers of 1811 and 1812 in Teplice, a Czech resort famous for its healing hot springs. His deafness increased, he came to terms with his terrible illness and did not hide it from those around him, although he did not lose hope of improving his hearing.
The symphony is dedicated to Count Moritz Christian Johann von Fries, a Viennese patron of the arts, in whose house Beethoven often performed as a pianist. The premiere took place on December 8, 1813, under the direction of the author, at a charity concert in favor of disabled soldiers in the hall of the University of Vienna. The best musicians took part in the performance, but the central work of the concert was not this “completely new Beethoven symphony,” as the program announced. It was the final number – “Victory of Wellington, or the Battle of Vittoria”, a noisy battle picture. And the Seventh Symphony went unnoticed. One critic called it a “companion play” to the Battle of Vittoria.
It is astonishing that this relatively small symphony, now so beloved by the public, seemingly transparent, clear and light, could cause misunderstanding among the musicians. Piano teacher Friedrich Wieck, Clara Schumann’s father, believed that only a drunkard could write such music; the founding director of the Prague Conservatory, Dionysus Weber, announced that its author was quite ripe for a madhouse. The French echoed him: Castille-Blaz called the finale “musical extravagance”, and Fetis – “the product of a sublime and sick mind.” But for Glinka it was “incomprehensibly beautiful,” and Romain Rolland wrote about it: “The Symphony in A major is pure sincerity, freedom, power. This is an insane waste of powerful, inhuman forces – waste without any intent, but for the sake of fun – the fun of a flooded river that has broken out of its banks and floods everything.” The composer himself valued it very highly: “Among my best works, I can proudly point to the A major symphony.”
This program will be conducted by Evan Alexis Christ. He was born in Los Angeles, the son of Greek musicians, and grew up in Las Vegas. Evan Alexis Christ began his musical career as an oboist and pianist, then studied mathematics and composition at Harvard University and conducting at the Leipzig Conservatory. Christ was the chief conductor of the opera house in Würzburg. Since 2020 he has been the permanent conductor of the Sofia Opera. Christ also frequently works with opera houses in Germany. In addition, Krist has collaborated with orchestras in Zagreb, St. Gallen, Madeira and Luxembourg. Evan Alexis Christ has already performed in Israel with the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Rishon LeZion and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.
The concert is dedicated to the memory of Raphael Feigelson, percussionist of the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon Lezion. Rafael was born into a family of musicians in Riga. Raphael’s musical abilities manifested themselves at an early age: he sang in a children’s choir, and then, choosing percussion instruments, became the youngest musician – at the age of only 14 – in the Riga Opera Orchestra. When Aram Khachaturian arrived in Riga to conduct his ballet Gayane, he highly appreciated Raphael’s marimba playing. In 1979, the Feigelson family immigrated to Israel, and Rafi immediately gained recognition here. Rudolf Barshai invited him to perform with the Israeli Chamber Orchestra. Since 1995, Raphael has been a percussionist with the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Rishon Lezion and has also performed at the Israeli Opera. He was highly regarded and much loved by his professional colleagues.
Corigliano/Beethoven
Program:
John Corigliano: Concerto for percussion and string orchestra “Magician”
Ludwig van Beethoven: Coriolanus Overture, C minor, Op. 62
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
Israeli Symphony Orchestra of Rishon Lezion
The conductor: Evan Aleksias Christ
Percussion and timpani: Tom Bezalel
Tuesday, February 3, 20.00, Rishon Lezion, Heichal Meir LeTarbut Hall
Wednesday, February 4, 20.00, Tel Aviv Opera House,
Thursday, February 5, 20.00, Rehovot, Beit Ha-Am Hall
Tickets:
Photos by ©Michael Pavia, Julian Scherer