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THE JEWISH NEWS
are honored to present
The Israel Philharmonic
Celebrates 60th Anniversary
Eleanor M. Josaitis
Co-founder and Executive Director, Focus: HOPE
"Building a 21st Century
Workforce"
and
Lloyd Reus
Executive Dean, Center for Advanced Technologies
Retired President, General Motors
Monday, September 29, 1997
Focus: HOPE • 1 400 Oakman • Detroit
uided Tours: 6 p.m. • Program: 7 p.m.
Strictly kosher refreshments • $25/$15 JBE Members
R.S.V.P. & More Information: Jewish Business Exchange
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SARAH HERSHENSON
Special to The Jewish News
e Israel Philharmonic
rchestra knows how to
throw a party. The year 1996
marked the 60th anniversary
of the IPO, and for two glorious weeks
in December, conductor Zubin Metha,
members of the IPO, and 17 of the
music world's finest soloists celebrated
12 star-studded performances.
Israel just vibrated
with excitement. All
concerts were sold out,
and several performances
were broadcast live on
radio and television.
Such was the atmos-
phere, that soloists even
showed up at concerts at
which they were not
playing.
Zubin Mehta, the
IPO's devoted lifetime
appointed conductor, emphasized that
the IPO and the soloists are like his
close family. But, he continued, "no
one has been closer to the orchestra
than the violinist Isaac Stern." Stern
came to the fledgling state 47 years ago
to play his first concert with the Israel
Philharmonic. "Two important things
happened that year," Stern reminisced.
The first, of course, was the establish-
ment of the State of Israel. The second,
he said, was the feeling of pride to be a
Jew, a person among persons, a state
among states.
There was a feeling of "belonging-
ness" in the air, said Stern, recalling one
of his early concert trips to Israel.
"When I got into a cab one afternoon
and asked to be taken to some place
other than the concert hall. The cab
driver looked at his watch and turned
to me, 'Don't forget you have a concert
tonight, Mr. Stern.' People care, and
that is one of the beauties of Israel."
The audience has remained loyal
and supportive throughout the years.
Stern remembers when the orchestra
performed in the small and tattered
"Ohel Shem" Hall that seated 920 peo-
ple. "It did not matter," said Stern.
"The hall was filled and half the people
in the auditorium were in army uni-
form. Everyone listened from their
pores.
Today the orchestra's home is in Tel
Aviv at the magnificent Mann
Auditorium, whose principal benefac-
tor was American Fredric R. Mann, but
the audience is as knowledgeable and
enthusiastic as ever.
In truth, the history of the Israel 1 \
Philharmonic documents the history of
the State of Israel Itself. The orchestra
was formed in 1936 by the great violin
ist Bronislaw Huberman who persuad-
ed 75 musicians from Europe to go
and live in Palestine and play on the
"sand dunes of Tel Aviv." The great
maestro Arturo Toscanini took leave o
the NBC Symphony and conducted
the IPO's first concert. "This is for
humanity," he said.
Throughout the decade:,
the orchestra grew in
prestige and in 1971, the
IPO began participating
in major European music
festivals. Though there
were heated discussions
as whether or not to per-
form in Berlin, the deci-
sion was made to play, _
and Zubin Mehta led the
orchestra in an enthusias-
tically received performance of Mahler's
Symphony No. 1. When the cheers of
"Encore, Encore" rang out, Mehta
turned to the orchestra and declared
"Hatikva." Thus our national anthem
was played a few hundred meters from
Reichstag, where the annihilation of
European Jewry was planned.
With concerts planned and soloists
booked until the year 2,000, the Israel
Philharmonic looks forward to many
more gala anniversary celebrations of
music and friendship. A source of prides
to all Israelis, the IPO is much more
than just another world-famous orches-
tra. It is something unique in musical
and Jewish history.
\)\
The IPO is
booked
three years
ahead.
Sarah Hershenson writes for World
Zionist Press Service.
Grapes Grow
In Salt Water
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University ‘_\
of the Negev, the Hebrew University
and a Turkish researcher from Izmir
have succeeded in producing a success-
ful first crop of seedless, purple-red
grapes, grown with salty groundwater
in the Negev.
The success was reported at the
international conference on
Interdisciplinary Approaches to the
Development of Desert Agriculture.
At the four-day event, attended by
experts from Jordan, Egypt, Turkey,
Morocco and the Palestinian Authority,
Professor Ben-Asher, of BGU's Desert
Research Institute, reported on the first..1:\
harvest produced from his vines.
— WZPS