JSO Season Opening Jerusalem Theater, September 8

The world premiere of a new Israeli work, Daniel Markovich’s Holes in Time, was performed in the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra’s season opening concert, conducted by Frederic Chaslin.

The relatively unknown young composer’s work commemorated 16-year-old Shira Banki, murdered in July 2015 by a fanatic whose ultra-religiosity did not prevent him from breaking the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.”

Appropriately expressing grief, the piece mercifully abstained from sentimentality. Though contemporary, its appealing melodiousness sounds rooted in the Romantic tradition, spiced with some elements reminiscent of film music. Most impressive is the contrasting sudden calm conclusion after the preceding turbulence. What remained unclear, despite the composer’s attempt at explanation in the program notes, was the work’s title.

The piece will come in handy whenever eight minutes of Israeli music are required for a classic concert program.

The soloist of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, Asi Matathias, sang the composer’s aria-like melodies on his violin with an enjoyable and pure, almost vocal tone, savoring them with intense identification and flexibility. The slow movement’s lyrical mood was conveyed most delicately, and the final fast movement’s exuberance was rendered with youthful energy. In the cadenzas the violinist displayed formidable virtuosity. The menacing chromatic scale runs of the so-called “Turkish” episode were highlighted by conductor Chaslin with utmost force of conviction.

In Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (“The Song of the Earth”), Chaslin emerged as a veritable orchestra conductor, concentrating mainly on the instruments, letting them loose at full blast, apparently with only little concern for the singers and without restraining the instruments’ volume to let the voices be heard. The abundant instrumental solo passages, though, were excellently polished and elegant.

The singers made valiant attempts to make themselves heard above the orchestral tutti. Tenor Andeka Gorrotxategi’s radiant tenor sounded formidably impressive when the orchestral soli let him become audible. Lena Belkina’s warm mezzo-soprano’s profoundly moving final Ewig (“Forever”) was the performance’s breathtaking highlight.