CLASSICAL REVIEW

IPO Season Opening Jerusalem ICC, October 18

There was no reason to regret the cancellation of advertised conductor Zubin Metha and his replacement by Yaron Gottfried, an authoritative and inspiring conductor, in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s season opening concert.

The 16-minute Israeli curtain raiser was Noam Sheriff’s Akeda (Isaac’s Sacrifice), performed in honor of the composer’s 80th birthday. With Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.2 and Bach’s

Magnificat, these works added up to an example of haphazard, amateurish programming, without any common denominator.

One owes gratitude to soloist Yefim Bronfman for performing Tchaikovsky’s less well-known Piano Concerto No.2, which is no less impressive than but is doomed to live humbly in the shadow of the more bombastic first. Bronfman rendered the work with brilliant virtuosity, explosive energy, a delicate soft touch in the lyrical melodic passages, and refreshing exuberance in the final fast movement. An enchanting violin solo, not common in a piano concerto, deserved special attention.

Bach’s Magnificat was performed gloriously by the Prague Philharmonic Choir. It sounded perfectly balanced, excellently coordinated, richly sonorous and, above all, contagiously enthusiastic. Sunhae Im’s bright, radiant soprano, Tilman Lichdi’s soft, appealing tenor and meticulous coloraturas (replacing the advertised Michael Schade) and Johannes Stermann’s warm, caressing bass blended in harmoniously with the choir.

Conductor Gottfried adopted unhurried tempi that struck one as just right, and achieved incisive articulation of phrases. Hopefully, the IPO will engage him also for his own worth, not merely as a substitute for star maestros.