The Israel Philharmonic to perform at the Sandler Center

by | Feb 28, 2014 | What’s Happening

Wednesday, April 2, 7:30 pm, pre-concert conversation, 6:30 pm

The Simon Family JCC in partnership with Virginia Arts Festival is bringing the acclaimed Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to the Sandler Center as part of the JCC’s Celebrate Israel series presented by Charles Barker Automotive.

The great Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman created what was then called the Palestine Symphony Orchestra in 1935, saving many German and Eastern European Jewish musicians and their families — and a good part of Jewish musical culture in the process. When Israel achieved statehood in 1948, the orchestra was renamed The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. The musicians developed a reputation for delivering stunning accounts of symphonies under renowned conductors like Leonard Bernstein and Zubin Mehta and, more recently, guest conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel.

The strings form the core of any orchestra, producing its distinctive sound, and that’s especially true of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. New York Times music critic Bernard Holland commented on the IPO’s tonal beauty: “From top to bottom, the strings made sounds different from any orchestra I can think of. You hear it even as players tune their instruments.”

Gianandrea Noseda is the orchestra’s principal guest conductor for the current tour, conducting seven performances in the U.S. in Naples, Fla., Houston, Texas, Newark, N.J., Washington, D.C., Louisville, Ky., Chapel Hill, N.C. and Virginia Beach. The program consists of Faure’s Pelléas et Mélisande: Suite, Op. 80, Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) Suite, Daphnis et Chloé: Suite No. 2 and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14.

As guest conductor, Noseda regularly conducts the most celebrated orchestras in the world, such as the Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Cleveland orchestras in the U.S., the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Wiener Symphoniker in Europe and the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan. Recent engagements included his debut at Vienna State Opera and at the Musikverein in Vienna.

“The Simon Family JCC has a great reputation for providing the community with excellent cultural arts programing,” says Scott Katz, JCC Center director. “Partnering with the Virginia Arts Festival on this event seems natural. We hope to continue this partnership to bring other great Israeli performances to Hampton Roads as part of the Celebrate Israel series.”

For a complete list of Celebrate Israel events and the generous sponsors, visit the Simon Family JCC homepage at SimonFamilyJCC.org.

Tickets $127 gold Circle, no discounts; $92, $77. Purchase tickets through the Virginia Arts Festival at 440 Bank Street, Norfolk or Sandler Center Box Office, Virginia Beach. Call 757-282-2822 or online at vafest.org. Purchase tickets through the JCC at 5000 Corporate Woods Dr. in Virginia Beach. Call 757-321-2338 or online at SimonFamilyJCC.org.

The Simon Family JCC is a constituent agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

by Leslie Shroyer