From Baroque to Iraq
Monday's Etnachta concert was beautifully played Tellemann, Vivaldi, and Buxtehude. From that we walked briskly to Beit Shmuel for an evening of Iraqi nostalgia, anecdotes, and popular music from the 1930s through the 1950s.
An accomplished singer and six wonderful musicians started the music at 8, when the scheduled start time -- which is to say before about half the audience was seated. The evening's MC and narrator also sang tunefully, and so did the audience -- except for us to whom all those Arabic songs were new.
At least 2/3s of the audience had come from Iraq in 1950-1951. They sang along, which is always fun, and vocally remembered the scenes and experiences. "Paradise," the narrator called it. Hindsight remembers 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) but surely not the intensity of the discomfort. They'd brought children and grandchildren. The atmosphere was rather like a high school reunion.
The Jewish community lived in Iraq 2,500 years, having followed the prophet Jeremiah's admonition to build houses and plant trees in their exile, for return to the land of Israel would take many years. By many years he probably meant 70, but you know how quickly time passes when you're busy.
Copyright 2011 Jane S. Fox
An accomplished singer and six wonderful musicians started the music at 8, when the scheduled start time -- which is to say before about half the audience was seated. The evening's MC and narrator also sang tunefully, and so did the audience -- except for us to whom all those Arabic songs were new.
At least 2/3s of the audience had come from Iraq in 1950-1951. They sang along, which is always fun, and vocally remembered the scenes and experiences. "Paradise," the narrator called it. Hindsight remembers 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) but surely not the intensity of the discomfort. They'd brought children and grandchildren. The atmosphere was rather like a high school reunion.
The Jewish community lived in Iraq 2,500 years, having followed the prophet Jeremiah's admonition to build houses and plant trees in their exile, for return to the land of Israel would take many years. By many years he probably meant 70, but you know how quickly time passes when you're busy.
Copyright 2011 Jane S. Fox
Labels: beit shmuel, jerusalem theater
posted by Jane S.Fox at 9:43 AM
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