Flamenco Project Concert

This concert at Confederation House was entirely instrumental and vocal -- and excellent, although not all the music was Flamenco, and I do not know why. Nor why this was a "project." No dancers, there'd have been no room for them on the narrow stage. Excellent concert, as every concert at Beit HaConfederation has been.

Copyright 2018 Jane S. Fox

Ha Tizmoret HaAndalusit Ashdod

We akways look forward to performances of this Israel-prize winning orchestra. But this week's concert lacked the energy that is such a great part of their appeal. And where was the kanoun? Instead they had an electronic keyboard. The single oud was, in most pieces, overwhelmed by the massive strings. Not a bad concert, but not up to standard.

Copyright 2018 JaneS. Fox

From Tunisia to Jerusalem and the Mahgreb

Last Thursday's concert at Confederation House was what we particularly like -- a bit of family history and a lot of North African music. I was particularly happy that I recognized the first tune. Not that I know its name, and I certainly could not sing it for you, but I knew I had heard it before. I was also pleased that when they played a new melody to words I know (such as Ya Ribon), I heard the music as a melody and could sing along. To be sure, the rest of the audience certainly knew the words and music and carried me.

The night before, at Beit Avi Chai, we had also heard north African music, from a slightly wider area. This, too, was a delightful concert. We were pleased to see such a variety of ages in the audience from primary-school kids to aged grandparents.

Copyright 2018 Jane S. Fox

Old and New

Monday's Etnakhta was a classic mix of classcal and modern, played by the Alexander Trio. Hayden, then Beethoven to start, Schumann to finish. The before-intermission piece from 2006 by Oded Zehavi opened with the usual doom-is-coming atonality (or is that dissonance), but eventually moved into a lovely stretch that seemed to be the composer's assertion that he could write conventional beauty if he wanted to. After intermission Reuben Seroussi's "Ancia" from 2012 opened with violin squeaks and went on incomprehensibly (to me) from there. I could have used a lecture or maybe a year-long music course.

Copyright 2016 Jane Fox

Traditional Music

Shostakovich, Mendlessohn, and Beethoven pleased the audience of Monday's etnakhta concert. The full house, made up mostly of what Israelis all "the third age" and the British call "OAP" (which does not, as I thought when I first saw the term, mean "over-aged persons" but rather "old-age pensioners") thought Shostaakovich quite modern.

Copyright 2016 Jane Fox

Jacky Levy et al. et al.

Noticing a last-minute poster, we went to Beit Avi Chai to see Jacky Levy and company (Kalabat Shabbat) doing their T"U b'Shvat program (two weeks after the holiday). "Why do Jews like T"U b'Shvat (new year's day for trees) so much? Because it has nothing to do with anyone trying to destroy us. The trees never had anything against us." Probably only in Israel would you get a humorous take on people's reaction to terrorism. ow that I think about it, that monologue was a variation on the "When I came to Israel," or "When I was your age."

We went early to try out Beit Avi Chai's newest version of its cafe. Not much, but fine for coffee or a soft drink or beer with a small cold sandwich or pastry. Israeli sandwiches are almost always good because the bread is excellent and the ingredients extremely fresh.

Along the art-display corridor where they've put the cafe, we noticed a guitar and violin on two chairs, next to their cases, and chairs set around. Someone was going to play. And they did, original works played and sung for 45 minutes before the event we'd paid for.

Beit Avi Chai also supports TV shows on channel 20 -- a sort of Modern Orthodox channel. I've seen several episodes from a travel series about Jewish communities around the world and three soap operas. Chabad undoubtedly did not get started in Katmandu the way the soap opera tells it, but the show is fun to watch.

Copyright 2016 Jane Fox

Best Customer Service

The best customer service I've come across anywhere is at the Jerusalem Theater box office. The theater has at least five venues offering concerts, plays, stand-up, movies, dance performances, international films, lectures, and anything else you might find on a stage. Those box-office clerks not only know the programs, they also know all the discounts and deals you might be elligle for. You can attend three events for the price of two. Pay now, and choose later. Forget to pring your card when you come in to buy tickets for the third event? They'll find your record for you. You can also get tickets by phone or over the Internet.The box office is very patient, and I've heard them serve customers in three languages. I'd be happy to give any of them a recommendation for a job teaching customer service personnel how to work with customers.

It helps that the products they sell are excellent.

By default all your tickets go on your card. At the door, an usher reads the card and reminds you where your seat is. But what's to remind you that you have an event that day and when? You transferred it to your calendar, didn't you. Well, no. I haven't even tried to get the phone to read the card, though I'm told it can. Fortunately, if you ask, the box office prints you a paper ticket. I don't suppose anyone under 50 asks for that.

Copyright 2016 Jane Fox

Etnakhta

The Monday afternoon Etnakhta consert series has dwindled to every other week. The programs have gotten very expectable, at least what the elderly regulars seem to expect and want. Chamber groups play Mozart and Bruckner. I remember with fondness the assault on my ears of a pre-Muslim Arab chorale and of all the strange sounds a musician can make with a trumpet not to mention several pieces so modern they had no key. These are not forms I'd seek out or ask to hear again, a reason I was happy to have them presented to me just so I'd know what they were.

Copyright 2016 Jane S. Fox

Maybe Two Israeli Andalusian Orchestras

A full house tonight for the concert of the Tizmoret Andalusit Ashdod. Never mind the storm -- which paused for us to walk to the otherwise cancelled-out Jerusalem Theater and was barely puffing when we came home. And what an enjoyably energetic concert it was.

Earlier in the month at a smaller concert of the Tizmoret Andalusit Yerushalayim, we heard how happy they were to be Yerushalmim now. Yet tonight the banners of Ashdod were draped behind players, some of whom we recognize. So what's the story? A split? Two orchestras now touring?

They're both excellent.

Copyright 2016 Jane Fox

Andalusian Orchestra

HaTizmoret HaAndalusit Ashdod has become HaTizmoret HaAndalusit Yerushalayim, and very proud the director is to be associated with Jerusalem.

Monday's concert at the Jerusalem Theatre was a tribute to the late Selim Halali (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salim_Halali ), a French singer born in Algeria.

The Rivke Crown auditorium was a great venue for this concert, not so large as to dilute the effect of the enthsiastic audienc singing along with the help of words transmitten to cellphones. We watched the singers, instrumental soloists, and orchestra rather than phones. In any case, almost all the lyrics were Arabic, though transmitted in Hefrew letters, and many in the audience already knew the words.

The conductor got a good aerobic workout, and we had a most enjoyable efening. There's huge energy in this music.

Copyright 2016 Jane Fox

Snow forecast again

Ynet reports the roads into Jerusalem are packed. Israelis like the idea of snow.

Very pretty until the power goes out or the water goes off. I'll leave a tap dripping to prevent this apartment's taps from bursting, but last time a water main was out for hours. I've filled empty bottles. Had those last time. THis time will also fill a bucket. Where to put it so we don't knock it over? In the shower, I guess.

Tonight's concert has been postponed to next Wednesday. They phoned about that. I had already seen the postponement on their website. I've laid in food for three days. The stovetop is gas. But the heat is electric. We'll leave the shutters up, because they, too, are electric.

If I had boots, this might be fun.

Copyright 2015 Jane S. Fox

Israel and Morocco

As soon as I got the notice that the Andalusian Orchestra of Ashdod would be playing at Beit Shmuel, I ordered tickets. Wonderful concert and experience as always. The conductor asked how many people understood the lyrics. About half the hands went up -- not that he could see. And how many do not? The rest of us raised our hands. "Next time," he told us, "Those of you who don't understand should sit next to those who do and ask for explanations." At some of the other concerts, they have projected Hebrew translations on a screen.

The orchestra brought three solo singers, all of whom appear regularly in Morocco as well as Israel. Strange that. There are no direct flights.

Copyright 2015 Jane S. Fox

Etnachta Goes Worldwide

Last night's etnachta concert was wonderful. EBU (the Euopean Broadcast Union) invited the Israel Broadcast Authority to present a concert to be broadcast worldwide. IBA brought together excellent musicians and a good range of short compositions.

Lauren Shehadeh opened the program with Psalm 130 sung in Arabic. (Did you know that the Arabic translation of the Psalter was one of the sources for the committee that produced the King James Bible translation?) Her voice was wonderful, beautiful, delicately powerful.

The moderator iterated that the program is on the iba website. I keep looking. If I find it, I'll say more about it, but you'll be able to see, and hear, for yourself as the broadcast was in "visual radio" q.v.

Copyright 2014 Jane S. Fox

Harel Stanton said at the lecture (jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/sufi-lectures-and-music.html), which prepared us for the Sufi music and dance concert, that women got up and danced spontaneously at the small gathering he attended before the Rumi Festival in Konya, Turkey. Possibly those dances were similar to the flowing yet enrgy-filled movements of last night's dancer. For her final dance she did the traditional, seemingly impossible, whirling associated with Sufi men.

The musicians were equally good.

Copyright 2014 Jane S. Fox

Adrienne Haan

Adrienne Haan sang Weimar (and slightly later) cabaret songs at last night's rather strange Israel Broadcasting Authority - Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra concert. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuaY2Cd9Cts) The entire second half of the program was hers, mostly with a full orchestra behind her, though two or three songs had only the more-traditional piano accompaniment. She provided a continuity talk in English, part of the strangeness.

Haan is built like a swimsuit model who still competes in swimming matches. Her dressmaker should love her, and her hair (or possibly wig?) stylist is a genius.

Her voice singing these songs was uncannily similar to that of the magnificent Raymonde Abbecassis (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/cultural-differences.html ). I found a description of Haan calling her a "belter." Perhaps that's it.

"Belter" did amuse me. To science fiction readers, a "Belter" is a person who lives between Mars and Jupiter, making a living from asteroid mining.

But none of those exist, while Haan and Abecassis pleasurably do.

Copyright 2014 Jane S. Fox

Sufi Lectures and Music

We're looking forward to the Sufi music concert at the Islamic Art Museum (http://www.islamicart.co.il/en/). Friday's tour and lecture was part of the preparation. Photographer Harel Stanton showed us photographs of a low-key Sufi festival in Konya, Turkey, where the poet known as Rumi was invited to make his home. I liked Stanton's approach. He asks permission to photograph each subject, and offers them opportunities to take his picture. Thus he was able to capture one intimate meeting of Sufi believers -- or perhaps practitioners is a better word. The more public festival, in a basketball stadium, showcased traditional whirling dancers finding their way to God, but the people who gathered in a small room for music, dance, and sharing simple food were more appealing and almost understandable.

Stanton's pictures of Petra had no connection to Sufis or their music. They were just magnificent. We are now busy trying to find a suitable tour to Petra.

Copyright 2014 Jane S. Fox

Andalusian Orchestra of Ashdod

Nothing on our calendar for the evening! I looked on the Jerusalem Theater website. One of the joys of the JT is that there are several things going on every day. To my delight the Andalusian Orchestra of Ashdod (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWsPnf2vtxA) was giving a concert. Only a few seats showed as available. In fact the Rivke Crown (not large) was only about three quarters full.

The music was as rousing as ever. The three soloists were up to standard.
The small, all-male, choir was from Kiryat Gat. They were excellent, an encouraging sign.

My first complaint ever about the Jerusalem Theater: the sound system was terrible.

Copyright 2013 jane Schulzinger Fox

Beit Aba

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRz4jE0x0lU Elad Gabbay vocals, oud, qanun; Eliyahu Digmi Turkish saz; Ilan Keynan vocals, guitars; Ora Baranes vocals and guitar; Yoni Sharon percussion and background vocals; Yehuda Ashash bass presented a rousing concert. First time I'd every seen an electric oud. It looks wrong, and its sound takes some getting used to. I don't know why Gabbay looked unhappy much of the time. His music was lively and much appreciated by the audience, which participated in several numbers. Bet HaConfederatsia (http://www.confederationhouse.org/en/ ) is a venue to check out. You'll be pleased with yourselves for finding it.

Copyright 201 Jane Schulzinger Fox

Poetry Set to Music

Wednesday night we had tickets at Bet AviChai (bac.co.il) only because we'd been given discount coupons after a Tuesday night lecture.

That lecture was a fascinating account of the real ship Exodus (as apposed to Leon Uris's novelized composite of several ships and romance, which later became a popular movie). Much more is known now that governments have released documents kept classified for decades.

After the lecture Michael dropped his cellphone from two flights up. The seven-year-old phone made by a company called Tellit worked just fine after I put it back together again.

Wednesday night was poetry. We were a bit apprehensive, but it turned out to be classic poets (Bialik, Altermann, and the like) plus some we'd never heard of, many set to music. The poem about the solar water heater and the antenna was new to us. The singers were so good that I think even listeners who understood no Hebrew would have enjoyed the performance.

We are now on the BetAviChai mailing list, so se won't be dependent on my noticing posters for their events or being handed a flyer at one event for another one. As with other Jerusalem venues, performances don't always seem to appear on the website when I'm looking.

Copyright 2013 Jane Schulzinger Fox

Hadas Pal-Yarden at Bet HaConfederatsia

Hadas Pal-Yarden sang beautifully at Bet HaConfederatia ( http://www.confederationhouse.org and http://www.confederationhouse.org/en/ )with four other musicians, all wonderful performers of Turkish and Kurdish music. I like venues that are intimite without being nightclubs.

One of the percussionist's instruments was new to me -- shaped like a large urn with a bulbous body, a narrowed waist, and a top that flarred to be capped by a drum head. Covering, partially covering, and uncovering a round opening in the side of the body, the percussionist changed the tone of the drum.

Bet HaConfederatsia hosts ethnic music concerts, poetry readings, and lectures. An Ethiopian play is listed for the end of this month.

I keep reminding myself that the small restaurant off the tiny lobby looks like a good place to eat before a concert, but I have not tried it yet.

On a less wortIhy note, was fascinated by one woman's boots, which, by cunning use of stitching on felt or soft leather, gave the impression she wore fine socks with thin soles or perhaps was a hobbit.

Coyright 2013 Jane Schulzinger Fox