“It was a wildly enthusiastic audience Tuesday night at the third and final performance of the Philadelphia Orchestra, held at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, marking the end of the symphony’s much-discussed trip to Israel to mark the country’s 70th birthday,” writes Jessica Steinberg in Thursday’s (6/7) Times of Israel (Jerusalem). “Music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin thanked the audience for its standing ovation…. The trip … has been in the works for nearly two years.… What the orchestra perhaps hadn’t initially anticipated was the number of BDS [boycott, divestment, sanctions] protests to its planned excursion…. In light of the BDS protests, ‘we had to be more flexible with our planning,’ said [interim President Ryan] Fleur…. The orchestra’s tour in Israel included workshops, master classes and impromptu concerts, including several planned in Arab towns and cities, although some were moved or canceled…. At a panel … featuring Fleur, former Israel Museum director James Snyder, Hebrew University musicologist Yossi Maurey and orchestra cellist Udi Bar-David, the four discussed cultural diplomacy.” Said Bar-David, “What is the role of the Philadelphia Orchestra when we go somewhere? The performance has to rise above the situation. Everything you say can be interpreted, it’s so volatile. We shouldn’t pretend it’s not there.’ ”
Posted June 8, 2018
