Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Please note that for all events taking place between October 15 and 18, only patrons with tickets will be allowed entry into the Hall. There will also be increased security protocols, including opening each performance venue 90 minutes prior to the start of an event to encourage early arrival.
Please note that only small bags (5” x 7” or smaller) will be permitted and there will be no coat check available; anyone with larger items will not be admitted.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please call 212-247-7800.
Performers
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Lahav Shani, Music Director and Conductor
Guy Eshed, Flute
Program
BERNSTEIN Halil
BEN-HAIM Symphony No. 1
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5
Encore:
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Three Songs (arr. Lahav Shani)
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.Listen to Selected Works
At a Glance
This concert presents two 20th-century wartime works by Jewish composers and Tchaikovsky’s exciting Fifth Symphony. Leonard Bernstein’s Halil for flute and chamber orchestra is a nocturne full of nightmarish visions but also affirmation, what Bernstein calls “the consolations of art, love, and the hope for peace.” Paul Ben-Haim’s powerful Symphony No. 1 is the first symphony composed in what is now Israel. Written for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, then called the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, it is an eloquent work of considerable historical importance in the history of Jewish symphonic music, one performed all too infrequently. A wartime symphony by a German composer who was driven out of his country by the Nazis, it is full of turbulence and trauma, but also moments of sublime tranquility. Tchaikovsky’s epic Fifth Symphony is a universal emblem of struggle against adversity.