By David Amos
SAN DIEGO –Some of my readers may have heard me in a lecture or two about the Israel Philharmonic. This unique orchestra is not only an outstanding ensemble, but it has a history of humor and humorous incidents that few other organizations can rival.
I read a book recently. It is titled Smiles, Pranks, and Coughs at the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra by Yaacov Mishori, the retired principal horn of the Philharmonic.
I know this from a direct, personal basis. During the 1980’s, I was privileged to conduct this orchestra in a series of recordings. My infrequent, but intense recordings in Tel-Aviv with the Philharmonic brought back to life those sessions, where fun loving, hilarious, and ridiculous incidents were a way of life with the IPO, and to my knowledge, unseen in other major orchestras anywhere. You can attribute some of this behavior to the tense rhythm of Israeli life, the inherent need for levity in a difficult and unpredictable environment, and the Jewish spirit to find relief in humor. Many of these incidents are things that can happen anyplace, but it took someone like Mishori to compile some of the highlights in a book.
I met Yaakov Mishori during my years of recordings at Mann Auditorium. He was always soft spoken and kind, and frequently with a smile on his face. Here are some excerpts from his book which I hope you will enjoy:
“At the beginning of the 1970’s, the orchestra traveled to Kibbutz Ein Gev on the Sea of Galilee, as part of the subscription concerts in the North. The concert hall there was a semi-amphitheatre, open on the sides but enclosed only on top. In one of these concerts that took place around Passover, the great Jewish violinist Yehudi Menuhin performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. In the middle of the quiet and subtle second movement, in which the violin plays sweet and wonderful tones, the timpani produced a loud noise which was not written in the score of the work. Menuhin, who was engulfed in the celestial music, was shaken, as were Mehta and the IPO members who looked angry at the timpanist. The poor player simply raised his shoulders and pointed a blaming finger upwards…..
It turned out that a dove that evidently loved music, managed to fly into the amphitheatre and situate itself in one of the hall’s beams, from which it decided to relieve itself directly over the timpani, causing the loud noise. The orchestra, soloist, and conductor burst out laughing, and one of the players said after the concert: Lucky it was a dove; imagine what would happen if it were a cow!”
“English conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent appeared with the Palestine Philharmonic in 1938. One day, the orchestra traveled from Jerusalem to Haifa via Nablus. Near the Arab town, a gang of Arabs threw stones at the bus. Several windows were broken, but there were no casualties. Sargent, who was on the bus, was also unhurt, but this was a very frightening experience for him.
When he returned to England, he told his friend, conductor Sir Thomas Beecham about the incident. Beecham smiled and said: Good for the Arabs. If they threw stones at you, they really do understand classical music!”
“The Jerusalem String Trio, whose members are violinist Rima Kaminkovsky, violist Rober Mozes and cellist Yoram Alperin has gained acclaim in Israel and abroad, and has recorded several CDs. Yoram Alperin tells the following story: One day we traveled to a Kibbutz in the North. It was a rainy day, and when we reached the location we were astonished to read the poster advertising our concert. Two of the Hebrew letters comprising the name of our ensemble had fallen off in the wind, so we were now called Shlishiyat ha’metim ha Yerushalmit,, (The Dead Jerusalem Trio) instead of Shlishiyat Ha’metarim ha Yerushalmit, (The Jerusalem String Trio). The Messiah must have already reached the Kibbutz. The audience received the poster with amusement, and the success of the Trio that evening was especially great.”
“Maestro Zubin Mehta has a keen sense of humor, sometimes too keen. At one of these light classical music concerts that took place on Purim, concertmaster Uri Pianka was supposed to play the solo in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto that opens with a long introduction for the orchestra. We had several rehearsals with him, which went well.
On the evening of the concert, Zubin Mehta secretly told the orchestra members, aside from the concertmaster: In the concert, we’ll start playing the introduction to the Mendelssohn Concerto instead of the Tchaikovsky.
Uri Pianka came on stage, ready to play Tchaikovsky, when suddenly Mehta gives a cue to begin the accompaniment for Mendelssohn’s Concerto…. The shock on the soloist’s face was noticeable, but to his credit, he regained his poise within seconds and began playing the Mendelssohn, which was also a staple in his repertoire.
The audience, who knew both popular concertos well, stirred in bewilderment, since they did not understand the reason for the last minute change without prior notice.
After two minutes, Mehta stopped the playing, and turned to the audience:” This was a Purim prank intended to confuse the soloist, who did not know of it in advance. I congratulate him for not losing his calm and jumping at the last moment into cold water for which he was unprepared”
The audience laughed, and Uri Pianka said in his amusement: During the first second I thought perhaps there was something wrong with my memory, and we should really be playing Mendelssohn. In any event, pranks are good for one’s health!”
(In January 25 and 27, 2015, Uri Pianka will be playing in San Diego, with the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra. He is scheduled to play Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major. We promise not to switch concertos on him at the last moment.)
There are many, many other amusing stories in this book to which I related very well. As you can imagine, I have my own set of personal stories which I experienced with the IPO.
We’ll save them for another time.
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Amos is the conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra and has guest conducted professional orchestras around the world. he may be contacted via david.amos@sdjewishworld.com