At first it seemed almost like any other concert day. It was the middle of March and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor Osmo Vänskä were all set to perform at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium, Tel Aviv. With a new virus at large, though, only around 120 people had ventured out to listen to them. Then everything changed at a stroke.
“The performance was delayed,” remembers Lotem Beider Ben Aharon, a member of the IPO’s viola section. “We were backstage, ready to start, but our stage manager didn’t call us. After a few minutes, our CEO had to ask the audience to leave the hall, since new national restrictions were just applied. We played the concert live on Facebook and YouTube. The feeling of playing a concert for an empty hall was the strangest.”
Lockdown had begun and the IPO, like orchestras all over the world, had to face the calamity of all concerts cancelled for the foreseeable future. For principal horn James Madison Cox, the timing was appalling: his own mandatory retirement was only months away, and now his farewell performances simply evaporated. “We became aware of coronavirus from our orchestra colleague Dalit Segal, whose husband, Dr Gadi Segal, was treating the first Israeli cases of Covid-19,” he says. “By mid-February, Dalit stayed away from the workplace as a precaution, as did a member of our office staff. Yet I was unconcerned, until I had a very uncharacteristic experience — a dream featuring a Bergmanesque hooded figure, standing immediately beside me onstage during a concert. It was unclear for whom it had come.”
With concerts for indoor mass audiences impossible, and social distancing making mincemeat of performing arts’ economic models, orchestras stand to lose horrifically from the Covid-19 pandemic. The IPO has started an online series, but these are chiefly concerts of chamber music. A brief window of opportunity in September enabled some live concerts in Tel Aviv and Haifa with socially distanced audiences; but then a second lockdown intervened. In October the orchestra gathered in the street outside the Knesset to play in protest against the government’s decision to keep concert halls shut.
Unlike many orchestras in Europe, says principal viola Miriam Hartman, the IPO relies unusually heavily on subscription and ticket sales. “While other orchestras are supported by banks, corporate sponsors and their governments, we cannot say the same. Hence the impact upon the orchestra’s budget and ability to pay salaries has been devastating.”
For the musicians, the loss is not only financial, but artistic. “The 20/21 season was to have been the historic debut of the young, energetic and talented Lahav Shani as our new music director, having had the baton passed to him from our esteemed Maestro of the past 50 years, Zubin Mehta, but it has manifested itself in a few recordings for our virtual audience instead,” says Hartman.
Orchestras’ levels of excellence depend on regular rehearsal and performance: “Orchestral musicians and others in professions requiring highly developed, specialised skills can maintain a tolerable level only through constant performing,” says Cox. “Literally none of the interactive ‘ensemble skills’ of making music with others can be practised in isolation.”
Musicians’ entire way of life has been upended; it is no wonder that some are experiencing considerable stress as a result. “I remember being engulfed with fear the first few months of the pandemic, feeling scared of how little we know about this new illness and this new world situation,” says Sharon Cohen, a member of the first violin section.
“We witnessed a wide variety of behaviours during the first lockdown, and I admit that mine was not stoic,” says Cox. “But, early in the lockdown, I had one edifying experience: during an emergency visit to our local hospital (not for Covid), I was struck by the superhuman work of the entire staff, even overburdened as they were since the beginning of the pandemic.”
“At first the biggest issue for me was not seeing my close family,” says Ben Aharon. “But we are over that now and finding time to practise is a great challenge. My two-year-old son and I are having the best time together at home, while my husband is working non-stop. Of course, our salary cutdown is not easy and knowing that the government is not giving enough support to bring back the arts into our lives is a very difficult truth.”
“What worries me most is that it might be a long time before we’re allowed to perform in front of audiences again, with the concern of the orchestra’s lack of ability to continue paying our salaries,” says principal bassoonist Uzi Shalev. “Of course, I believe things will settle for the orchestra, sooner or later. We will survive!” Long term, he reckons some things may change for good: “The pandemic demonstrated the need for more online, digital activities by the orchestra. I presume that the IPO will initiative more digital projects, both recorded concerts and on-line live performances.”
Many of the musicians have tried to make positive use of their unaccustomed free time. Shalev gave a few outdoor concerts with his woodwind trio and took Zoom-powered courses in chess and screenwriting. Ben Aharon and Cox have spent most of the time with their families. Hartman has been teaching online, but says she also found herself appreciating “quiet time” without the need for constant travel; and she has taken up yoga. As principal viola she has also been one of the musicians involved in the online chamber music series.
Cohen, however, has felt disinclined to practise the violin. “I know that I need to play with people, for people, that music is of a social nature to me, and is about giving,” she says. “That is why I was not surprised at all that I have no need to play or practise my instrument much during this time. I don’t like playing on my own — that is why I am an orchestra musician!
“Suddenly, I’ve become a full-time housewife, with no preparation, after a lifelong pursuit of a musical career. I was searching for something to get my mind active, other than being creative in the kitchen. I started gardening on our urban porch. I took driving lessons. I had missed playing with colleagues and performing to a point it was aching, and then more, up to a point when I couldn’t feel that pain any more. Next I was worried financially about my household. All my work outside the orchestra had been cancelled for months, we also took a pay reduction in our salaries, and I was looking for new creative ways to keep our head above water.
“The latest challenge,” she continues, “is trying to keep positive. Searching for new ideas for the orchestra, searching for hope from within — hope for our profession, hope for our culture and our public, hope for health, hope for having our life back as we knew it, or some new life that would be just as satisfying.”
Hartman remarks, “As the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks has said, ‘Musicians know how to make beauty out of pain.’ Never have I felt as great a need to prove that this statement is correct as during this period of time.” Shalev comments simply: “I found that music is a true need in my life. In other words, I can’t live without it.”
The IPO held a virtual gala in June to fundraise, hosted by Dame Helen Mirren and involving solos from star musicians who have enjoyed long associations with the orchestra, including the pianists Evgeny Kissin and Khatia Buniatishvili.
Despite a cyber-attack that took down the websites on which it was appearing, it eventually clocked up more than half a million views. Now another online gala is taking place, under the auspices of the American Friends of the IPO and the Israel Philharmonic Foundation.
The Israel Philharmonic Pre-Chanukah Global Celebration is a multi-disciplinary programme of performances, backstage interviews and promised messages of hope. Special guest is the composer Hans Zimmer and members of the orchestra will perform some of his works, conducted by Shani. Bette Midler is among the many celebrity guests, and the event is hosted by Rona-Lee Shimon, star of the the television series Fauda. The gala is free to watch, and donations in support of the orchestra’s Urgency Fund are encouraged.
Over the months ahead, fundraising efforts will continue with all manner of new initiatives: for instance, the IPO plans to extend its Urgency Fund by offering once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to celebrate or honour a loved one on their birthday or special occasion with a unique performance.
The online pre-Chanukah gala, meanwhile, is a perfect moment to appreciate the efforts of these devoted musicians.
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Pre-Chanukah Global Celebration is on December 6. To register free to watch, visit: https://afipo.org/event/pre-hanukkah-global-celebration/ For more information about the orchestra or to help the IPO Urgency Fund, https://www.ipo.co.il/en/the-ipo-urgency-fund/ contact Ruth Fisher at the IPO Foundation UK (ruth@ipofoundationuk.com)
