Denne måned kommer to enastående koncerter at eje rum.



SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY WILL PERFORM IN CONCERT AT

TEL AVIV'S HAYARKON PARK, 25.9.08

McCartney: "I've heard so many great things about Tel Aviv and Israel…We can't wait to get out there and rock."

The countdown has begun to the largest and arguably most important rock concert in Israel's 60 years – former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney will rock Tel Aviv in a three hour open air concert in Hayarkon Park on 25 September. The concert, which was finally announced last week after months of speculation and negotiations, promises to be the most complex production ever seen in Israel, at an estimated cost of NIS 30 million and with a capacity crowd of 70,000.

The Beatles had planned to perform in Israel 43 years ago, but the concert never happened. At the time, fears were raised by the government that the group would corrupt Israel's youth, but this theory has recently been challenged with the suggestion that a rift between two concert promoters was behind the cancellation.

In a bid to right the wrong and within the context of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations, Israel's Ambassador to the UK Ron Prosor apologized in a letter to the two surviving members of the Beatles, McCartney and Ringo Starr. "There is no doubt that it was a great missed opportunity to prevent people like you , who shaped the minds of the generation, to come to Israel and perform," wrote Prosor.

According to a press release issued by the producers, Paul McCartney holds true to the principles of friendship – loyalty and respect – and the 'Friendship First' Concert, as it has been dubbed, will be an opportunity for people to celebrate these values whilst having a memorable night of fun and rock n' roll. "I've heard so many great things about Tel Aviv and Israel, but hearing is one thing and experiencing it for yourself is another," said McCartney in the press release. "We are planning to have a great time and a great evening. We can't wait to get out there and rock."

12,000 tickets were sold in the first 12 hours, with sales beginning at midnight on Tuesday. Tickets range in price from NIS 490 on the grass to NIS 5000 for the VIP enclosure. Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park is one of the largest outdoor venues in Israel and has hosted international stars such as Elton John and Michael Jackson. The venue is also used for the very popular Opera in the Park series, a free annual performance by the Israeli Opera concert, which attracts the 70,000 capacity crowd.

VIOLINS OF HOPE

 CONCERT IN JERUSALEM, 24.9.08

Within the framework of Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations, the prestigious Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ra’anana Symphonette Orchestra will perform under the baton of Maestro Omer Wellber, together with violinist Maestro Shlomo Mintz and talented violinists from around the world, in a unique open air concert by Jerusalem’s Old City walls on 24 September 2008.

The concert will feature 16 violins, all saved from the ashes of the Holocaust and restored to their full beauty in a personal project by Israel's master violinmaker Amnon Weinstein. After more than 60 years of silence and neglect in attics and closets around the world, these restored violins will be played for the first time together in concert. The majestic Old City walls will come alive with thousands of lights synchronized to the music of Mendelssohm's Violin Concerto, Ravel's Tzigane and a special composition of the traditional Hebrew prayer Avinu Malkeinu (our Father Our King), in a message of hope and peace.

Invited dignitaries from around the world, along with a privileged audience of 3000, will bear witness to this celebration of music, history and survival. The proceeds from the Violins of Hope concert will be donated in full to the social and humanitarian projects in Israel of the non-profit organization Meir Panim.

Each violin carries its own tragic history. For Motele, aged 12, the sole survivor of a German massacre in 1944, his cherished violin gave him a new, but short, lease of life. Whilst on a mission with the partisans under the command of Moshe Gildenman to scout out the situation in a nearby town, Motele began to play his violin. On hearing the sweet music, a German officer commanded him to play every evening for his officers. Motele succeeded in smuggling explosives in the violin case and eventually blew up the building full of German officers.

A few weeks later, Motele was killed. Moshe Gildenman took his violin and many years later, gave it to his son who, in turn, passed it on to his own son. For decades, the worn-out violin remained half-forgotten, wrapped in old clothes in the back of a closet until a recent chance encounter with master violinmaker Amnon Weinstein. After several years of painstaking work, the refurbished violin will come alive again in the hands of a 12 year old Israeli violinist, playing Hatikva, Israel's national anthem.  

This concert (www.violinsofhope.org) is one of many musical and cultural events that take place in Jerusalem throughout the year, from the Arts Festival in March and the Israel Festival in June (www.israel-festival.org.il)  to the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival in September, now in its 11th year and featuring two weeks of concerts and exceptional repertoire in the YMCA concert hall.  (www.jcmf.org.il)