David Hirsch and Pinchas Zukerman |
Judith and Burton Resnick |
Pinchas Zukerman and Elaine Wolfensohn |
Suzanne Ponsot and Rochelle Hirsch |
Ingeborg Rennert, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Ira Leon
Rennert and
(rear) Malcolm Thomson |
Suzanne Ponsot, Amanda Forsyth, Pinchas Zukerman and Avi Shoshani |
ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Amanda Forsyth’s New York Debut
Conducted By Hubby Pinchas Zukerman
Story by Tim Boxer
Photos by Nina Boxer
HE Israel
Philharmonic Orchestra was ready to launch its annual New York
concert in December. The men in black tie and tails and the women in
long black gowns took their seats in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln
Center. They all stood as the guest conductor, Pinchas Zukerman,
walked up and immediately opened with the national anthems of the
United States and Israel.
Then, just as abruptly as he came out, Zukerman
strode off stage. Some of the players changed their seating
positions. The stage crew replaced the conductor’s podium with a
single music stand.
The audience didn’t know quite what to make of this.
It was like being at the Mad Hatter’s tea party.
Maestro Zukerman emerged again and said, "I’m
stalling for time. We found the flute player. You know, with the
time change, we sometimes forget to put the alarm on." Then he
stepped onto the conductor’s podium to begin the program, which
included Haydn’s Symphony No.83 in G minor and Tchaikovsky’s
Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture.
Cellist Amanda Forsyth made her New York
orchestral debut with two pieces by Max Bruch. She is currently
principal cellist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa
where her husband, Zuckerman, has been music director since 1998.
The pre-concert dinner, sponsored by the American
Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, was underwritten by
Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert. Benefit co-chairmen were
Rochelle and David Hirsch, and Elaine and
James D. Wolfensohn.
It was a no-frills gala. The tables were bereft of
flowers. As Elaine Wolfensohn, president of American Friends of the
IPO, explained, "This is the new economy. That is the reason we are
not spending money on flowers or centerpieces. That is why we have
candles—they are reusable. We put the money back into the IPO."
