Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra serves as an unofficial Israeli national orchestra and is regarded as a cultural treasure of the Jewish state. However, the group performs a wide variety of repertory from many countries.
European-style classical music performances began to take root in the Palestine region as early as the 1880s, and music education institutions were opened after World War I as the idea of Palestine as a Jewish homeland developed. However, a full-scale symphony orchestra was not founded until Jews began to flee Nazi Germany en masse in the 1930s. The key mover was violinist Bronislaw Huberman, who encouraged Jewish musicians forced to leave their posts in German orchestras to join the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, which he founded in 1936. The group's premiere performance was conducted by the anti-Nazi Arturo Toscanini. On that first concert, music by Wagner was heard, but since then, the orchestra has generally avoided his works. Huberman worked tirelessly to arrange immigration documents for the new musicians and their families, and he is thought to have saved some 1,000 people from German death camps. William Steinberg was the new orchestra's music advisor and frequently conducted the group in its early years; Leonard Bernstein held the same position in the late '40s and continued to appear with the group, making some of its first recordings in the late '50s. After the Israeli state was established in 1948, the group was renamed the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. For many years, it was led by guest conductors and advisors, including Paul Paray, Jean Martinon, and, from 1969 to 1977, Zubin Mehta. Mehta became the orchestra's first music director in 1977 and remained in that position until 2019; in 2020, he was succeeded by Lahav Shani, but he remained active as music director emeritus. The group is a cooperative owned by its musicians.
The modern Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has about 110 members. Its main performance venue is the Heichal HaTarbut concert hall in Tel Aviv, formerly known as Mann Auditorium; the group also performs regularly in Haifa and Jerusalem and in various foreign countries. In 2011, the orchestra's performance at the BBC Proms was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protestors. The group frequently plays host to world-class soloists and guest conductors. Programming is cosmopolitan but frequently features works by Israeli composers. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra released the album Tradition, featuring Israeli melodies, performed by guest violinist Itzhak Perlman, in 1987 on the Angel label, and the group recorded for Angel, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, and other labels through the '80s and '90s. In 2006, the orchestra established its own Helicon Classics label, which reissued many of its earlier LP recordings. The orchestra has issued many recordings in Helicon Classics but continued its association with Deutsche Grammophon, releasing a recording of Paul Ben-Haim's Symphony No. 1 on that label in 2022. By the early 2020s, the orchestra's recording catalog comprised some 80 items.
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Berlioz: Harold In Italy; Bloch: Voice In The Wilderness
Daniel Benyamini, Janos Starker, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1/01/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.4, 5 & 6
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Rafael Kubelik
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1/01/1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Simca Heled Live II
Simca Heled, Israel Sinfonietta, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jonathan Zak, Mendi Rodan, Sidney Harth
Classical - Released by Centaur Records, Inc. on 10/07/2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor/4 Ballades, Op.10
Arthur Rubinstein, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta, Julius Katchen
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1/01/1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ben-Haim: Symphony No. 1
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Lahav Shani
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 28/10/2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Symphony No.3, Hebrides Overture (Live)
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 21/07/1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 2 / Scottish Fantasy
Itzhak Perlman, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 30/05/1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 2 & 5 / Russian Orchestral Works
Sir Georg Solti, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 20/05/2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky / Shostakovich: Violin Concertos
Ilya Gringolts, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Itzhak Perlman
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1/01/2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Israel Philharmonic - The Anniversary Season (-)
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1/01/2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 9
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Kletzki
Classical - Released by DOREMI on 1/01/2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 2 & Scottish Fantasy
Itzhak Perlman, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1/06/1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert : The Symphonies Vol.2
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1/01/2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi
Andrea Bocelli, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 14/08/2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Khachaturian: Violin Concerto/meditation
Itzhak Perlman, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1/02/1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Works (Live)
Sir Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Clifford Curzon, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Urania Records on 5/03/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
"Timeless" Brahms & Bruch Violin Concertos
David Garrett, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1/01/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Piano Concerto, Op. 16 - Schumann: Piano Concerto, Op. 54 (Mono Version)
Julius Katchen, István Kertész, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1/01/1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Korngold: Violin Concertos - Conus: Much Ado About Nothing & Élégie
Thomas Albertus Irnberger, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Barbara Moser, Doron Salomon
Classical - Released by Gramola Records on 2/09/2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Petrouchka
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1/01/1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Symphonie No. 3 "Écossaise" & Ouverture "La mer calme et le voyage heureux" (Mono Version)
Paul Kletzki, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1/01/1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo