Calendar

Children Opera by David Grossman and Yoni Rechter

Eli Gorenstein, Rabbit
Adi Cesare, Itamar
David Grossman Roni Gornstein, Narrator
Tomer Bar, pianist
The Israeli Vocal Ensemble: Ori Batchko, Tamar Landsberg, Tom Ben Ishai, Daniel Portnoy
Director: Eli Gorenstein
Arranger: Lotem Asner

The Israeli Vocal Ensemble
Soloist: Alexei Kanunikov – Bass
Percussionists and pianist TBA
Conductor: Yuval Benozer

Carmina Burana by Carl Orff is one of the most thrilling and beloved works of the 20th century. The work is based on a collection of medieval poems in Latin and Middle High German celebrating the beauty of nature, love, and the cycle of life, alongside satirical verses mocking the hypocrisy of religious institutions, among other themes. Orff clothed these texts in vivid musical colours, combining driving rhythms, rich melodies, and large, impressive choral movements. Together, these elements transformed the ancient texts into a bacchanalian celebration and granted the work immense popularity. In addition to the original orchestral version, which requires a massive ensemble, various arrangements have been created over the years that preserve the choral and solo parts while reducing the orchestral forces. This performance presents an arrangement for two percussionists and piano by Tomer Yariv.

The Israeli Vocal Ensemble
Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra
Soloists TBA
Conductor: Yuval Benozer

Esther is Handel’s first oratorio and the first oratorio written in England (1718–1720). The work is based on Jean Racine’s play Esther, itself a free adaptation of the biblical Book of Esther. Through Handel’s distinctive musical language, weaving together dramatic arias and rich, varied choral movements, unfolds the dramatic story of Esther, Mordecai, Haman, and Ahasuerus. Performed with the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra and guest soloists.

The Israeli Vocal Ensemble
Conductor: Yuval Benozer

At the center of the concert stands the Pulitzer Prize–winning choral work (2008) by American composer David Lang, based on the famous story by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Match Girl. The fragile figure of a poor girl wandering through a freezing Christmas Eve, trying to sell matches to passersby hurrying home to warmth, her loneliness and final visions, moved generations of readers and continue to do so today. Over the years, the story has inspired numerous adaptations for stage, film, and music.

Alongside this work, the ensemble will premiere a new composition by Zohar Sharon — composer, arranger, and founder of the Revolution Orchestra.

The Israeli Vocal Ensemble
Guest Conductor: Giacomo Baggi (Italy)

From madrigals by Renaissance giants Carlo Gesualdo and Claudio Monteverdi, through the “Sins of Old Age” by Gioachino Rossini — as he himself called his late works — to Sanremo hits that brought contemporary Italian romantic spirit to audiences around the world, young Italian conductor Giacomo Baggi, assistant conductor at La Scala and artistic coordinator at a historical music performance center in Pavia, leads the Israeli Vocal Ensemble in a program of Italian music across the centuries. A program about love, jealousy, and disappointment under Mediterranean sunlight and a Venetian moon.