Israel Philharmonic Fundraising Gala review: not even a cyber attack could spoil the music-making

Music is above politics. That’s the comforting creed we cling to, and as we’ve watched streamed concerts from all over the world during the lockdown, it felt as if it could actually be true.

Sunday night’s gala concert in support of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra brought us back to earth with a bump. At first, all went smoothly. Helen Mirren, the evening’s host, spoke with unaffected sincerity about the evening’s themes: the power of music to console us, and the very particular qualities of the Israel Philharmonic.

Then the streaming site Medici TV, which was hosting the broadcast, crashed without warning. It turned out there had been a cyber attack. This wasn’t entirely a surprise. Israel has been suffering a spate of cyber attacks in recent months, probably as a result of the government’s plan to annex part of the West Bank, and a high-profile event like this was an obvious target.

But the hitch was only temporary. As soon as the “live” broadcast was over, the  full concert became accessible on the orchestra’s own website and YouTube channel – which is just as well, as it’s urgently needed. The Israel Philharmonic is in deep financial trouble, and this concert was an attempt to rally friends to its aid all round the world. Three donors have promised to match every donation over £150.

It was a cleverly designed event, cosy yet international, glitzy yet homespun, made from videos shot in different locales and painstakingly stitched together into a smoothly professional movie. Over 75 minutes, we were ushered gently from living rooms in New York to music rooms in London to ornate stuccoed rooms in Vienna, where a well-known pianist or singer or duet would either chat to us about their connection with the orchestra, or serenade us.

Violinist Itzhak Perlman and Zubin Mehta, formerly the orchestra’s music director (and still its longest-serving), offered words of support. “What an amazing community you are!” observed Mirren, and the evening proved her right. Like the Vienna Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic feels like a big extended family. The orchestra’s principal horn player spoke warmly about the orchestra’s communal spirit, as did one of his students, who is also a player in the orchestra. The star pianist Yefim Bronfman, who played the famous D flat major Nocturne by Chopin with lovely natural grace in his New York piano room, turns out to have a sister who plays violin in the orchestra.

As for the music, well, you wouldn’t expect a challenging programme for a fund-raising gala, and the IPO didn’t offer one. Some would say the saccharine hit song Life Is Beautiful from the eponymous film about the Holocaust was appropriate for the occasion, but not even the rendition by soprano Chen Reiss and a string quartet from the Vienna Philharmonic could redeem it for me. Hardly less sugary was the Méditation from Massenet’s Tha?s, but this was played with such swooping yet delicate tenderness by violinist Gil Shaham and his wife Adele Anthony that I was won over. Evgeny Kissin’s rendition of Gershwin’s Three Preludes was a delight, as was the Scherzo from Dvo?ák’s Quintet, in which the seductively light-fingered pianist was the orchestra’s recently appointed music mirector Lahev Shani.

Best of all was the utterly unexpected moment at the end when the entire Israel Philharmonic appeared on the stage of the Tel Aviv concert hall, for a fabulously spirited performance of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony (social distancing rules were relaxed in Israel last week). “Remember this will pass,” Mirren assured us in her closing words. But while we wait, we have music to console us.

To view the concert visit the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s YouTube channel. To donate to the orchestra’s fund visit ipo.co.il/donate