The Chorale in Israel - July 9

Today we had to chance to get acquainted with Tel Aviv a little. We started with a general bus tour of the city. According to our guide, there are actually 14,000 Bauhaus buildings here, so many that it’s been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We visited Rabin Square, where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. The solemnity of the memorial site is a little modified by the inexplicable presence, on the roof of the building overlooking the square, of a gigantic yellow blow-up duck. Then we went back to Old Jaffa, which is a complex of narrow little flint streets and stairs—largely reconstructed now after war damage, but still charming. Not only was Jonah here, we saw the rock to which Andromeda was chained before being rescued by Perseus, and the house of the Simon the Tanner, where Peter received word from God that henceforth all non-Kosher food was permissible. Many of us then chose to rest up before rehearsal at the beach. The water is that beautiful Mediterranean blue, and not even cool—it’s like bathwater (except for the occasional jellyfish). This evening we had our first rehearsal in Mann Auditorium. It was with Bob, and Ken at the piano, not yet with Zubin Mehta and the orchestra, so we had a chance to get used to the space. The hall’s a little shabby looking, but it’s a nice warm, resonant space, and good to sing in. Unfortunately we arrived to discover that we were not going to be on risers on the stage, as we are used to. Instead, the chorus sits up in a sort of gallery above the stage—like a choir loft, only in front. The seats are rickety fold-up benches, with a tendency to snap closed noisily when you stand up, and so close together that some of the taller singers have nowhere to put their legs. Our seating chart that Bonnie and Joe spent so much time and care compiling had to go out the window. But we took it in stride, and the rehearsal went very well, considering how zonked we all were. Bob seemed satisfied with us. Tomorrow we get to meet Zubin Mehta.

Janet Pascal - Chorale Member and Music Librarian