From the day of its first concert, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has become the flagship of the classical music scene in Israel and a cornerstone of cultural life in the country.

The IPO appears as Israel's "ambassador of goodwill" all around the world, wherever there is love and appreciation for music. Indeed, Israel does not have a more admired, effective and fondly remembered artistic representative. As one of the world's foremost orchestras, the IPO is a source of attraction for great conductors and soloists from all over the world, who came to Israel to perform with the orchestra in the past and continue to do so nowadays.
My first encounter with the IPO was when I was asked to substitute for Eugene Ormandy in 1961. In 1969 I became its music director. Since then, our relationship has matured immensely after nearly 2000 concerts over the years.

The IPO has recorded a significant repertoire of masterworks during the years. In this special anniversary tribute album, you can find a representative selection of some of the orchestra's best recordings of the last 50 years.

In its 70th anniversary (which is also my 70th birthday), I would like to wish the orchestra and all music lovers many years of great music of the highest possible standard.

 

The present homage album for the IPO, on its 70th anniversary, assembles for the first time several of its finest moments in studios and live concerts over the past fifty years.
There are nearly no surviving recorded documents of the IPO in its first two decades,
since its establishment in 1936. The first IPO recordings were made in 1954. Under
Paul Kletzki's baton were recorded Mahler's 9th symphony and the slow movement
of the same composer's 1st symphony, Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht, Mendelssohn's 3rd (’Scottish’) Symphony and his overture ‘Meeresstille und gluckliche Fahrt’, the work which opens the current collection.

The recordings in this collection were taken from several sources: commercial recordings that have already been released on CD by labels represented in Israel by Helicon (Decca, Deutsche Grammophon and EMI), commercial Decca recordings formerly released on vinyl and appearing here for the first time in an international edition and live recordings from the IPO archives, appearing here in a first-ever world release.
Recently, the IPO has also recorded for Sony, Teldec and RCA. These labels are not
represented in Israel by Helicon and therefore their recordings are not included in
this collection.

When editing this collection I have tried to adhere to a chronological continuum.
However, matching the musical and thematic material, while dovetailing the performers, are the main guidelines behind this edition.
The works chosen for this collection largely reflect the IPO's recorded legacy, thereby
focusing on the central classical-romantic symphonic repertoire that forms a large part of the orchestra's subscription programmes since its establishment to date.
The artists appearing here are all linked, in varying degrees, with the orchestra's historic formation and legacy. These artists have continuously appeared and recorded with the orchestra throughout the years. They embody the essence of the orchestra and are inseparable from it: Leonard Bernstein, Pnina Salzman, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Daniel Barenboim, Arthur Rubinstein and Kurt Masur.

Of course, special mention must be reserved for Maestro Zubin Mehta.
For more than forty years Mehta has regarded the IPO and Israel as his second
home. He has never hesitated to interupt his manifold activities and fly to Israel,
with no advance notice, in times of war and crisis, in order to conduct the
orchestra and identify with the Israeli people in their plight.

Since assuming the post of music director of the orchestra in 1968, he has generated within it many significant changes, artistic and managerial. He has crystallized and elasticized the sound of the orchestra, rivaling the caliber of its playing with those of the best orchestras in the world. As one of the great conductors of his generation, wooed both by record companies and orchestral managers alike, Mehta has made many recordings with the IPO for the leading record labels, and has conducted the orchestra in many tours abroad, thereby granting the IPO prestige and recognition throughout the world. Conductors and soloists from all over the globe have come, and are coming still, to Israel in order to perform with the orchestra, largely due to Mehta's efforts. He has always taken pains to encourage and nurture young
artists, and in the last decade has established the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, being the framework in which leading players of the orchestra train the musicians
of the future in the Tel Aviv University Music Academy.

In this collection Maestro Mehta and the orchestra may be heard at their best: dramatic, passionate and gripping performances of Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Schubert's 9th Symphony, Berlioz's ‘Harold en Italie’, or Dvorak's 7th Symphony.
As testament to his gifts as an accompanist stand his recordings with the
"Israeli mafia" (the "Kosher-Nostra") - Perlman, Zukerman, Mintz, and other soloists,
such as Arthur Rubinstein, Radu Lupu and Janos Starker.

I would like to express my thanks to Maestro Zubin Mehta, having bestowed his
blessing, and also to Avi Shoshani, the orchestra's Secretary General, for his fruitful collaboration and vast assistance in bringing about the present project.

Yaron Karshai

 
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