Raphael Mostel
By Raphael Mostel
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Culture Is the shofar really a musical instrument — and other horned dilemmas that are surprisingly difficult to resolve.
Qol Tamid (Eternal Voice): The Shofar in Ritual, History, and Culture. Edited by Jonathan L. Friedmann and Joel Gereboff Claremont Press, 358 pages, $27.99 Two kinds of horns mentioned in the Hebrew bible. One, a metal trumpet, is described in great detail. The description of the other, the shofar, is, shall we say, limited? Guess…
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The Schmooze ‘Requiem for the 20th Century’ at Carnegie Hall
Any music-lover in the New York area should run, not walk, to Carnegie Hall on December 10. Why? Only the New York premiere of one of the most influential and iconic compositions of the late 20th century: “Requiem” by holocaust survivor György Ligeti, scored for soprano, mezzo-soprano, double chorus and large orchestra. Ligeti was unquestionably…
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The Schmooze 7 Best Classical Concerts of 2013
Of the many great classical music events this year in New York, seven with some Jewish content particularly stood out: 1: Mozart collaborated on three operas with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, who was born to a Jewish family in the Ghetto of Venice. All three are among the greatest ever written, and explore issues of…
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The Schmooze The Big Schnoz Returns to the Met
James Levine is not the only major return at the Metropolitan Opera this week. Coming back for just seven performances between September 28 and October 26 is one of the Met’s most artistically acclaimed productions in recent years, Shostakovich early, wildly inventive, over-the-top adaptation of Gogol’s classic story, “The Nose.” Picked by every critic as…
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The Schmooze Banned Musical Remains Relevant as Ever
If the performance of Marc Blitzstein’s “The Cradle Will Rock” by the “Encores! Off-Center” series, which just ended its all-too-brief five-performance run July 13 at New York City Center, is not recorded for posterity, it will be a major loss. To call it revelatory is an understatement. This searing, hilarious and deeply affecting production resurrected…
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News Beate Sirota Gordon Dies at 89
Beate Sirota Gordon, who at age 22 was responsible for enshrining equal rights for women in the post-World War II Japanese constitution, and then went on to found the award-winning performing arts programs of both the Japan Society and The Asia Society, died peacefully in her sleep in her home in New York, surrounded by…
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The Schmooze The Return of Morton Feldman
Looking at Morton Feldman, one hardly would have guessed that this irrepressible, self-described “New York Jew” created some of the most mystical and subtle music ever composed. Yet since his death, in 1987, it has become ever more apparent that his late works are among the most individual, distinctive and influential of the second half…
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Culture Arnold Schoenberg’s ‘Pierrot Lunaire’ Marks Century
This October marks the centenary of one of the oddest landmarks in music history. One of the most influential works ever, it remains knotted in paradoxes. The composer was a Jew who at the time insisted he was Christian; but not very long after this disavowal emphatically re-embraced his Jewish heritage. The work mocked religion…
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