The best concert series often share a beating heart with their locations--and there is an iconic venue in London, all but undiscovered, that is near-perfect for classical music. Lovely in its acoustics and structure, and located right in the center of London, it is the historic Central Synagogue.
Constructed on Great Portland Street in 1870 and then rebuilt in 1958 after it was bombed during World War II, the Central Synagogue has been one of the UK's most admired and important synagogues for all that time.
It has a tradition of attracting some of the country's top cantors--including the famous Reverend Simon Hass and, currently, Steven Leas--but a new musical tradition is about to be forged there, with the creation of the International Concerts Series at Central Synagogue.
Founded by Inverne Price Music Consultancy and Central Synagogue's admired chazan (cantor) Steven Leas, the ambitious concert series will launch on July 8--with a concert featuring violist David Aaron Carpenter in his London debut, and soloists of the New York Salome Chamber Orchestra.
Carpenter, who was dubbed the "hottest violist of the 21st Century" by arts commentator Norman Lebrecht, will explore "Music of the Jewish Diaspora" on this program--music by composers including Mendelssohn, Kreisler, Gershwin and new works by Russian-American Alexey Shor. More information about this program is available at centralsynagogue.org.uk.
The first season of the International Concerts Series will be announced during this inaugural concert and will feature an impressive array of leading artists from the UK and abroad.
James Inverne of Inverne Price, who is a co-curator of the series along with Cantor Leas, said that there are two guidelines they plan to follow when choosing artists and programs: "One, the artists have to be world-class, on a par with anything one might see at Wigmore Hall, for instance. And two, each concert has to have something Jewish about it--however obscure or hidden," he said. (Full disclosure: in addition to co-founding Inverne Price, James Inverne is Contributing Editor of Classicalite.)
Inverne explained that the Jewish themes might relate to the repertoire, or to the artists themselves, or may relate to themes in the music or the time and place the music was composed. "Those who aren't interested in that side of things might not even notice. For those who are, the idea will always be there somewhere; it might be overt, or it might be waiting to be discovered," he said.
For those who are indeed looking for the Jewish ideas, each concert will be accompanied by program notes delving into those themes.
Leas, who has been the Cantor of Central Synagogue since 2003, said "This beautiful synagogue is blessed with wonderful acoustics. I want it to assume its rightful place in London's music world, but we never wanted just to invite famous musicians for the sake of inviting famous musicians. Music is about ideas as well as feelings, so this series will be about a collection of thoughts, a debate of the mind as well as a feast for the ears."
The International Concerts Series will comprise six concerts annually, three featuring solo piano and three focusing on other instruments or voice.
Violist Carpenter, who will solo on the inaugural concert, recently had the opportunity to play the world's most expensive instrument, a Stradivarius viola that is to be auctioned at Sotheby's this month. (Starting price: $45 million.) Here is a video of Carpenter playing the priceless instrument:
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