World City Guide

Culture

Although less than a century old, Tel Aviv is imbued with the great cultural heritage of the diverse communities that built it. In particular, it attracted refugees from the most highly cultured Jewish communities of central Europe. As a result, Tel Aviv is renowned for the high standard of its classical music. The city offers world-class opera and classical concerts several times a week. These are generally staged by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Israeli Opera and the Israel Chamber Orchestra. For ballet and modern dance, the Habima Theatre, the Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre and the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center are all important venues. Simultaneous translations into English is the norm in Tel Aviv.

Tickets for most major cultural events and performances can be purchased through Castel–Global Tickets, 153 Ibn Givrol Street (tel: (03) 546 7085; fax: (03) 605 0766; e-mail: israel@castel-tickets.com). Tickets for shows at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center can be purchased by telephone (tel: (03) 692 7777) or in person at the box office, 19 Shaul Hamelech Boulevard, Sunday-Thursday 0930-2030, Friday 0930-1300.

The official Tel Aviv website (www.tel-aviv.gov.il/english) has a full guide to current and upcoming cultural events in the city.

Music: The city has long been and remains home of many of the world’s leading classical conductors and soloists, including Zubin Mehta and Itzhak Perlman, as well as Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) and Isaac Stern (1920-2001), and attracts many guest musicians and conductors of the standing of Lorin Maazel, music director of the New York Philharmonic, and Pinchas Zukerman (a native of the city), Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada.

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (website: www.ipo.co.il) was founded in Tel Aviv by Jewish settlers as the Palestine Orchestra in 1936 in the midst of anti-Jewish violence. Many leading European musicians dismissed from their jobs due to the rise of Nazism fled to Israel and found positions with the Philharmonic. The Indian conductor Zubin Mehta took over in 1969. The orchestra, now considered one of the world’s best, gives more than 150 performances each year and is today housed at the main music hall, Frederic Mann Auditorium, 1 Huberman Street (tel: (03) 629 5092).

The Tel Aviv Symphony Orchestra is located at the city’s Ohel Shem Auditorium, Balfour Street (tel: (03) 525 2266). The orchestra plays an active role in the cultural life of the country and of Tel Aviv, participating in various annual events including Vocalisa (a choral festival held at different venues around Israel at Shavuot) and Jaffa Nights. With only 800 seats it is best to book in advance. The Israel Chamber Orchestra (tel: (03) 696 116) is based at the Tel Aviv Museum, 27 Shaul Hamelekh Boulevard (website: www.tamuseum.com). For opera, the New Israeli Opera is housed in the new Opera House – Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, 28 Leonardo Da Vinci Street (tel: (03) 692 7707 or 7777; fax: (03) 692 7733; e-mail: opera@mail.israel-opera.co.il; website: www.israel-opera.co.il). Each season the company stages seven productions, often with internationally reputed foreign directors, conductors and singers.

Theatre: Despite the lack of foreign visitors in the last two years, theatre in Israel continues to thrive and productions at the Cameri Theatre, 101 Dizengoff Street (tel: (03) 527 9888; website: www.cameri.co.il), and Habima Theatre, 1 Tarsat Street (tel: (03) 629 6071; website: www.habima.org.il), are impressive. About 60 of Israel’s leading actors form the Cameri Theatre’s permanent company, which puts on a diverse selection of original Israeli creations, selected world classics and contemporary dramas. The company annually stages 10 to 14 new productions attracting a wide audience in addition to its 27,000 subscribers. The Habima National Theatre of Israel was founded in 1917 and today stages 15 productions per season. Touring widely, the company has performed at major drama festivals including those in Paris, London and Berlin. Audiences seeking an alternative evening’s entertainment will enjoy the Israeli Yiddish Theatre Company, frequently on stage in Tel Aviv, usually at ZOA House, 1 Daniel Frisch Street (tel: (03) 695 9341; website: www.zoa.co.il). Gesher Theatre, 4 Nahmani Street (tel: (03) 566 4888; website: www.gesher-theatre.co.il), founded by Russian immigrants, specialises in both Russian and Hebrew plays.

Dance: The city’s main venue for modern and classical dance is the Suzanne Dellal Centre, 5-6 Yehieli Street, in the Neve Zedek quarter (tel: (03) 510 5656; fax: (03) 517 9634; website: www.suzannedellal.org.il). Home of the Inbal (tel: (03) 517 3711) and Batsheva (tel: (03) 517 1471) dance companies, the Centre has four performance halls surrounding a square used for outdoor performances. Founded by Martha Graham in 1964, the Batsheva Dance Company is Israel’s most acclaimed contemporary dance troupe. Another interesting modern dance company is Bat Dor, 30 Ibn Givrol Street (tel: (03) 696 3175; website: www.batdor.co.il), featuring works by renowned modern choreographers.

For classical dance, the Israel Ballet company performs at Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, 19 Shaul Hamelech Boulevard (tel: (03) 696 6610). Comprising 30 dancers, this much-acclaimed company performs an international repertoire of classical, neo-classical and contemporary works. There is a website that provides more information on dance in Israel as a whole (website: www.israeldance.co.il).

Film: Israel does have its own movie industry but most films being shown are foreign imports. These are usually subtitled in Hebrew, while maintaining their original soundtrack – American films often reach Israel before the UK, giving British visitors a chance to enjoy sneak previews of the latest Hollywood blockbusters. By contrast, the arthouse-style movies screened at the Tel Aviv Cinemathque, 2 Sprinzak Street (tel: (03) 691 7181; website: www.cinema.co.il/cin_page_cinematheque.htm) are mostly subtitled in English. The Cinematque screens premiers of short and full-length Israeli films every evening and also holds a variety of film festivals including the Student Film Festival, the Jazz, Film and Videotape Festival and Salute to Israeli Cinema. The mainstream cinemas in the city centre are Dizengoff 1-3, 1-3 Dizengoff Centre (tel: (03) 620 0485), and Gordon (tel: (03) 524 4373) on the corner of Ben Yehuda Street and Gordon Street. New films always start showing on Thursdays. Current movie listings can be seen in Ha’aretz and the Jerusalem Post.

Cultural events: Held annually in mid-August for four days and comprising over 70 music, theatre, dance and art exhibitions, Jaffa Nights is Israel’s largest street-staged event. In the evenings, Old Jaffa is closed to traffic as stages are erected in squares, plazas and alleyways. All events are free and visitors number tens of thousands. For classical music lovers, it is well worth making the short trip up the coast to The International Opera Festival in Caesarea (usually in June). Launched in 2000, the festival is located in the spectacular Roman amphitheatre at Caesarea, south of Haifa. Visitors who come to Israel in October should take a trip to Rishon Le-Zion (situated 40 km/25 miles south of Tel Aviv) to indulge in Israel’s two-day Wine Festival. While sampling wines from the country’s best vineyards, visitors can enjoy performances by some 2500 musicians.

Literary Notes
Haim Nahman Bialik (1873-1934) is celebrated as the first Hebrew literary figure of the modern age. He was Israel’s national poet but also an essayist and a champion of the Hebrew language. In the City of Slaughter (1904) was acclaimed as a powerful statement of anguish at the situation of the Jews during the early part of the 20th century. His house has been renovated and opened as a museum (22 Bialik Street; tel: (03) 525 4530). More recently, In the Land of Israel (1982), by Amos Oz (born Jerusalem 1939), is a timeless poignant work, drawing from encounters the author made with religious Jews, Palestinians and new immigrants to convey the plight of the Israeli people. Almost rivalling Oz in his collection of international accolades is David Grossman (born Jerusalem 1954). Grossman’s See Under: Love (1997) is a heartfelt novel, whose central character, Momik, is the only child of two Holocaust survivors, confronting the darkness of his ancestry. His novels have drawn comparison to Gabriel Garca Mrquez for their sombre, yet poetic rendering. More accessible, more popular than either Oz or Grossman, the novelist, poet, playwright and essayist A B Yehoshua (born Jerusalem 1936) also deals in varying ways with the difficulties of the Israelis’ situation. His early work having been more allegorical, he moved to a realistic style with The Lover (1975), about the Yom Kippur War. One of his most admired novels, Mr Mani (1993) is a six-generational epic of a wandering Jewish family. Nahum Gutman (1890-1980), winner of the coveted Israel Prize, was one of the country’s most influential painters and writers. Born in Telenesty, Bessarabia, he immigrated to Palestine with his family, at the age of seven, in 1905. Although he is largely known for his work as a visual artist, Gutman was also an accomplished writer of children’s books. His former home has recently been converted to a museum in the Neve Zedek area of Tel Aviv (21 Rokach Street; tel: (03) 516 1970). Interestingly, the house also served as the editorial offices for the political newspaper, Young Laborer, from 1907 to 1914, and was the home for several other renowned authors, including the political writer Y H Brenner.