PEACE
THROUGH MUSIC
GIUSEPPE PENNISI reports on
Christmas concerts in the Holy Land
Christmas concerts in the Holy Land
Since 2007, Palo Olmi has been
organizing Christmas Concerts in the Holy Land with an international orchestra of young people, the Young Musicians European Orchestra. Paoli Olmi is well
known internationally as a conductor of operas and symphonic music; he is also
a visiting professor at the Guildhall School for Music
and Drama in London. For these Christmas Concerts
in the Holy Land, he runs a very competitive and very rigorous competition worldwide.
This year, the group consisted of about thirty musicians, including four soloists. The program, under UNESCO patronage, is
financed by several institutions, including a few local and national Italian authorities, the
International University of Venice and the Japan-Italian Foundation. The
musicians, from fifteen different countries, had an average age of
twenty-three. Israeli and Palestinian musicians
played side by side, of course: the main theme of the concerts is peace through
music. This year, I was invited to join the orchestra on its travels to the
Holy Land.
 Palo Olmi. Click on the image for higher resolution |
Before taking off for Israel and Palestine, the orchestra, which has its
headquarters in Ravenna, ran several open rehearsals in Emilia
and Romagna, as well as a special concert in Rieti for people who are suffering because of the recent
earthquake in Central Italy. Before taking off for the
Holy Land on the morning of 11 December 2016, a concert was offered in the
'Cappella Paolina' of the Quirinale Palace — the residence and office of
the President of the Republic of Italy. This is a magnificent Renaissance Chapel
inside the Palace. The concert was broadcast live on the major public radio channel. The acoustic is perfect and provided an excellent
environment.
 Palo Olmi and the Young Musicians European Orchestra on stage at the Cappella Paolina in Rome. Photo © 2016 Paolo Randi. Click on the image for higher resolution |
After a bus tour of Rome on 11 December, the group
assembled at night at Rome airport and reached Jerusalem at nearly 3am on the
following day. The young musicians had almost no sleep as they were attracted
to visit the holy places of the old town. Then there followed a rehearsal and an 8pm concert in the
Chapel of the Pontifical Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, a large auditorium with every
seat occupied.
 Palo Olmi and the Young Musicians European Orchestra in the Chapel of the Pontifical Notre Dame in Jerusalem. Photo © 2016 Paolo Randi. Click on the image for higher resolution |
All the Christian authorities
of Jerusalem attended the concert and the dinner after the performance on a
terrace overlooking the old town under full moonlight.
The following day, on 13 December, the concert was at 6pm, in the Peace
Center Auditorium in Bethlehem, just next to the Nativity Church. The mayor of Bethlehem, a
young Palestinian lady, made a short but effective speech on music as a path to
peace. The auditorium was full; the audience was mostly Palestinian.
Ovations followed the concert. At 6am the group left Bethlehem for Tel Aviv airport. My part of the trip
ended there, but the orchestra went to the South of Italy to perform in Matera,
selected as the 'European Capital of Culture in 2019'.
 Palo Olmi and the Young Musicians European Orchestra at the Peace Center Auditorium in Bethlehem. Photo © 2016 Paolo Randi. Click on the image for higher resolution |
This is more a chronicle than a review. Let me say a few words about the music. The concerts
included, with some minor modifications, four pieces for soloists and
orchestra: Arcangelo Corelli's Sonata a Quattro for Trumpet (Andre Dubelsten) and String Instruments; Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo
Theme for cello (Jonathan Roozeman) and
orchestra; Paganini's Bravura Variation on Moses' Prayer by Rossini (with Yury Revich, violin); and Giovanni Bottesini's
Gran Duo Concertante for Violin and Double Bass (with Yury
Revich, violin and Luis Cabrera, double bass). Thus, quite a sophisticated program —
not the usual Christmas music. Yet the
audience was very attentive and was really moved by the Paganini piece: a strong prayer to God for peace.
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