An Israeli violinist who played under the baton of conductor Daniel Barenboim criticizes Culture Minister Miri Regev’s request that Germany cancel a performance by the Berlin Staatskapelle scheduled to take place in Tehran during German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit there, planned for October.
“Every performance [by Barenboim] only brings pride that an Israeli citizen reached such a lofty position” in the world of music, says Ori Wissner-Levy. “I don’t think this should be made into such a big deal.”
Wissner-Levy plays with Barenboim in a different orchestra, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which is comprised of musicians from Israel, Arab countries and Palestinian musicians, and was established by Barenboim and the late expatriate Palestinian academic Edward Said.
“Don’t get me wrong, I am not at all for the current regime in Iran,” Wissner-Levy tells the Walla news website, “but I have nothing against the citizens – and apparently neither does he,” he says, referring to Barenboim.
Wissner-Levy says that he would probably not go to a show in Tehran due to his Israeli passport, and emphasizes that regardless of Barenboim’s plans to go, “I have no idea what he thinks of the [nuclear] deal.”
— Jack Tonhaben
Israeli violinist Ori Wissner-Levy (second left) playing with Israeli cellist Michal Beck (second right), Anders Kjellberg Nilsson (left), Avri Levitan (right) and Johan Fröst at the Gotland Chamber Music Festival in Sweden in late July 2015. (Screen capture Facebook)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
