A Bridge Across the Abyss: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Welcomes Berliner Philhamoniker

Music helped another monstrous ”wall” to crumble in April 1990 when the Berlin Philharmonic, Germany’s greatest orchestra, toured Israel for the first time and gave a joint concert in Tel Aviv with the Israel Philharmonic. A Bridge Across the Abyss: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Welcomes Berliner Philhamoniker not only documents that historic union but also provides a fascinating musical experience in CD-quality sound. The 160 musicians — the Israelis in white formal wear and the Berliners in black — sit side by side to play Beethoven’s thrilling Fifth Symphony, Ravel’s dazzling La Valse, and a dedicatory psalm by the German-born Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim. The disc also includes a brief documentary whose most moving moment shows a visit by the Berliners to an Israeli Holocaust memorial. A-