Quartet concert from Israel

High note

Renowned Richter String Quartet, part of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO), recently enthralled the music lovers in the City at a jam-packed auditorium of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture.

Conducted by Zubin Mehta, who leads IPO since 1977, the concert gave the audience an opportunity to listen to the rarest of instruments – Stradivarius violin and Johannes Gagliano violin.

The Richter String Quartet comprises Ilya Konovalov (first violin), Schmuel Glaser (second violin), Dmitry Ratush (viola) and Felix Nemirovsky (cello). They were all born in Soviet Union, and therefore have inherited the best traditions of the Russian performing schools.

For the last 20 years, the musicians have been the citizens of Israel. During an hour-long concert, they performed tunes like Love Salute composed by Edward Elgar 1988; The Lark String Quartet, written by Joseph Haydn; American String Quartet of Dvorak and one by Edvard Grieg.

The audience comprised of true connoisseurs of classical music, representatives of art elite, diplomats, students and many other. The concert was part of cultural project ‘Israel-Russia-India’, dedicated to the 65th anniversary of Russian-Indian diplomatic relations and the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between both the countries.

Before the beginning of the concert, Israel’s Ambassador to India, Alon Ushpiz said, “This cultural project was a perfect example of the use of ‘soft power’ in promoting trust and understanding between the two countries.”

Director-General of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Suresh Goel, who attended the concert, supported the idea of expanding the geography and variety of the international cultural cooperation. “We can be proud of the fact that Russia and Israel organised such an event to mark the anniversary of their cherished relations with India,” he said.

The IPO Richter String Quartet, endowed by the Richter family, was founded over three years ago. This is the official String Quartet of the IPO, founded in 1936 by Bronislaw Huberman. In the recent years, the IPO has been playing in series of concerts for the youth and concerts as part of the ‘Arts for the People’ project throughout Israel and various prestigious international festivals.