August 17 1974 – 29 Av 5734
Leonard Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic in Oakland, capital of New Zealand, in the premier performance of the ballet Dybbuk. Bernstein’s score for the ballet was based on S. An-sky’s Yiddish play, The Dybbuk, but he added Kabbalistic and numerological influences. His work was built around the number 18 (written in Hebrew letters as Hai, meaning “alive”) and 36 (twice hai). A fervent friend of Israel, Bernstein performed extensively with the Israel Philharmonic, conducting a number of different concerts every year. The bravest musical moment in his career was on November 20 1948, when 35 members of the Israel Philharmonic appeared with Bernstein in Beer Sheba the day after Israel’s troops refused to evacuate the city. The most emotional was the concert performed in the summer of 1967 on Mount Scopus, immediately after Jerusalem’s reunification in the Six Day War.
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