04.06.2011 2.Siwan, 5771 Nasso; Tag 46 des Omer
Feature:
This year’s Opera Festival at Masada has been expanded to include Jerusalem, providing more stage opportunities for local musicians.
‘We wanted to create a festival that will be both national and international,” says Israeli Opera CEO Hannah Munitz as she stands at the foot of Masada, where the final preparations for the grand show are being made. She recalls that the idea of the festival came to her on the eve of Israel’s 60s celebrations, but it did not work that time.
“Yet I kept it in mind and eventually traveled to the Dead Sea to meet the head of the Tamar Regional Council. The words ’opera’ or ’Nabucco’ didn’t mean much to him, but he immediately realized the huge economic, social and touristic potential of such an enterprise, not only for the region but for the entire country,” she recounts, “History, archeology, myths and legends, and magnificent scenery all meet together here,” she continues and says that this is the principle on which similar festivals in Europe, such as those in Verona and Orange, are based. “And it is also well known that of all the classical music genres, it is opera that attracts the crowds.”…