11/25/2009


Written by Peter Marck

135 years ago, when this harp was fabricated in Europe, no one could have imagined the sudden, dramatic end it would, one day, come to.

This harp, played by harpist Yehudit Lieber, accompanied the IPO on all its tours around the world. At the close of the orchestra’s recent successful tour of South America, the harp was placed in its special case, for its journey home, together with the rest of the IPO’s instruments.

The journey was uneventful until arrival at Paris airport, when the kind of accident occurred which is the nightmare of every orchestra. As the harp lay in its case, on a platform awaiting departure for Israel, a forklift, suddenly and without warning, ran into the instrument, shattering it to smithereens. The orchestra’s insurance company is, of course, dealing with the issue of compensation, but many members of the orchestra took the incident as a personal blow. It was, after all, a prized, ancient harp.

Some two months ago, Israel hosted an international harp competition, for which 20 harps from the Lyon & Healy firm (harp makers since 1889) were transported to Israel for use by the competitors. The harps were subsequently put on sale and one was bought by the IPO. Some members of the orchestra are still lamenting the demise of their beloved harp.

On a similar theme, some ten years ago, when a number of veteran players retired and took with them many highly prized instruments which were in their possession, Maestro Zubin Mehta, concerned that the loss of these instruments would impact detrimentally on the melodic sound of the orchestra, created a special foundation, for the purchase of musical instruments. To date, the foundation, which bears his name, has bought over $6 million worth of prized, ancient string instruments. American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra participates in the important endeavor in the United States, with contributions made to the Zubin Mehta Instrument Fund.

To learn more about the Zubin Mehta Instrument Fund please contact the AFIPO office at (212) 697-2949 or email info@afipo.org.