Arts in Brief: Israel Opera to stage ‘Luisa Miller’

Israel Opera to stage ‘Luisa Miller’

On the occasion of the 200th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, the Israel Opera presents a brand-new production of Luisa Miller. The opera includes many of Italian opera’s most well-known arias and duets, such as “Sacra la scelta è d’un consorte,” “Ah, fu giusto il mio sospetto” and “Quando le sere al placido.”

Star-crossed lovers Luisa Miller and her lover Rodolfo do not stand a chance against the harsh machinations of an unforgiving class society. The new production, which will be conducted by Daniel Oren, promises to be a spellbinding retelling of the classic opera. • Jerusalem Post staff

Design Week comes to Jerusalem

For the third year running, The Jerusalem Center of Design and the Jerusalem Development Agency are proud to present Jerusalem Design Week, taking place from 13 to 20 December.

Design Week is part of the Hamshushalayim festival that will be taking place in Jerusalem for the month of December.

It will feature various design exhibitions, trade seminars, tours and professional gatherings, with entrance to all free of charge.

All of the Jerusalem Design Week events are open to the public who are invited to participate and be exposed to the fascinating and multi-disciplined creative production that originates from the city within the design sphere.

For further information: www.jcd.org.il • Jerusalem Post staff

IPO to help cancer sufferer colleague

The Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is dedicating proceeds from the first of its two season ending concerts to help raise funds to pay for urgent treatment for one its musicians, trumpeter Amit Kelmanowitz. The concert will take place Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at the Clairmont Hall of Tel Aviv University’s Buchmann-Mehta School of Music.

In 2007, 17-year-old Kelmanowitz was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer of the lymph tissue found in the lymph nodes, spleen, liver, bone marrow, and other parts of the body. This is the third time that the disease has appeared and Kelmanowitz has already undergone aggressive treatment for it. The treatment the youngster now requires costs close to NIS 1 million.

The concert program includes Haydn’s Symphony no. 104 in D Major and Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien. In addition to the orchestral works, the concert also features a performance by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s Brass Octet, who will play works by English baroque composer Jeremiah Clarke, Claude Debussy and 20th century American light concert works by composer Leroy Anderson. Kelmanowitz will perform with the octet.

For more information and tickets: (054) 433-6506. • Barry Davis

Enjoy Ethiopian entertainment

The third annual Hullegeb Israeli-Ethiopian Arts Festival at Beit Shmuel in Jerusalem takes place December 20 to 27. The festival is the brainchild of Confederation House director Effie Benaya and is based at the Jerusalem venue. Opening concert: “Song of the Desert” with Din Din Aviv, Avta Brihon and Alon Yoffe. Other highlights include Nephesh Theater’s award-winning play One of a Kind as well as a new work by the Beta Dance Company called And (one).

For more information about the Hullegeb Festival: (02) 624-5206 and www.confederationhouse.org. • Jerusalem Post staff

Author Cook captures top book prize

Steven A. Cook’s The Struggle for Egypt, a chronicle of modern Egypt that culminates in the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak, has been awarded the gold medal in The Washington Institute’s 2012 Book Prize competition.

The Washington Institute Book Prize is given annually to three outstanding new books that have illuminated the Middle East for American readers.

The silver prize winner is Hirsh Goodman’s The Anatomy of Israel’s Survival, published by Public Affairs. The judges describe the book as “an insightful, personal and impassioned analysis of Israel’s tenacious existence in a troubled Middle East.” Goodman, a veteran journalist and senior research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, will receive a $15,000 award.

Capturing the bronze prize is Patriot of Persia by Christopher de Bellaigue, Tehran correspondent for The Economist.

According to the judges, Bellaigue’s “elegant book reconstructs the complex dynamics behind the American- and British-devised coup against Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953 — an intervention remembered to this day, often bitterly, by all Iranians.” • Jerusalem Post staff