Flute sounds orange

Christiane Yehudin-Peterseim will perform a concerto for flute by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of J.S. Bach, at upcoming concerts in Israel.

By MAXIM REIDER
flute (photo credit: )
flute
(photo credit: )
'Flute is a very light instrument," says Christiane Yehudin-Peterseim, sitting late in the evening in the neat and cozy kitchen corner of her Tel Aviv apartment. Now that she has put her three little boys to sleep, she can talk to a visitor about music. "Flute has no weight, unlike the bassoon or clarinet. It's only a color; it adds color to the orchestra." Which color? "Many colors, probably orange or something from that end of the spectrum. With flute, you can sing as a singer. True, the flute can be scolding and hysterical, but that I do not like," she adds with her radiant smile. Christiane, principal flautist of the orchestra, was born in Weimar, East Germany into a non-musical family, but played flute from an early age. In 1995 she came to Jerusalem as a student of Moshe Epstein. "He is an excellent musician and interesting personality. He gave master classes in Germany, and I decided that I wanted to learn with him." While she found the characteristic Israeli lack of order quite difficult, Christiane relates that nonetheless she "immediately felt very comfortable here. People were warm and open, and when I went back to Germany, I felt something was lacking." She returned in 2000 with her four-year-old son to join the Beer Sheva Simfonietta. In Beer Sheva she met her husband, clarinet player Yevgeny Yehudin of the Philharmonic Orchestra. At upcoming concerts she will perform a concerto for flute by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of J.S. Bach. "I've chosen this concerto because this is a very special music. You cannot say that this is a Baroque or a classic piece; it is something in between. There is a lot of color about it, and I love it a lot. It's a pity that his pieces are almost never performed - he was the most gifted among Bach's sons. He found his a style of his own - very colorful, very romantic, and very theatrical, I would say." Christiane will solo with the Israel Chamber Orchestra March 21 in Tel Aviv and 23 in Or Akiva. These concerts are a part of the Round the World series and open with a lecture - this time, one on on Germany by Prof. Moshe Zimmerman. Wednesday (lecture at 8 p.m., concert at 9:15 p.m.) at the Tel Aviv Museum, and March 23 in Or Akiva (lecture at 9 a.m., concert at 11 a.m.). The program also features Mendelssohn's Scherzo and Wedding March and Beethoven's Symphony #7. Gil Shohat leads the orchestra in Tel Aviv, while Eitan Schmaisser will take his place on the podium in Or Akiva. Reservations at (03) 518-8845 (Tel Aviv) or (04) 626-6636 (Or Akiva).