Magic of French music

'French music is all about impressionism, colours, imagination and harmony," says Yoni Farhi, artistic director of the Chamber series of the Haifa Symphony Orchestra. This Monday, Farhi, who is also a talented young pianist and conductor, will lead the closing concert of the series at Haifa's Tikotin Museum of the Japanese Art. "The choice of a French program is kind of a musical statement," says Farhi. "I could have opted for some famous masterpiece like Tchaikovsky's wonderful trio. Today priority goes to bringing the audiences to concert halls, which is OK with me. But I wanted to create a program which leaves a taste for more. And that was the idea of the entire series: to combine well-known masterpieces with rarely performed gems." Debussy's Trio sonata for flute, harp and viola and his sonata for cello and piano are Farhi's choice for major, well-known works. For the slot of less-familiar pieces, Farhi picked what he describes as "charming little gems": Roussel's Flute Players and Ibert's Entract for flute and harp. The vocal part of the concert includes lieder (art songs) by Fauret and Duparc and two chansons of Edith Piaf, performed by a up-and-coming Israeli soprano Alma Moshonov. Reservations: (04) 859-9499.