By BARRY DAVISPastoral Hotel at Kfar Blum(photo credit: WWW.KFARBLUM-HOTEL.CO.IL)Striking a chord with BrazilTel Aviv’s Enav Cultural Center will host an intriguing style confluence on February 24 (9 p.m.), when a high-profile lineup of artists presents the Yorik, Rami and Friends show.The concert will be fronted by guitarist-singer Yorik Ben-David and vibraphonist and percussionist Rami Schuller, who will be backed by five instrumentalists, including pianist Adi Rennert, acoustic bass player Gilad Efrat and Brazilian-born percussionist Juarez dos Santos. The instrumentalists will be joined by various guest vocalists, including Dori Ben-Ze’ev and Yehudit Tamir.The repertoire for Yorik, Rami and Friends is based on original scores by Schuller as well as hits of yesteryear from the late 1970s, when the Beautiful Tropical Land show – and later album – introduced the Israeli public to popular number from Brazil, performed in Hebrew by Matti Caspi, Yehudit Ravitz, the Parvarim duo and Ben-David.For tickets and more information: (03) 574-5005, (03) 521- 7763 and www.pashbar.co.ilServing up current affairsThe Orto-Da theater group will present its latest production, The Servants, at The Room Theater in Tel Aviv on February 19 and 20 (8:30 p.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively).The work is based on The Maids by celebrated 20th-century dramatist Jean Genet, with excerpts from Palestinian writer Salman Natour’s War Diary 2014, and adapted by The Room Theater founder and artistic director Amir Orian and Avi Gibson Barel of Orto-Da.The storyline of Genet’s work provides the core of the new production, presented through the prism of contemporary Israel.The original script tells the story of two female servants who kill their employer in a desperate attempt to move up the social ladder; subsequent adaptations have featured male actors playing the roles in an effeminate manner. Orian and Gibson Barel also cast male actors in the eponymous roles, but they do not traverse the gender divide.The new show sheds light on attitudes towards foreign workers, as well as other contentious issues in present-day Israel – such as racism, a culture of fear and the continued so-called occupation of the West Bank.Gibson Barel directs the play, having also designed the sets and costumes, with fellow Orto- Da founders Yinon Tzafrir and Yifat Zandani Tzafrir (responsible for sound production and dramaturgy, respectively).For tickets and more information: (03) 751-1136 and www.orto- da.comClassical weekend at Kfar BlumFrom February 19 to 21, the Pastoral Hotel at Kfar Blum will host a musical weekend based on works of some of the giants of the craft.The Israel Netanya-Kibbutz Orchestra will perform a definitively entertaining repertoire, including Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli’s Concerto Grosso, and Concertino for Strings by 20th-century Hungarian- born Israeli composer Odon Partos.The program for the weekend also includes a talk by violinist- musicologist Dr. Eitan Or Noy, about Eastern influences in the works of Western classical composers; the lecture will be accompanied by live music and video clips.The Barrocade ensemble will also be on-hand to perform music written by Vivaldi for his opera The River Seine Rejoicing.For tickets and more information: (04) 683-6611 and www.kfarblum-hotel.co.ilSopranos get Grammy winnerGrammy Award recipient and Israeli opera singer Hila Plitmann will star in the forthcoming installment of the Sopranos series, which will take place at the Hagai Yodan Studio on Tel Aviv’s Schocken Street on February 19 (8:30 p.m.).Plitmann will perform a wide range of works that take in songs by Richard Strauss, early- 20th-century Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, George Gershwin and numbers made famous by Barbra Streisand, as well as “Bridges of Love,” written by internationally renowned California-based Israeli composer Sharon Farber. Plitmann will be accompanied by clarinet player Yonatan Hadas and viola player Moshe Aharonov.Wine and cheese will be served prior to the concert, from 7:45 p.m.For tickets and more information: 054-481-1697054-481-1697, contact@hym.co.il and www.thesopranos.co.il
