Lorin Mazel - CONCERT

November 15, 2009 – Art, Music, and Memory.AIMIG – the Italian Friends of the Israel Museum of Jerusalem – organized an ambitious and meaningful event in memory of Yitzhak Rabin, held at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, in the Santa Cecilia Hall. Maestro Lorin Maazel was invited to conduct the Requiem “Lament for Yitzhak Rabin”, composed by Dov Seltzer on the occasion of the first anniversary of the tragic assassination that claimed the life of the Israeli Prime Minister.

Maestro Lorin Maazel, who on this occasion even renounced important engagements scheduled for the same date in order to take part in the commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin and to honor their personal friendship, conducted the Orchestra Sinfonica d’Italia, accompanied by the Coro di Santa Cecilia.

The event was attended by the five highest offices of the State: the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, and the President of the Constitutional Court, together with numerous other public and private figures.

The concert was followed by a Gala Dinner at the Ninfeo di Valle Giulia, the garden of the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, where a fully transparent structure was erected to host as many as five hundred guests.

Thanks to the exceptional calibre of the artists involved and the political and cultural leaders who took part in the evening, the event— the first to bring together in a joint effort all the European associations supporting the Israel Museum—created a unique opportunity to honor the memory of an extraordinary figure and to promote a wide-ranging project of cultural cooperation.

The great success of the evening enabled AIMIG to raise donations and contributions in support of the Israel Museum and its initiatives in partnership with Italian institutions.