IsraPalooza Interview with Itzhak Perlman

before we begin I will just say that I have no needs tucked my entire life however the most important pearl in in my life growing up was not its Huck unfortunately my dear sister who you just heard interview John Nathan in the last hour is 13 years older than I am and my earliest memories in life are of being kicked out of my sister's room and the reason I was being kicked out was because she wanted to be with her lovely redhead boyfriend and her lovely redhead boyfriend Noah when when I would sneak into the room would grab me and catch me and he would say one day you're gonna be a man but that day is not today and that is Noah Pearlman who is it's Huck and Toby's son and that was my first my first Perelman friend but we are here with me lesser-known Pearlman and of course it's Huck needs no introduction everybody knows he's hot Pearlman you know him as a storyteller and as a jokester and as a lover of Chinese food and as a cook and as someone who loves to fish and the friend of sesame character Sesame Street characters in on presidents and the father of five children and a grandfather and winner of medals and lover of she still which he calls schnitzel and and also because he plays the fiddle so it's like it's really really lovely to have you here thank you where are you speaking to us from I'm speaking from Long Island and we are in quarantine here and I must say it's very nice for us anyway I mean it's the weather hasn't been so good yes yes there was a very nice day so we're here and you know we're watching watching what didn't we know we didn't we're not on schnitzel anymore we are now watching fouled out you know so so it's all said that means every evening you get a heart attack you know because we're in the third season so anyway so and and we are and we are cooking and you told me you watched unorthodox - right oh we watched on the Orthodox absolutely I thought it was terrific was really terrific was very and wonderful acting wonderful acting so we really enjoyed it very much very much okay so I want to begin and I say that you know everyone knows you as an icon and as a recognizable figure as a Medal of Freedom winner and Grammys and Emmys and all of that but I actually want to talk to you about something completely different you were you were born in 1945 in Tel Aviv to to Polish immigrant parents and I imagine you ate a lot of gefilte fish growing up and my first question to you you spent the first 13 years of your life in Israel and and my first question to you was those were the earliest days of the state do you have any memories of your Mac snowed in during those early years in the fifties well I remember you know it the always the parade they all might smile with parade of course I remember that we where we lived our our building which was in the north part of tel-aviv it was not too far from the zoo which does not exist anymore and and I remember even hearing the lion's roar from where we lived we lived on the Hakka Lear which was a near near the ashram on Miller Street and so on and so and I I remember during there was a war what was the war until you me see I I left it in 1958 so the sign I kept inside any world and we lived in the building that had no no basement and so I remember my parents put me near a corner in the middle of the apartment and that was it you know and then I remember the sirens and so on so that was one of the things that it was sort of a common thing to to to talk about problems to talk about Israeli problems you know and of course the the Sinai war and so on and so forth and of course a lot of the what was fantastic at that time which I don't think that you can you if you're not in Israel you can't really experience it is when Friday night happened and then Saturday happened and there was a kind of a quietness that you know it's that you knew that that was the Sabbath you know and where we lived you know literally no cars were moving nothing it was just really quiet and so I always remember that you know because it you know later on coming to New York and so on and so forth you know you don't have that kind of quiet well of course we're talking about nineteen you know I was born 45 and then when we moved into this neighborhood of north tel aviv i was like seven seven eight years old you know and so on so i remember at that time you know this entire kind of atmosphere during the holidays of course on yom kippur quiet everything was quiet you know you cannot duplicate that today was it was how much was it sort of a home of immigrants was it was it it was there a clear kind of Polish immigrant no my parents I don't know my parents my parents were not particularly social you know they were they were busy and making me being bugging me about practicing that's what they were busy about you know and and and I remember my teacher always accused them of having a social life and not watching me practice which of course was totally untrue they had no social life whatsoever and and we had some relatives cousins and I was gonna die we had cousins and we would see them occasionally at that time you know at the very beginning later on you know when I came to the United States and then we came back to Israel then there was seemed more of the over there cousins right now we still have I think second or third cousins which are actually very friendly with our kids you know and actually perhaps not many people know this about you but one of your cousins is perhaps the most recognizable Israeli of all times that's right he was you know when you look at the very famous photograph of is it three or four so I think three soldiers looking at the wall you know and their soldier in the middle is it was his mat was married to to to my cousin who's passed away but but he's you know he's kind of recognized everywhere you know you even you go to the airport you know you see there's a huge picture on the wall on your way to today to the flight there he is there's Itzik three paratroopers the quarter right after the six-day war during the six-day war it's like and what language did you speak at home a home Hebrew Hebrew was at home and when my parents did not want me to understand they they spoke basically a lot of Yiddish and and then then I started to understand the Yiddish then they started to switch to polish and then that I couldn't understand but but you know there was nothing really to understand when when they spoke a new dish because there was basically only one sentence he doesn't practice it was what's the sentence so there was it was not it was not a big deal anyway but but we had a very traditional house you know my mother we were culture obviously and so on it it was not very very religious but we would go to shul and the holidays but not to a fancy shoe there was a there was a very interesting it was an apartment building next to the school that I was going to which was about a block away from where we lived and they would rent a room in the first floor and on the basement floor and that room would be for showing movies because we would you know it was very it was you know it was far to go to the movie theater so we could actually go to a little place and it would seat maybe 2030 people and which show some you know they would rent the projector and and the the people who were in charge I don't know who was even in charge of it with show movies now during the holidays it became a shul a synagogue and so I remember going there to you know on Rosh Hashanah or on Kippur and so on and so forth the only time that that would go to a quote proper synagogue I remember was from my bar mitzvah and then I went to this fancy schmancy synagogue you know and it was quite wonderful wasn't amazing but the rest of the time was very much very much the neighborhood you know I'm gonna come back to your childhood but but just jumping many decades forward in the 80s you were touring with the Israeli Philharmonic in in Poland and you performed in Warsaw I believe and what was it like for you you know the son of these Polish immigrants would come in the 30s days realtor to come back with the Israeli Philharmonic to perform in in Poland very very meaningful very exciting what I remember even more vividly is concerts in Moscow the first time the Israeli Philharmonic performed it yes you see what happened was that there was a before I was in Moscow with them like several years before they there was a situation where the Philharmonic was going to go to Moscow and perform there were several years before and and I vividly going to the airport and standing at the at the ticket counter and right there it was canceled yes I always said that if you want to know Israel's relationship with other countries if the Philharmonic goes there the relationship is good if they don't go there it's so-so but then later on I went we went there so we went to Paul and we went to Hungary but what I remember was playing the hatikvah in Moscow and it it was indescribable you know the emotional thing you know and anything is a lot of the people in the audience did not know it you know but it was for us emotional to actually play at a cover in Moscow so these were you know very very exciting very exciting times not too much food in Russia all the way nothing I mean forget about it you know look good but there was nothing there everybody knows when you were 13 years old you came to America you were on The Ed Sullivan Show and and that sort of put your entire life on a new trajectory and a different trajectory you came to study in Julliard but what did your friends in the Chicana and in interview what did they say I mean there wasn't even television in Israel what did they think about you suddenly going to America to be on American TV what what do they think well they were all very excited for me I think at least from what I could tell and I would actually at that time I believe it or not that we would actually write letters in handwriting you know I mean how are you a nice to see a time not too many there are a few and you know and I miss my friends you know I miss it I miss them very much you know when I came there but I came to the states I was kind of depressed you know because I my father was still in Israel you know because oh you know we had to do stuff to to sell the business and stuff and the apartment so I I can do the states just with my mother so but what my friends you know we sometimes he would send pictures and so on and so forth but it was it was difficult it was difficult and what was it like for you I mean Israel then was it was during the ten I it was it was a time where you know Israel was a poor socialist country where there were there there was none of this sort of consumerism of America and suddenly you show up in New York with all the lights and all the you know you go into I don't know Zabar's and there's 400 different kinds of cheeses or whatever Labor's not there you know we're talking about 1958 I was known no way near Zaber as it was still my mother's cooking for you to suddenly land in New York did you even speak English no no English no English I learned my English from from watching TV you know it was it was you know it was and then I would study it it took some school was I did not go to school I went there was a program in New York was it was called high school of the air and they would get that was later not immediately but later I actually took they would send you mimeograph sheets of homework and he would listen to the radio and you would do the homework and then they will send you a teacher and so that was all because believe it or not I had to practice so so you know this whole business of the practicing leaving Israel and going back to New York has not changed at all you know it was still the main topic you know do your practice don't you practice etcetera etcetera but but to to to ask you a question about it was a it was a incredible contrast you know first of all TV I mean my god television and never heard of it before wonderful and and also the the other thing that was quite a challenge was at least the beginning because we would go on tour with the people who claim that the Sullivan you know with the Sullivan Show with all Israeli acts you know there was a there was a dance oh yeah it was that's why he came to Israel you know what everybody was that there was a I got a few remember ramen rung the Nama do you remember the folksingers I don't remember but I know there was the Carm on the Cremona dance troupe and the de worde do a pianist there was you know there was a whole bunch of you know there was even a shadow Grapher from the vitamin Institute who would make shadows of famous people like Joseph Stalin or or David ben-gurion or something like that it was a whole thing so when we went on that tour one of the great challenges is to find kosher food because it was still culture so I basically lived a lot of the time on bread and sardines and you know eggs and stuff you know no meat and every now and day we would find that I even remembered till can you imagine that I don't know when you get older you'll see certain things you just totally forget and certain things you remember I actually remember the two main kosher restaurants in New York seagulls and glowing stirrings and I mean can you imagine I mean I if you ask me other things I said I don't think those I remember and you know they used to used to serve you matzo ball soup with their noodles and they used to put it in a metal cup and they would have a claim and they would pour the metal cup to that that was the you know the special way that they would do it and I still remember I can see it right now so you mentioned practicing a lot and and this combining a few questions here from listeners from Brian and others you you often have talked about the importance of practicing slowly and and and and you also there's a there's a great story that you tell about how heifetz asked you to play scales and you impressed him not more through your scales than through your through your actual playing and that's great yes when you were a kid and my question to you you know I I was reading a few months ago about how Kobe Bryant's throughout his career would go and shoot a thousand free-throws every day and and my question is when you're at the top of your game how do you maintain the the mindset that it's really important to - just practiced I do still do skills do you still practice sir no III III right now I'm doing it's called practice for from necessity you know if something if you know you're gonna play something and so you play through it then you say well let's see that sounds pretty good or this thing is I'm not quite sure of that so I'll practice on that you know but but just because but I don't I say to all my students you've got to practice scales you know scales are the most important thing to to maintain your technical facility and so so I you mics when I was growing up my teacher made me practice scales one hour just of scales every day besides other stuff you know I would practice about you know when I was growing up a practice like three hours a day so the first hour was scales second hour was like eight huge you know which is kind of a more like exercises and then the third hour would be you know like pieces that that I could play in concert and that actually happened to me until about the age of 17 or 18 that that was my routine to do that and when you were in America did you realize that that this was a new life did you did you imagine that you would live in New York for the rest of your life that you wouldn't come back to Tel Aviv did you understand that the idea was to come and study you know that as they say in Israel the dream of everybody is to go to a histone moot and that was my teacher said one over there you will go to Istanbul Digital would I suppose is is is your translation is to what does it complete yourself you know so when you're in a small country such as Israel it's always the dream to go abroad to go to either Europe or to the state and since I've heard of this a teacher who taught at the Juilliard School even in Israel we heard so that was the dream and so when Sullivan came I bet that was the intention to stay in New York and to study at the Juilliard School and what do you think your life would have been like or your career would have been like had you stayed in Israel I have no idea but it would have been difficult you know you've had the same impact I have no idea I really I mean sometimes you know that's it that's a very good question but I am I have absolutely no idea I know that it was necessary to get out after a while you know it's that's it's it's a very natural thing you know even even here in the States sometimes when the students study with you for a number of years after a while you've got to get out in it and have a change of scenery you know so a lot of students here you know for example they would they would study with somebody here about four or five years and then it will go to Europe so it's it's that the change is necessary because after a while and then there is there's actually I know a teacher at the Juliet school you know where she teaches a student for years and then they leave just for the change so that was that was my I had to go and I was very lucky that that Sullivan came you know it was very and I have no idea what would have happen but in many ways this luck even though you left Israel at 13 you in many ways have have never really left Israel you you remain its luck you you never became Isaac and and everywhere you're an israeli-american that's who you are well identity well look yeah it's very funny that you mentioned I remained it Scott I remember that the first I got a scholarship from the EM at that time it was called Norman foundation now it's the America Israel Foundation and the person that gave me this scholarship I even have a picture of it his name is his name it was a thing I believe the second Prime Minister is almost sure it and he made this is a little picture of him shaking your hand you shaking his hand where you are yeah and he said he said change your names before you become famous he was talking about the second names so if they have you know like Strasburg or Goldberg of that changed the name because he is I think his name was she'll talk was it she'll talk I think anyway but that was his news I always remember this is change your name before you become famous but you know I was felt that for me after I when I went to Israel I left with in 1958 and and I think I came back to play with the Philharmonic in 1967 I think 66 or 67 and all I remember is coming back to Israel the smell of this city the flowers you know and it was like it was like it's like a it like hit me you know even even just stepping out of well I'll just the smell of the air was like I'm I'm home I'm home and and it always ended still like that in certain ceremony when I go there yeah it's like I go there I smell the air I'm home suppose that's what happens when you you know when you were going some places and what has been the importance for the role of Israel in your career well all I know is that the there was no particular role it's just that that's who I am I was born in Israel you know when I play with the Philharmonic I play with bespoken I play with you know I play with that my my first my first conducting experience was with the Israel Philharmonic and the reason it was it's because I figured out if I were gonna fall on my face and my that might as well be with friends because you know that was playing with family you know I've recorded of course and with with with Zubin of when he was there all the time so we and then we you know we have a wonderful relationship so it's as I say you know it's coming home not only just where I was born but where I'm making a lot of music there and and you know this the the country is so musical and then and and for me it's it's one of the great things is you know when we always have show us they're always soulless and the March service we have the more people go to the concert halls and listen to music and you know when people says you know what do you think is the role of music say well the role of music is that to to alleviate your soul from all the problems around the world and right now in the middle of these problems still when you when you look at the internet you see so much music that's going on you know that people cannot live without it it's obvious I think one of these days I was I was thinking of today that when when the when when music is being played today and you have arrest you know I don't know when you look at music you know there's always notes and rests and so right now I think my suggestion is to increase the rest to triple the rest so that will be musical distancing between the rest I don't I know it doesn't make any sense but it's kind of fun that's my contribution I'm minding you guys to send in your questions in the chat and it's like my mother who was your dear friend had a friend from high school and that friend from high school claims that she saw you play when you were 17 years old and went backstage after the concert and said that she would like to marry you and in fact that woman is your wife told me of 55 years and my question is what did you think when some woman comes up to you and says out of the blue that she wants to marry you you didn't even know her yeah well I I just I was kind of dumbfounded and I went you know that's that's all you know this never look I was 17 years old at that time you know and so I was for me there was a new experience and and I took it I suppose I took it as a compliment but I did not totally react you know verbally I didn't I just kind of went uh-huh and so on but you know but we we became friends shortly afterwards you know and then music was we were on the same page let's say let's put it that way when it came to music so on so you're confirming that story it's true Toby did say America no to be true totally true so it's like we have a few more questions and then just a few questions from the audience and you have managed throughout your career to bridge between the world of classical music and the world of sort of popular culture in a way that few have done really and is that something that that was important to you that you always wanted to do was it was there something appealing about kind of combining classical music very serious of course classical music with the popular world of Sesame Street or of films and Oscars and performances and stuff like that well look it was not something that was like you know I had to do it it was just a lot of these things that I did was because I wanted to have a good time I wanted to have it would be fun it would be fun for example to - well klezmer was the obvious thing you know klezmer was really fun but klezmer I was more sure that I knew what I was doing especially and of course I got some nice instructions from the klezmer groups that I was playing with but I still had klezmer in my ears when I was growing up in Israel and so on so that was not a challenge the challenge was to try and do some jazz and and that had to do with my social you know when my friendship the first time that was I was friend friendly with Andre Previn who would say you know who himself was a wonderful jazz pianist and then in mid course changed his career into the classical music and became a terrific conductor you know it was he was a music director with London Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony and so on and so forth so so we we did some recordings together and then I said Andre why done maybe we can do some jams together and and he said sure I said but I'm not sure I can do that because you know all those jazz guys they're all improvised so he said don't worry I'll write it all out and so he did so we made two recordings were basically Andre wrote out my improvisation and it was a lot of fun because I didn't have any all I had to worry about was playing it in the right style so I'll tell you what happened was that then I recorded another made another record with this wonderful legendary jazz pianist called Oscar Peterson and incredible pianist so during the recording session that's where I actually improvise without I had no music I just had to do it by ear and that was frightening because you know I mean this guy these guys said they just just do it effortlessly but I discovered something very interesting we did a take of some wonderful jazz song and and the the producer said it says you know that did not sound stylistically correct it sounded like klezmer so that's the first time I discovered that I could maybe do some nice klezmer the time that I was trying to do jazz so but it was all you know you know I'm doing for the movies and stuff it's a it's a lot of fun it gives a variety and you know but I one thing is not to forget your day job and my day job is you know is playing classical music and in you know doing doing things you know in the you know the repertoire classical repertoire but the Jazz and the classmen and all of that stuff for the movie music is wonderful I loved it and of course the I befriended the great wonderful composer John Williams whose movie composers and of course I did the Schindler's List soundtrack and that was not only that was unusual for me but he no he the way he writes for the violin is so terrific that it's got a fit you know when you do something that's not classical it's got to make sense you know it shouldn't be like just for the sake of doing something different it should actually work and but his you know his you know he is a wonderful composer and that so I I had a fantastic time doing it and it was very emotional because I did not know the you know the whole story of Schindler and that's when I started to find out and of course the first time that I actually recorded the soundtrack that was the first time I saw the movie and it was like mind-boggling he was just I almost lost it thinking of Meaghan Whitman is asking what composers or musical genres are you listening to and thinking about during this time of corona confinement I don't you know I'm not gonna I I don't have anything special you know I you know music is music music is music I'm not gonna start to think about you know listening to requiems just because we are losing so many people you know I'm just gonna a music is a music really for me is is it's kind of an escape and I'm sure that a lot of people think of music as an escape because it's you know that's what makes us forget for a while the reality and humor is also an escape you know it's it's quite evident speaking of humor since I know you you you and my dad have essentially built a 50-year long friendship on exchanging jokes I have a joke for you that comes from me I'm ready I'm ready it comes from a bad rabbi for Donna's 50th birthday Josh and their bad rabbi give us a shoe so a man is walking down the street and he meets a Habad rabbi and Chabad rabbi says to him sir by any chance are you are you a Jew and he says by chance I am a Jew and about the rabbi says Tim oh that's so wonderful in that case can I can I ask you to complete our minyan and the guy says no no no no no I don't want anything to do with organized religion so the Habakkuk says organized if you were so organized we would have a minyan it's true I like that I like that sold out sold shall I tell you one since we are talking about synagogues so the man goes to the synagogue and and he is he's it's the first time that he's there so the head somebody from the Senecas showing him around and it's in the middle of a service so he said this and and who is this man he's never been there you know who is this meant talking he says that's our rabbis he's giving his sermon right now he says and and and who is this other guy who is was you know is putting things away and lighting the candles is that such a shaman you know that's that's and then who is this guy who keeps waving his hands and and pointing at people and he says that's our hayseed under he says hey Siddhanta what's a hayseed and a he said when somebody stands up you say hey sit down there that's a joke see that's the problem with virtual thing you don't hear the laughter I mean people right now I actually just just there on the floor with with laughter but you don't know that now just because you don't think it's it's it's funny you know it's okay but I've heard you tell better jokes okay so my god you publicly you are insulting me I love that oh that's great it's like so we have two more questions and they're sorry to everyone who there's many many people asking questions by the way a lot of people say that your joke is very funny and that they're laughing and that's very good yes you've indicated can you make me a recording of the laughter I'd like so it's we have a question from Diana leave me in Chicago and she asks can you talk a little bit about playing with nava your daughter in front of an audience well that was you know we don't do that anymore but at that time it was it was what's great you know I mean I loved you know I because we were you know we were practicing together and and I love the way never plays you know she's a beautiful beautiful musician and a terrific pianist and so it was a it was a different experience than playing with somebody else because it was like a it was like a family a family experience and I don't know if if you've seen there was one there's actually a movie in which we are playing together for like I think like 20 seconds it's I think it's a Woody Allen movie and you know somebody says I love you I don't remember that the name of it and it's art so it was a lot of fun to do it together so but now you know she is she does some playing and then she's a mother where she has four children and so she's got her life is busy busy okay so we have one last question from the audience and then I have my final question so my last question is from Susan Altman she says a lot of us got to know you first on Sesame Street and for for for me she says you are one of the most memorable moments on the show can you talk a little bit about what it was like to be on Sesame Street well it was like coming home because we will watch Sesame Street for our kids when they were growing up with all watched Sesame Street right and then when they called me up and they said would you do something I said oh my god you know it's like it's incredible I would then I would go there and I said I know this place because I've been I've been I've been watching about TV all the time so that but that the the things that that I discovered that I did not know before which I knew at that time was that Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch were the same person in other words it was the same person did both of both of the yeah both of the puppets I think he recently passed away but they don't have scenes together well I well probably not probably not now somebody's gonna call and gonna prove me wrong by well you're gonna show I think that that the big bird in the Grouch we're we're the same person I mean obviously not at the same time yes yeah yeah because it was great I loved it and then and then of course I did an Israeli version of that go listeners are saying that you're correct by the way so I'm correct okay oh you see you see you should listen to your to your audience you see they laugh with my joke they say I'm correct with my dimension you are being very in a very sarcastic around it's like my final question is as I see it you have three three professions one is recording and performing violinist the other one is a teacher and in the last twenty years you've added a third profession to your life which is being a conductor and I wanted to know if you could reflect a little bit on the differences between between those sides of your life of your professional life well first of all let's not talk about the differences let's talk about the similarities and the similarities is that it well I don't know if it's if you can call similarity but the each each activity is good for the other activity so that if you know for me to be a teacher is so much it's so helpful in my performance and for me to be a teacher is an instrument for me to be a conductor is also helpful to be a teacher you know it's it all has to do with the disability about the the necessity of of listening in all of the three professions now obviously when you conduct you are not in really in control about how every individual plays so you have this or the only thing you can do is you can actually relay what you can what you want from from the musicians and somehow I don't actually don't understand how that works and and and I like it that there is a mystery there I don't I don't get it that you who can stand on stage and start giving a downbeat and if you have three or four different conductors you will get different sounds from each person who is giving the downbeat but just and it's as it's a chemical reaction from the musicians to somebody with was on their OS on the podium and I think it's amazing you know and and and so for me that's a mystery when somebody does says this person is a great what makes a difference between a great conductor in a and a good conductor the great conductor has something that there is it's it's an electric current between him or her and the audience and their and their orchestra while a good conductor can know the score and knows everything but sometimes not everything happens that's shall we say very exciting or anything like that so but what why what makes it like that I have no idea I have no idea but but but all those three things I think support each other and that's what I love about it because I can and of course being a conductor and conductor I'm you know there is you know I'm exposed to different repertoire and so that's always nice and it just and when people said I mean what is your goal now that that you're getting older and stuff and I say my goal and so far I've reached that I think is to always be interested I'm doing not to be bored by what I'm doing and I love I love what I'm doing right now eleven you know I like it I'm not bored by it and I've been doing certainly certain same things for a long time but I'm still excited so that's that's my goal that's a wonderful wonderful message I think and I think everyone's expressing these and the chat here that you've made everyone's life not boring by giving us endless pleasure and joy and you know every time we come to perform at the JCC you and Toby are in the first are in the first row and it's always nerve-racking for our musicians because they're in the green room beforehand and these type Romans in the first row and I'm going to be playing a violin two meters away from him but thank you thank you each talk this has been a real treat for all of us and I hope to see you soon and hugs on there Rock cementum thank you very much I had a great time thank you back luckily bye-bye

Channel: Israel Story / ‎סיפור ישראלי

Views: 1,390

Rating: 4.7837839 out of 5

Keywords: Itzhak Perlman, IsraPalooza, Podcast, Israel, Music, Violin, Israel Story

Id: sFiR6FC_wtw

Length: 43min 5sec (2585 seconds)

Published: Tue May 12 2020