The first thought that comes to my mind when I read a post or watch the musician’s works Ziv Rubinstein is that he is an irredeemable “classicist”, not only because he comes from a background of classical music (before he got “dirty” in rock’n’roll like a typical teenager who discovers the power of an electric guitar) but because his whole being is designed to pay homage to the classics, and also when he creates songs and collaborates with artists, and he has worked and works with all of them (from Daphne Armoni, Arkadi Duchin, David D’Or, Arik Sinai to Shlomi Shabbat and Idan Yaniv), and in his own songs, there is the motif that respects the musical roots and the basis from which the work developed and continues to develop.
Rubinstein, for whom it would be a sin to define or delimit his activities and areas of occupation because they are many: from producing television and shows, through writing books of poetry to recording solo albums and playing rock’n’roll in a variety of bands, is first and foremost a musician and as such understands the considerable part of melodic, textual creation and the cosmic fusion And the most accurate among them – as having added value. The music is the basis from which he creates all his works, since being a musician and furthermore, a “classicist”, is part of the character and personality and not a title that can be waved at him. It’s a title you grow into.
And he did grow. Not long ago he published a post on Facebook that the first time he saw a live performance was in 1976, when he was in the first grade, and he watched Yigal Bashan, then the biggest superstar in the country, perform at the soldier’s house.
“On the stage sat people who would become legends: Aharleh Kaminsky on the drums, Haim Kerio played the guitar, Alona Toral was on the piano, Louie Lahav sat behind the console and gave instructions and I just absorbed more and more of what was happening around me,” Rubinstein described in the same post. “But, and it’s a big but, I didn’t really enjoy it. I wanted fire and smoke and broken guitars, like I saw on Jordan Channel 6 (the only source for overseas at the time) ‘The Hemi’ and other bands. I insisted not to enjoy it because as a hyperactive child you no longer know the The pleasure of blessing, the holiness of silence, the beauty of maturity.”
Over the years that boy matured and became a “classic” and as such got to work and also appreciate Bashan and his friends who conquered the charts in the glittering 70’s and 80’s: Zvika Pick, Yitzhak Klefter, Gerry Eckstein, Shmulik Kraus, Ofra Haza, Ahuva Ozari, Uzi Hitman , Gabi Shushan and many other good ones.
“Within Israeli music there are several anchors, and below the surface of the ground there were people who wrote and composed and under the everyday their names gradually disappeared, and for people like me they are in the consciousness all the time,” notes Rubinstein. “It’s the music that moves me. People know the greatest, so it’s important for us to always keep them in mind.”
As part of the longing to keep those musical legends in the mind, Rubinstein initiated the symphonic rock show “Night of Stars” which is an elaborate and orchestrated tribute to those music heroes who are no more.
“The idea was born from the fact that my band and I are playing in the studio and always when we rest between the songs, we end up jamming the songs we liked by Shmulik Kraus, Yigal Bashan, etc. musicality,” he explains.
“I didn’t want to do another ‘covers’ show, but I thought I wanted to see the show I hadn’t seen and put on a show that would have meaning, and since in the end I come from classical music, I approached the conductor Mark Wallach, who has worked with all the major classical orchestras in Israel, from the symphony to the philharmonic , as well as to the international composer Anna Segal who will do the orchestrations. It was a job of many months and little by little it is skin and sinew cream and who accompanies us is the chamber opera orchestra which adds enormous richness to the sound and songs.”
Alongside the orchestra will also appear the band of the successors, Rubinstein’s band: Yuval Lieblich (guitar), Nir Segal (drums), Eldad Sumner (bass) and Niv Hovav (keyboards), as well as the singers Hadar Lee and Meli Shalom.
“From a musical point of view, this show is huge, and first of all there were songs that are a must for me, songs that make me play the guitar, if it’s Clifter’s ‘Intentional Sound’, Ofra Haza’s ‘Lalong the Sea’, Tzvika Pick’s ‘Mary Lou’ and ‘As the Wheel Turns ” To Shmulik Kraus, songs that I don’t see that there would be a show that glorifies the greats of Israeli music without these songs and artists. The whole show is a tribute to artists who are no more, stars that sparkle somewhere in the sky of Israeli music and will always be there. I don’t think I have the right to do A cover for a person who is alive and can perform with his songs. My job is to be the messenger because there is a new generation of youth here who grew up on contemporary music and are losing a large part of what is called ‘Israeli music’.”
Why is it like this?
“From the moment that the visual media (TV, YouTube, social networks) became the criteria for a singer’s success – the level of music has decreased, because if this or that person is on a music reality show and he is a great singer, but he is already a star, and this person, no matter what song it is will put it on the radio – they will sing it, because the radio understands that this man’s ratings do not come from his musical qualities but because he is famous on television. This man is aware that everything he puts out will be played, so he goes and puts out songs, regardless of the level of the text and harmonies, and then a 12-year-old boy Sitting at home with a guitar and trying to play this man’s song and learning it in two minutes. In my childhood, when I wanted to hear the people I admire on the radio, Mati Caspi, Yoni Rechter and Shlomo Groenich, you couldn’t get those chords out, you had to learn music and tear your ass To play Mati Caspi. Today’s music stars touch on writing and composing because they want to earn from the royalties even though their strong point is singing because they know they will play it, and no matter how we look at it, in terms of the harmony and the musical elements and elements – the level has dropped, narrowed. The range of composition has narrowed, Just like the Hebrew language range Refinement”.
Today do you think there is a chance for the song to become a classic? Although neither I nor you can know that but only the test of time?
“The answer is in the body of the question. The word ‘classic’. What makes something classic? For example, music written 500 years ago is relevant and fills halls all over the world, so it means that if the quality works, it has no validity over time. I tell you that even in 60 years, when I I won’t be here, they will turn on the radio and hear Israeli music that they will call ‘nostalgic’ and everything that happens from now on – will go away and evaporate. Why? Because the music does not serve the same function. Today’s music is not used by people to come to concerts, but is used by them to dance on Tiktok or at parties. In the past, the songs were such that a person would come and listen to them. The thought that today a young composer would come and touch the ceremonies of Yonatan Gefen or Natan Yonatan – this is absurd. The thought of doing something ‘absurd’ today is not relevant but a waste of time. Take Zvika Pick, he wrote music for 7 minutes and played his songs on the radio and today there is no way they will play a song over 3 minutes on the radio.”
How do you manage to adapt yourself, as a musician, to the changing times?
“Every person is of his time. I can only work with what I am excited about. I am very moved by this person called Shlomi Shabbat, he moves me very much and he is an unusual phenomenon because he is a musician, a person who knows how to read musical scores and compose. I find myself sitting in the studios with the stars of this generation and I understand that not only do I have nothing to contribute to them but that there is no chance that we will find something that will move us both. On the other hand, I can sit with Dafna Armoni, Ricky Gal, Eric Sinai and Arkady Duchin and we have an associative range that we share. There is something that passed from the previous generation to this generation and this thing is the ability to listen to music. The word ‘listen’ does not exist today. The new generation ‘hears’ music. It needs a function that is not listening. All the pillars of Israeli music have collapsed and this thing must be perpetuated and there is no one to do the This. Today, the difference between ‘culture’ and ‘entertainment’ is blurring, unfortunately.”
The show and the songs were recorded and in the meantime, in preparation for the official debut show, the single from it, “Tsilil Ma’imyim”, an exciting cover version of the iconic song of Yitzhak Kleftar, who passed away about two and a half months ago, was released to the radio stations.
“I worked with Yitzhak quite a bit together. After Eric Einstein’s death, me and Arkady Dokhin produced a song in Eric’s memory and Klepper played there. He didn’t know we were putting on the show, but I think he was proud to hear our performance. The only one who knew about the show was Zvika Peak, with whom I had the opportunity to collaborate quite a bit, and the last time I saw him I told him that I was paying tribute to Zvika Peak. That is the only sentence that was said. My goal is to perpetuate and introduce to the younger generation those pillars of Israeli music on which our culture is based. This is something that is forbidden To neglect and forget, and that’s why this show was born.”
*The launch show of “Night of the Stars” will take place on March 19 at 9:00 PM – Beit Hayal in Tel Aviv. For updates on additional dates –
https://www.leaan.co.il/shows/%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%94%20%D7%A9%D7%9C%20%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%9B%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9D/events?fbclid=IwAR2eZGypuLq3yDsfmZyAuWdZFee19Jv77_MeiBIaC41HXdjw1IOEejEIwa0