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Helmuth Rilling – a distinguished guest in Israel
Maestro Helmuth Rilling, considered a watershed in cultural relations between Germany and Israel, has conducted nearly 100 concerts in Israel
Born in 1933 in Stuttgart, Germany, Maestro Helmuth Rilling has consistently dedicated his musical career to the service of reconciliation with Israel. In 1976 he was the first German to conduct the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and who, together with his visiting choir from Stuttgart, sang Hatikvah in Hebrew for the Prime Minister, Golda Meir.
Since that time, considered a watershed in cultural relations between Germany and Israel, he has conducted nearly 100 concerts in Israel.
In 2002 Maestro Rilling was the recipient of The Scopus Award by the Friends of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 2004 he was awarded the Otto Hirsch Medal by the City of Stuttgart's Society for Christian-Jewish understanding.
A delightful story about Helmut Rilling occurred during the 1960s when he met Leonard Bernstein for the first time at a concert in which Daniel Barenboim was the featured artist. Barenboim had invited him to attend as his guest.
It was a sell-out concert and Rilling was unable to purchase a ticket, so he was denied entrance to the concert hall. The Maestro made his way to the stage door at the rear of the hall and entered just as the concert was starting. He quickly sat down on the stage right next to the violinists. The young pianist noticed him, nodded and started the concert quite unperturbed.
In March 2009, the distinguished conductor, a worldwide authority on the music of J.S. Bach, was guest conductor of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of two oratorios: Handel's 'Messiah' and Haydn's 'The Creation'.
