Tuesday’s lunchtime recital in the RBA, the first of 2026, was given by Israeli mezzo-soprano Michal Aloni and pianist Alona Milner. All the music, most of it Hebrew language art song, was by composers who either emigrated to Palestine/Israel or who were born there. In their excellent introductions Michal and Alona enumerated three waves or generations of composers:
- Those who were trained in Europe in the early 20th century who left Germany (or parts adjacent) for obvious reasons after 1933 such as David Zehavi and Paul Ben-Haim.
- Those who emigrated later; often as children, whose musical formation was in the new state like Yehezkel Braun.
- Those who were born and/or educated in Israel somewhat later represented here by Stella Lerner and Aharon Harlap.
operaramblings 