A tribute to my greatgrandfather

While this is generally a medical blog, today I veer. During a recent visit to my parents house, my mother gave me a copy of a program from a concert celebrating my greatgrandfather’s 70th birthday.

Mostly for myself and my family, I publish the text of that program.

Mordechai Golinkin’s life has been bound with one dominating idea; the vision of an opera in Palestine. It is no exaggeration to state that the story of his life in the past quarter-century is the history of opera in Palestine. He was a pioneer in the full sense of the word, having created something dynamic from a void.

His struggle for an opera in Palestine commenced in fact more than two score years ago, when he first began to dream of establishing a Citadel of Art in the Holy Land. But July 26, 1923, the date of the initial opera premiere in Palestine, marks the first milestone in the history of Palestine opera. The way from there was no path of roses. It was punctuated with moments of sweet satisfaction and bitter disappointment. But through the vicissitudes, Golinkin bore the torch steadfastly toward the goal.
Golinkin’s career from his boyhood in the Russian hamlet of Izlotschistaya in the Province of Cherson was that of a restless Jewish artist. As a cherubic choir boy at the age of ten, synagogue hymns evoked in him a yearning for broader and more comprehensive art. Later, as a mature artist, music showed him the way back to his people. His arrival in Palestine bolstered his faith in the ultimate establishment of his projected Citadel of Art, and he dedicated himself to that idea with steadfast devotion.

His rise in the Russian musical orbit was rapid. After completing his studies in Warsaw under Roguski, the theorist, and Nosokowski, the composer, Golinkin returned to Russia and devoted his talents to opera. Advancement from assistant choir leader in Razan to &e conductorship of the “Marinskaya Opera” in Petrograd was obviously fraught with pitfalls, but Golinkin took it all in his stride. Opportunity knocked at his door one night in Rostov when an adventure-loving conductor went out on a spree a few minutes before curtain time. The distressed managers appealed to the deputy director to fill the breach, and Golinkin stepped to the podium. His success was immediate and sensational, and from then on he marched from achievement to achievement.

Nevertheless; the crowning recognition was withheld from him. He was not granted an invitation to appear in the Czar’s Royal Marinskaya Opera in Petrograd. The obstruction was Golinkin’s faith. In vain, friends of the conductor including the great Chaliapin interceded on his behalf for six years.

After the revolution, however, Golinkin was promptly invited to mount the podium which was the ultimate goal not only for Russian musicians but that of artists from all Europe.

Golinkin’s success confronted him with a dilemma. The bond between the musician and the Zionist movement had already been forged. In 1917, he wrote an essay on “Citadel of Art in Palestine’ and organized a benelt soiree in Petrograd where Schaliapin rendered his unforgettable recital of “Hatikva” in Hebrew. While he won fame and laurels as a brilliant conductor, his soul continued to be stirred by the vision of a great opera company in Palestine. He had under his baton the Petro grad Opera with 120 musicians, the greatest vocalists in the world, thousands of ballerinas and choral singers, while all Palestine had to offer was a dozen pupils of Mr. Hopenko’s “Shulamith” Conservatoire, a few experienced singers working in the fields and roads, but no hall, no facilities, no tradition.

But Golinkin made his choice. In May 1923, he came to Palestine. In September he conducted “I1 Traviate”. His opera developed and he was acclaimed as a pioneer who had come to lay the foundation or art and culture in Palestine. He produced “Aida”, “Hugenots”, “Othello”, “Troubador”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Rusalka”, “Rigoletto”, “Carmen”, “La Juive”, “Samson and Delilah”, “The Barber of Seville” etc.

Golinkin regarded his production of European operas in Palestine as a mere phase. His aim was to introduce an atmosphere and to evolve a tradition in order to conceive an original Hebrew opera. He proceeded with his plans for a great Citadel of Art which would meet not only the requirements for the development of culture, but would also create the answer to artists’ social problems.

Another matter which concerned Golinkin was the social status of artists. IN his Citadel of Art scheme, he provided for social betterment for artists no less than for the advancement of culture. To collect funds for his venture, he toured the United States between 1927 and 1929. Difficult times in Palestine and economic depression hindered the Maestro. There is still no home for opera or symphonic music in Palestine. But Golinkin still believes that the day will come when his dreams are realized.

At seventy, Golinkin is still vigorous and is fired with the same zeal, enthusiasm, and faith which marked his pioneering work in the past two score years. Now that the star of music and art in Palestine has risen, the country’s culture lovers will join in celebrating the occasion, which is indeed not a personal one but of national significance.

My greatgrandfather’s dream lives on – The history of the New Israeli Opera

Thanks for indulging a greatgrandson kvelling