Veyret, Jess reaffirm joint cultural thrust / Tel-Aviv Trio to play

On January 22, French Ambassador Renée Veyret and German Ambassador Herbert D. Jess will jointly mark – and celebrate – at the former’s official residence the signing of the Elysée Treaty 40 years ago.

From a statement issued by both Mr. Veyret and Mr. Jess, we learn that the 40th anniversary of the Elysée treaty will be celebrated with numerous events in Paris and Berlin starting Jan. 22 and 23, these events to continue to the end of the year. At the request of both Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the anniversary will also be commemorated in the entire world by the French and German diplomatic and consular network.

What should be of particular interest to our performing and visual arts lovers is that the French and German Embassies here will organize and present throughout the year cultural events with the cooperation of the Alliance Francaise and the Goethe Institut in Manila.

From the foregoing, one can reasonably expect the enrichment of the cultural and other aspects of Philippine life by the Franco-German joint ventures, consistently vigorous as both French and German contributions already are. For instance, likely to be witnessed and, of course, welcomed will be the participation of German artists and ensembles in French Festivals. And vice versa.

The Elysée Treaty, signed years ago, on January 22, 1963, by French President General Charles de Gaulle and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, sealed the reconciliation of the two nations and laid out the foundations of a lasting peace in Europe.

This joint declaration stated the main objectives of a continuing French-German partnership. The document ruled the implementation of an unprecedented era of cooperation between the two countries. Both governments were bound by a calendar of meetings at all levels. The Treaty defined the scope of future combined efforts in the fields of foreign affairs, defense, cultural and youth exchanges.

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The Israeli Embassy, headed by Ambassador Irit Ben-Abba, will present on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at the Captain’s Bar, Mandarin Oriental, an invitational concert featuring the internationally acclaimed Tel-Aviv Trio of very young but exceptionally talented artists. They are pianist Jonathan Aner, 24; violinist Matan Givol, 20, and cellist Ira Givol, 23.

Founded in 1998, the Trio is made up of the last young artists mentored by the great violinist Isaac Stern.

This reviewer heard Stern play at the FEU Auditorium in the late 1960s. Each member of the Trio has won several international awards and played in international festivals. At 17, violinist Givol was chosen to play at a commemorative ceremony for the late Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin in the presence of world leaders.

The Trio has had engagements in the most prestigious halls of France, Italy, Spain, England, Russia, Yugoslavia, Qatar, and is set to play in Norway, Denmark, Germany and Austria.

The Tel-Aviv Trio will play in Cebu Jan. 11, and Dumaguete Jan. 13.