Orchestra of Exiles

Great documentary on the origins of the IPO
I recently saw this movie at the 2013 Jewish and Israeli Film Festival here in Cincinnati. Of all the movies being shown at this year's festival, I had looked forward to seeing this one more than any other, due to my love for/interest in classical music, and this movie surely did not disappoint.

"Orchestra of Exiles" (2012 release; 85 min.) brings the story of how Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman, a one-time child prodigy, watched shortly after Hilter came to power in 1933 and Jewish musicians were being fired from classical orchestras. Huberman decided that he would create and build a new orchestra from the ground up in Palestine (at that time under the British mandate). Of course this was easier said than done, and Huberman encountered multiple setbacks, including the problem of getting visas for the musicians he was trying to recruite to Palestine. I am not spoiling any plot points when I tell you that eventually Huberman succeeds, as the Palestine Symphony gave its...

A riveting and touching history
When I finished watching this documentary the first time, I immediately restarted and watched it again, I liked it that much!

"Orchestra of Exiles" combines beautiful classical music background and a riveting true story told through archive films, interviews, and re-enactments.

This documentary film tells the story of great Polish violist Brawnislaw Huberman who in 1935 created Palestine Symphony Orchestra from the greatest Jewish musicians from Germany and Eastern Europe. It was clear to Huberman that all these people would be exterminated. By providing them a legal way to emigrate from their countries he saved them from Hitler and a certain death. Between 1935 and 1939 he saved almost 1000 Jews. He knew his selections were not just selections of musicians, he was a judge of who is going to live and who is going to die.

Huberman invited Toscanini, who at the time was a giant figure in music at the time, to be the first conductor of the orchestra...

Insightful and illuminating documentary on how the IPO was formed
"Orchestra of Exiles" is an illuminating documentary that chronicles the origins of the world-renowned Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. The IPO owes its existence to the steely determination and resourcefulness of violinist Bronislaw Huberman (1882-1947).

The documentary provides insights into Huberman's life and personality. A child prodigy, Huberman had a strict father who saw his son's prodigious talent for playing the violin as a means to lift the family's financial prospects. Later, after his father's death, Huberman continued playing at concerts around the world, but even a marriage and a child could not provide him with the content and peace he was seeking. His first love would always be the violin, and when Huberman saw the anti-Semitism that was spreading rapidly across Europe with the advent of Nazism, he found a new mission in life - that of forming his very own orchestra in the land of Palestine, the seeds of which would yield the IPO. Huberman spent many years...

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