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Although less than a century old, Tel Aviv is imbued with the great cultural heritage of the diverse communities that built it. In particular, it attracted refugees from the most highly cultured Jewish communities of central Europe. As a result, Tel Aviv is renowned for the high standard of its classical music, ballet, opera and theatre. The city has 18 out of Israel's 35 performing arts centres, including the mainstream Habima Theatre, the contemporary Suzanne Dellal Centre, the important Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center and the Mann Auditorium. The newest addition is the Enav Cultural Center, a popular, high quality venue hosting lectures, concerts and plays. The official Tel Aviv website (www.tel-aviv.gov.il) has a full guide to current and upcoming cultural events in the city. The bi-monthly English supplement to Time Out Tel Aviv is also a good source of information. The English-language daily Jerusalem Post and the English version of the daily Ha' Aretz newspaper both include listings and reviews, as does fortnightly magazine The Jerusalem Report. Tickets for all events can be bought in advance from box offices, ticket agencies and sometimes from hotels and tourist offices. Reservations for several venues can be made at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center box office (tel: (03) 692 7777) at 19 Shaul Hamelech Boulevard, open Sun-Thurs 0930-2030, Fri 0930-1300. |
Music: The city offers world-class opera and classical concerts several times a week. These are generally staged by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Israeli Opera and the Israel Chamber Orchestra. For operas, simultaneous translations into English are the norm in Tel Aviv.
Theatre: Theatre in Israel continues to thrive and productions at the Cameri Theatre (also called the New Cameri since its move to new premises), 19 Shaul Hamelech Boulevard (tel: (03) 606 1900 or 606 0900; website: www.cameri.co.il), and Habima Theatre, 1 Tarsat Street (tel: (03) 629 5555; website: www.habima.org.il), are impressive.
Dance: The city's main venue for modern and classical dance is the Suzanne Dellal Centre, 5-6 Yehieli Street, in the Neve Zedek quarter (tel: (03) 510 5656; website: www.suzannedellal.org.il).
Film: Cinema is extremely popular in Israel and many cinemas screen three daily shows of international and local films (all Hebrew films are subtitled in English and French).
Literary Notes: Haim Nahman Bialik (1873-1934) is celebrated as the first Hebrew literary figure of the modern age. He was Israel's national poet but also an essayist and a champion of the Hebrew language. In the City of Slaughter (1904) was acclaimed as a powerful statement of anguish at the situation of the Jews during the early part of the 20th century.