Don’t End It On A Minor
A one-woman storytelling show
exploring the 25 musical notes of the melody of the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah.
The hands fly across the piano keys with the confidence and talent of an accomplished pianist classically trained in Russia.
The soul fills the performance with Jewish identity and the mind infuses her work with a unique perspective colored by knowledge of European art and history.
Marina is more than a pianist. She is a performance artist.
Audiences are swept away on a fascinating exploration of Marina’s inventive reincarnations of the melody of Hatikvah.
Don’t End It On A Minor is Marina’s latest work. It talks about the evolution of 25 notes - the melody of Hatikvah - the national anthem of Israel. The evolution through ages, from a prayer of the Jews in Spain before the Inquisition, through styles of well-known classical European composers, culminating in a soulful improvisational jazz jam - the evidence that this melody continues to live in our time.
Marina’s inspiration was a conversation she had overheard onboard a Czech Airline plane. The familiar melody - 25 musical notes - were playing once the plane landed in Prague. Some Israeli passengers started questioning whether the melody was a variation of the Israeli National Anthem or was it something else completely. Marina knew that piece was "My Fatherland" by the Czech composer Smetana, but these questions sparked her curiosity and became a bit of an obsession - everywhere she went these 25 notes were all Marina could think about. They captured her imagination, leading her on a journey which has ended with the creation of Don’t End it On a Minor. This performance is the story that emerged out of curiosity that led to the journey.