The Music Goes On

When air-raid sirens screeched outside, the Israel Philharmonic left the stage and the audience pulled on gas masks. An imperturbable ISAAC STERN, meanwhile, picked up his violin and played. “There was such restlessness and obvious uncertainty in the hall that I thought it would be helpful to go out and play something,” he said. Stern kept his own mask nearby as he performed a Bach saraband for solo violin.