From YNET:

Mehta pays tribute to Pavarotti

Tenor was planning on a recording with Israel Philharmonic before his death; ‘his voice will stay clear and alive on the recordings he made’

Meirav Yudilovitch

Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who died Thursday morning, was planning on recording a number of songs with the Israel Phiharmonic Orchestra shortly before his death, maestro Zubin Mehta told Ynet.

Speaking from Italy, where the Israel Philharmonic is currently touring, Mehta said he had talked with Pavarotti only a week ago. “He asked the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to record three songs, to which he would add his voice after he recovered, and it was clear to him that he would recover.

“The orchestra recorded these songs in July, but now this connection, to my great sorrow, will never be made. It’s very painful.”

Prince Edward, who is probably most famous for his mussels, is gracing the holy land with his royal presence, and we are so psyched!

From the JPOST:

Prince Edward to arrive today; 1st royal visit in decade

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

Prince Edward will begin a four-day visit to Israel on Wednesday, the first by a British royal in more than a decade, embassy officials said on Tuesday.

The 43-year-old earl of Wessex is coming on what is being billed as a “working visit” at the invitation of the Israel Youth Award program, which is an affiliate of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award that was started by Edward’s father, Prince Philip, half a century ago.

The award enterprise is the largest international youth program in the world, with 600,000 participants in more than 120 countries, said Michael Gross, the co-chairman of the Israeli branch.

Anyone who has been following the US Open these past few days were probably glued to the Blake, Federer, and Williams sisters matches, but I’m also sure they enjoyed Saturday night’s showdown between the focused and determined Israeli Peer and the Czech Vaidisova. Peer dug in and won in a third set tie-break in what was a charged match, and then went on to devastate her opponent yesterday in the round of sixteen to go on to the quarter finals.

The bottom draw has been wide open since Sharapova’s defeat and couple of people now think Peer could go all the way to the finals.

Peer also got picked as Player of the Day by the folks at the Open…

Player of the Day

Playing in her third US Open, No. 18 seed Shahar Peer has become the first Israeli woman in tournament history to reach the quarterfinals and is truly becoming a force to reckon with on the court. In addition, while making steady progress up the tennis rankings she is also making a strong impression on the hearts and minds of tennis fans.

In a highly-charged fourth-round match against No. 30 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, in a filled-to-the rafters Louis Armstrong Stadium, Peer had a strong rooting section – something that has been building since her exciting fourth-round match in 2006 when she ultimately lost to Justine Henin.