Isaac Stern plays at the Jerusalem Theater in the Gulf War, 23.2.1991

Five weeks after the outbreak of the Gulf War, 23.2.1991, the audience  filled  the Jerusalem Theatre: Jewish-American violinist Isaac Stern arrived in Israel as an act of solidarity with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Zubin Mehta.

A deafening alarm sounded in the hall, disrupting Mozart's Concerto No. 3 for violin and orchestra. The orchestra players went offstage to wear their masks, and Stern stepped off the stage, too, wanting to continue with the concert, but it was impossible to continue playing the concerto while the musicians wore masks. He decided to play the Adagio from Bach's Sonata Violin No. 1 in Bach Minor, with the alarm still wailing in the background, and the audience stood up and burst into applause, which was accompanied by a siren. Stern wore no mask. He later said that he did not believe that Saddam Hussein would launch Scud missiles at Jerusalem, its mosques and the extensive Arab population Her mind.