When the Jerusalem Quartet, composed of: Alexander Pavlovsky and Sergei Bresler, violin; Ori Kam, viola and Kyril Zlotnikov, cello, were approached by Harmonia Mundi to devise an 'exceptional' album, an album that would challenge their standard repertoire, they took great care in finding a subject with which they naturally had a bond and which would be interesting for the general public.
Spontaneously, they sought it in Jewish tradition and music. It became a sort of rehabilitation, because… it is quite fashionable nowadays to revive cabaret music from the Weimar Republic. The Jewish connection with this music, however, is rarely emphasized. This inspired the ensemble to create a project in which Jewish culture is emphasized as an important influence on contemporary culture as a whole. Instrumental and vocal music were chosen.
Streichquartet Nr.2 op 26 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold
First, the Streichquartett Nr.2 op 26 (1933) by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). His life spanned the two world wars. Because of his Jewish heritage, the Third Reich imposed a ban on the performance of his work. It was labeled as Entartete Kunst! He emigrated to America and became a pioneer of film music there. His work has been due for a serious revival in recent years. The opera 'Das Wunder der Heliane" was rediscovered and performed this year at the Flemish Opera.
The Jerusalem Quartet is a group with strong musical personalities. The Streichquartet Nr.2 op 26 is performed with control, yet with deep feeling. The sounds emerge from the depths of their instruments, performing somersaults. Mountains and little valleys are built with a sense of timing and attention to the harmony of which they are a part. There is a constant change of atmosphere through which the Jewish idiom is strongly expressed.
Fünf Stücke für Streichquartett - Erwin Schulhoff
Erwin Schulhoff was born in 1894 in Prague into a Jewish family and manifested his exceptional musical talent as a young child. Until the First World War, his work is strongly influenced by Brahms, Dvorák, Debussy and Scriabin. Subsequently, he begins to compose in a more expressionistic style. In 1939, he wants to escape Nazi terror and assume Soviet citizenship. However, he is arrested prematurely and dies in 1942 in a concentration camp in Wülzburg from tuberculosis.
These Fünf Stücke für Streichquartett breathes a very different atmosphere, sounds neoclassical, and comes from the most important phase in his composing career. Each piece refers to a dance or a country. In 'Alla Valse Viennese' waltzes shimmer through and in 'Alla Tango Milonga' you can only think of Argentina. It expresses somewhat the diaspora of the Jewish people. This composition too is performed with sensitive musicality.
Jiddisch – 5 Lieder für Stimme und Streichquartett, arrangement by Leonid Desyatnikov, soprano voice Hila Baggio
These five songs were very popular in Poland between the two world wars. An eclectic culture of assimilation, a culture of cheap chic, but at the same time a culture of self-irony. Ukrainian composer Leonid Desyatnikov composed music for these five Yiddish songs from Poland between 1918 and 1939. Hila Baggio sings these songs in a superb manner, pure and transparent, full of surprising cadences where hope, misery and joy alternate. She has analyzed the texts in depth and takes you into a lost world. With her special tone, narrative power and sensitive musicality, she knows how to move you. Especially this third chapter on the cd aligns with the title The Yiddisch Cabaret. For me, this should have been the main course.
With the right attitude, musicians and vocalist manage to counter all styles smoothly. This richly varied cd thus grows into a beautiful and relevant historical document of artists who made their way through the ashes of life. Cruelty exists almost everywhere, it seethes just below the surface of our lofty ideas and principles. Jews continue to be a targeted people. Hopefully this cd will inspire people to think. Another fine realization by Harmonia Mundi.
- WHAT: The Yiddisch Cabaret
- WHO: Jerusalem Quartet (Alexander Pavlovsky and Sergei Bresler, violin; Ori Kam, viola and Kyril Zlotnikov, cello), Hila Baggio (soprano)
- RELEASE: Harmonia Mundi - HMM902631