When the Jerusalem Quartet, consisting of Alexander Pavlovsky and Sergei Bresler, violin; Ori Kam, viola and Kyril Zlotnikov, cello, were approached by Harmonia Mundi to devise a 'special' album, one that would challenge their standard repertoire, they took great care in finding a subject with which they had a natural connection and that would be interesting to the general public.
Spontaneously, they sought it in Jewish tradition and music. It became a kind of rehabilitation, because… nowadays it is quite fashionable to revive cabaret music from the Weimar Republic. However, the Jewish connection with this music is rarely emphasized. This inspired the ensemble to create a project in which Jewish culture is highlighted as an important influence on contemporary culture as a whole. Both instrumental and vocal music were chosen.
Streichquartet Nr.2 op 26 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold
First of all, the Streichquartett Nr.2 op 26 (1933) by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). His life spanned the two world wars. Because of his Jewish background, 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 is in serious need of a 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 restraint, yet with deep feeling. The sounds rise from the depths of their instruments, turn somersaults. Mountains and small 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, which strongly expresses the Jewish idiom.
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. After that, he begins to compose in a more expressionistic style. In 1939, he wants to escape Nazi terror and accept Soviet citizenship. However, he is arrested prematurely and dies in 1942 in a concentration camp in Wülzburg from tuberculosis.
This Fünf Stücke für Streichquartett breathes a completely different atmosphere, sounds neoclassical, and comes from the most important phase in his composing career. Each piece references a dance or a country. In 'Alla Valse Viennese' waltzes shimmer through and in 'Alla Tango Milonga' you can only think of Argentina. It somewhat expresses the diaspora of the Jewish people. This composition is also performed with sensitive musicality.
Jiddisch – 5 Lieder für Stimme und Streichquartett, arrangement Leonid Desyatnikov, soprano 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 way, 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 distinctive color, narrative power and sensitive musicality, she knows how to move. In particular, this third chapter on the cd relates to the title The Yiddisch Cabaret. For me, this should have been the main content.
With the right attitude, musicians and vocalist manage to handle all styles fluently. This richly varied cd thus develops 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 layer of our lofty ideas and principles. Jews remain a targeted people. Hopefully this cd will make people think. Another beautiful 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
