Includes song(s) by Jack Gottlieb.

This album was nominated for a 2005 Grammy Award for "Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without Conductor)."

Includes work(s) by Hugo Weisgall. Ensembles: BBC Singers, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Simfonica De Barcelona I Nacion Catalunya. Conductors: Avner Itai, Gerard Schwarz, Jorge Mester. Soloists: Ana Maria Martinez, Phyllis Bryn-Julson.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensembles: Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Boys' Choir. Conductor: Elli Jaffe. Soloist: Benzion Miller.

"I don't think I can write a piece of music, no matter what I do and what I will try, that does not have the stamp of my Jewish existence," said Herman Berlinski during the recording session for his masterpiece Avodat Shabbat, one of only three complete Sabbath services ever written for soloists, chorus, and large orchestra. The eighty-nine-year-old Berlinski returned to his native Germany to attend the world-premiere recording of this major 20th-century sacred work, which he created during the course of many years in America.

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

This Milken Archive disc presents five works by Frederick Jacobi (1891-1952), one of the first 20th-century American composers to successfully unite authentic Jewish melodic and harmonic materials with the European classical-romantic tradition. Championed by such conductors as Koussevitzky, Stokowski, and Monteux, his compositions reflect two principal ethnic-historical musical sources: the motifs, rhythms and sonorities of American Indian culture and the biblical, liturgical and rabbinical wellsprings of his Judaic heritage, which would eventually dominate his creative life.

Included on this CD are three instrumental works of Jewish inspiration: the Cello Concerto, an introspective work inspired by the Book of Psalms; Hagiographa: Three Biblical Narratives for Piano and String Quartet, a rhapsodic evocation of three major biblical personalities; and Two Pieces in Sabbath Mood, an orchestral tone poem that depicts the spiritual qualities of the Sabbath in Jewish life and tradition. Also heard are two liturgical pieces: excerpts from the Sabbath Evening Service, a restrained setting for baritone and a cappella chorus that was commissioned by New York’s Temple Emanu-El; and Ahavat Olam, an independent setting of the Sabbath evening prayer for cantor and choir that is infused with echoes of traditional cantorial chant.

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

R E V I E W S:

Fanfare:
The opening of Frederick Jacobi’s Cello Concerto will take your breath away. It is one of those instantly memorable, drop-dead gorgeous beginnings—like Fauré’s Elégie for cello and orchestra—that will have you asking yourself, “Who is this composer and where has he been all my life?” Well, it turns out that for the last several years of my life, Jacobi has been hiding on a shelf in my own library. His 1932 Cello Concerto, aka “Three Psalms for Cello and Orchestra,” has been filed away in my personal collection on a CRI disc containing a program of other works by Jacobi, including the here-recorded Hagiographa. Which leads to the inevitable question, “How memorable can it be if I didn’t remember I had it?”

The answer to that question may seem a bit of a cop-out, but I think it has to do with the fact that beautiful as this music is—and it is—it is also highly derivative of a number of other higher profile composers. The three-movement Cello Concerto, for example, though mostly a quiet, contemplative work, inevitably calls to mind associations with Bloch’s Schelomo (though it is nowhere near as cinematic), and even Dvo?ák’s Cello Concerto. Or, as the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music press release has it, “Jacobi’s style is marked by broad, melodic lyricism, often infused or contrasted with a sophisticated sense of drama that is personal and restrained, rather than overtly theatrical.” Not surprisingly, Jacobi studied with Bloch and Rubin Goldmark.

Frederick Jacobi (1891–1952) was a native San Franciscan of German-Jewish descent. Though not of a religious upbringing or traditional Jewish background, his interest in his cultural heritage was likely kindled by a commission he received in 1930 from Lazare Saminsky of New York’s Temple Emanu-El to provide a setting of the Sabbath Eve Service. He was also equally interested, however, in the authentic music of America’s southwest native tribes, and in the 1920s (like Bartók before him), Jacobi spent time among Pueblo and Navajo populations in Arizona and New Mexico, recording their indigenous rhythms, melodies, and sonorities. Much of this research found its way into his concert works.

Jacobi was an unapologetic and unrepentant romantic, and all of the pieces on this disc are marked by the broad, melodic lyricism noted above. “Mi khamokha” (the first of the four excerpts from the Sabbath Evening Service), an exquisitely simple yet intensely moving piece for baritone (Patrick Mason) surrounded by chorus, could be a not-too-distant cousin of the Sanctus from Berlioz’s Requiem. Hagiographa is, to all extents and purposes, a piano quintet. It can be listened to and appreciated as such without knowing that each of its three quite substantial movements is titled, respectively, “Job,” “Ruth,” and “Joshua.”

Ahavat olam is another of Cantor David Putterman’s commissions for liturgical music at New York’s Park Avenue Synagogue. Jacobi composed it in 1945. It is written in the style of traditional cantorial pieces for solo cantor and chorus. Brief as it is (just over three minutes), it ends with a most beautiful benedictory Amen. Two Pieces in Sabbath Mood, like Hagiographa, can be listened to as purely abstract music. Its two movements, “Kaddish” and “Oneg Shabbat,” are purely orchestral, and could be described as a tone poem.

If you love wonderfully rich romantic musical tapestries, tinged with ethnic (Jewish and native American) melodies and harmonies, Jacobi is a composer well worth exploring. I can recommend this Naxos release over the aforementioned CRI, not only because the performances and sound are better, but because the CRI contains only instrumental works, whereas the current release presents a nice cross-section and balance among instrumental, choral, and orchestral pieces. Very nice indeed.

Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

Robert Starer's K'li zemer concerto will be a surprise to anyone who associates the term with weddings and bar mitzvahs. Actually the Yiddish klezmer (instrumental musician) is a contraction of k'li zemer, which, translated literally from the Hebrew, means "instrument of song". That is precisely what Starer makes of the clarinet in this beautifully melodic work (quite a surprise given the composer's usual acerbic style). The tunes, all of Starer's invention, are based on Eastern European Jewish music, and each provides a rich harmonic framework for the clarinet's wonderfully virtuosic explorations.


Paul Schoenfield's long-standing desire "to create entertaining music that could be played at Hassidic gatherings as well as the concert hall" finds fulfillment in his Klezmer Rondos--a concerto for flute, tenor, and orchestra. The opening's raucous band music comes to an abrupt stop as the flute's sustained high note introduces the plaintive main theme. After a series of contentious exchanges between flute (skillfully rendered by Scott Goff) and orchestra, the band music returns, this time halted by the tenor's sustained high note, which in turn becomes Schoenfield's setting of the Yiddish poem Mirele (sung with wit and tenderness by Alberto Mizrahi). It's a marvelously effective piece that, although steeped in elements of Jewish ritual, can be enjoyed by all listeners.


Next come two brief pieces by Jacob Weinberg, The Maypole and Canzonetta, which are colorful explorations of Yiddish and Hassidic folk melodies, while Abraham Ellstein's tuneful Hassidic Dance for clarinet and orchestra presents a rhapsodic evocation of traditional Jewish ceremonies.


The final piece, Osvaldo Golijov's Rocketekya, scored for clarinet, violin, electric viola, and contrabass, is closest to what most listeners will know as Klezmer--a high-spirited, rhythmically and melodically exotic celebration. David Krakauer's highly imaginative and technically assured playing greatly enlivens the clarinet works, while Gerard Schwarz leads energetic and sensitive accompaniments with both the Seattle and Barcelona orchestras. The recordings all have fine presence, clarity, and impact.
--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

A major Jewish and musical event, this unique recording of a complete s'lichot service includes all of the prayers traditionally performed by cantor and all-male choir on the first penitential service, usually held at midnight in preparation for the High Holy Days. Featuring world-famous Cantor Benzion Miller and the Schola Hebraeica, this complete s'lichot service has been recorded in London's historic orthodox New West End Synagogue to the highest standards of liturgical and musical authenticity. Comprehensive liner notes and translations are included.

“The performers reminded me of the best music in my temple. I think the music extraordinarily beautiful... The performances are as good as you’re likely to hear. Neil Levin’s Schola Hebraica produces a beautiful Mannerchor sonority and supports the cantor with great musicianship.” — Steve Schwartz, ClassicalCDReview.com (August 2005)

“Every now and then a CD comes along that challenges my vocabulary in search for superlatives. Such a CD [is this one]... The accompanying booklet is a gem in itself. It is a model of what a booklet can and should be...all expertly written by Mr. Levin... What all this means for the listener is that every effort was made to show that all that modern scholarship can do to prepare as well as instruct the listener for what he/she is going to hear was done. The booklet alone is a worthy addition to anyone’s library. As for the performers, Cantor Miller is a marvelous hazzan in the Orthodox tradition. His command of vocal melismas, ornamentation, is incredible. He is veritably a hazzan’s hazzan. For most listeners he would be the attraction. Fortunately, he is not alone. A special and equal place of honor goes to the all-male choir and their conductor, Mr. Levin. The choir is balanced, their intonation impeccable, and they make full use of the dynamic spectrum. Their piano (soft) is really piano, and their crescendo is simply thrilling to hear. They add much, not only to the musicality of the prayers but to the religious aspects of the music as well. If you are familiar with the Orthodox musical tradition and are also a lover of hazzanut, these CDs are for you. If, on the other hand, you are not acquainted with this tradition and style of music, these CDs will be a pleasant eye opener for you. They are the best of what can be found in that genre of music as well as of the performance and interpretation of that music. I cannot praise the performers enough. To state that these CDs are highly recommended would be too much of an understatement.” — Morton Gold, Jewish Post and Opinion (Indianapolis, Indiana) (April 20, 2005)

“[This recording shows] the thrilling, resilient, pure-toned voice of Cantor Benzion Miller to excellent effect supported by the tautly disciplined and rich-hued choral sound under [Neil] Levin’s stirring direction. Throughout the authentic cantorial solos of Benzion Miller are impressive, enhanced by powerful vibrato, trilling, and abalance of operatic tone and rhapsodic ‘nusach’ (chant melody). The effect is like a synagogue service, with ideally balanced choir and virtuoso chazzan, and some talented boy treble solos. The quality of performance and recording, the integrity of the repertoire as well as its variety represents as a microcosm of the Milken series as a whole.” — Malcolm Miller, Jewish Music Institute (Nov. 2005)

“The music is fabulous, and the liner notes alone are worth the price!” — Aaron Howard, Jewish Herald-Voice (Aug. 26, 2004)

“Those familiar with the greats of cantorial music will be interested to note that some of the arrangements on this CD are by Chicago’s Joshua Lind. For those less familiar, the liner notes are a musical education in themselves.” — Gila Wertheimer, Chicago Jewish Star

“This is probably the single most ambitious production of the Milken Archive series to date. Drawn from the writings of a veritable cantorial hall of fame. A triumph. 5 stars.” — George Robinson, The Jewish Week, 9/8/04

“...[This disc has] occupied my CD player for the last few weeks. Miller...is a superb performer of traditional ‘chazzonus.’ The recording is truly hair-raising! Miller’s dramatic tenor is the perfect instrument for the rapid coloratura passages on every selection. The male chorus provides support for Miller both by singing sustained chords and by adding melodic phrases as the music demands. The CD is a benchmark for this a capella-style of synagogue musical repertoire.” — David F. Tilman, Jewish Exponent

“...sung magnificently by Cantor Benzion Miller... This is an extremely important release, and for that I give it a hearty yasher koach—congratulations and wish for success.” — Jerry Dubins, Fanfare

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

The legendary defense of the desert fortress Masada by a small band of Jewish Zealots against a massive Roman army inspires awe nearly 2,000 years after the historical occurrence. Marvin David Levy's dramatic retelling of the Masada story, originally written for the great operatic tenor and cantor Richard Tucker, here receives its world-premiere recording. Also recorded by the Milken Archive for the first time is Levy's haunting Canto de los Marranos, a dramatic scene for soprano (in four languages: English, Ladino, Hebrew, and Latin) that reveals the passions and conflicts of the 15th-century Spanish Jews who outwardly converted to Christianity while secretly practicing their Jewish beliefs "under penalty of death."

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

R E V I E W S



D. STOCK A Little Miracle. 1 Yizkor. 2 Tekiah. 3 Y?rusha 4 ? Gerard Schwarz, cond; 1,2 Elizabeth Shammash (mez); 1 Berlin RSO; 1 Seattle SO; 2 David Stock, cond; 3,4 Stephen Burns (tpt); 3 Richard Stoltzman (cl); 4 Pittsburgh New Music Ens 3,4 ? NAXOS 8.559422 (76:23)


The end is nigh. Volume 44 (of 50) in the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music series devotes an entire disc to four works by Pittsburgh-born (1939) David Stock. He studied composition with Nikolai Lopatnikoff and Alexei Haieff at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (renamed Carnegie Mellon University), and at Brandeis with Arthur Berger. According to the booklet note, Stock?s output is nothing if not diverse, including symphonies, quartets, film and broadcast scores, and multimedia compositions. That this is my first exposure to Stock is but further evidence of the gap in my knowledge of much that is happening on the contemporary music scene, for apparently his works have been, and are, widely performed by leading orchestras, soloists, and conductors. Stock has taught on the faculties of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory, among others, and is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and several grants from the NEA.


The main event here is A Little Miracle (1997), a 30-minute ?operatic monodrama? for mezzo-soprano and orchestra that tells the story of a family forced into a Polish ghetto during the Holocaust. Tova, the wife of Yaakov, gives birth to a daughter, Rosa. Tova knows that remaining in the ghetto means certain deportation to the death camps, but Yaakov and Tova?s mother, Berta, refuse to leave. Too bad, for they are soon shot. Tova, however, desperate to save the newborn Rosa, escapes with the infant to a nearby farmhouse, where she is hidden by local partisans or members of the Polish underground resistance. The ?miracle? referred to in the title has to do with a lullaby Tova recalls her mother singing to her as a child, and that she now sings to Rosa. Through the power of music, Tova finds the strength to persevere, and ultimately she and Rosa are saved.


A number of literary themes are touched upon here: the flight from danger by mother and child, their safe harboring by a family of ?righteous Gentiles? (shades of Anne Frank, though that story ends in tragedy), and the magic of music to overcome adversity. So too, the musical styles that Stock calls upon to set this monologue are many and mixed: Poulenc in La voix humaine , Schoenberg in A Survivor from Warsaw , and Menotti in Amahl and the Night Visitors . Such a combination may be hard to reconcile, but to be fair, we do not hear all of these influences at once. Rather, they are sequential, as the piece rapidly shifts from one mood to another. Passages of soaring lyricism?a gorgeous aria beginning at 4:00?give sudden way to passages of coruscating cacophony and screeching recitative of indefinite pitch. Admittedly, much of the piece is not easy on the ears, though I doubt it is meant to be. It definitely keeps you on edge, and that may be largely what accounts for its effectiveness. Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Shammash has an unrelentingly and horrifically difficult part, which she carries off brilliantly; she can screech with the best of them.


If there were nothing else on this disc but Stock?s 10-minute Yizkor (1999), I would still urge you to buy it. Words cannot describe this sublime orchestral lament. Hearing it before I read the booklet note, I was reminded of pieces like Elgar?s Sospiri and Barber?s Adagio for Strings . Then I read the note, and discovered that, like the Barber, which is also an adaptation of a string quartet movement, Stock?s Yizkor is an orchestral arrangement of his Fourth String Quartet. Though Stock?s piece bears a certain outward resemblance to the Barber?a sweeping arc that begins quietly, rises to a shattering climax, and then sinks back into the sorrowful depths from which it sprang?its harmonic language is very different. If Barber can be said to paint his pathos with a light patina of dissonance and modal progressions that overlay a base of more familiar Romantic formulas (a kind of outside view looking in), Stock achieves his results in the opposite way (a kind of inside view looking out). More familiar Romantic gestures take shape from a seemingly unsettled, formless, dissonant soup?like Creation emerging from Chaos. This is a truly beautiful piece that must be heard.


Entertaining, if less enamoring, are Tekiah (1987) and Y?rusha (1986). The former?aptly described in the booklet note as a ?mercurial frolic through the minefields of virtuoso display??is a piece for solo trumpet and instrumental ensemble. Stock is himself a student and accomplished player of the instrument. Tekiah refers to the sounding of the shofar (the ram?s horn) during the High Holiday season. Stock pushes the envelope of trumpet technique to its limits; and adept a player as Stephen Burns is, his abilities are obviously pressed to the breaking point, resulting in some not very pretty sounds emitting from his trumpet. The loony-tune character of the piece reaches its apex in the final section, ?With energy, relentlessly,? with a fragmentary quotation from Hummel?s trumpet concerto.


What Tekiah is to the trumpet, Y?rusha (?Heritage?) is to the clarinet, a piece the booklet note amusingly refers to as ?a divertissement of unrelated tune shards.? Quoted are a number of well-known Jewish popular songs, vaudeville music, and liturgical references, including The Greenhorn Cousin , Mazel Tov , and Avinu Malkeinu . Not noted, but also present, is a recurring reference to what sounds like When the Saints Go Marching In , ?klezmerized.? All of this goes in one end of Stock?s musical meat grinder and comes out the other, pupiklech (a dish of chicken gizzards). Richard Stoltzman, indisputably one of the finest clarinetists around, seems to relish the piece, and plays it with both guts and gusto.


Of the many Milken Archive CDs that have come my way, this is not one of my favorites. A Little Miracle has its moments of appeal, but they are too few and far between for me to wish to return to it often or anytime soon. Tekiah and Y?rusha are probably meant to be musically humorous, but I find neither of them particularly funny. Yizkor , however, I believe to be a very special piece of music for which, alone, the release is recommended.


FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

AMRAM Symphony, “Songs of the Soul.”1 Shir L’erev Shabbat; Excerpts.2 The Final Ingredient: Scenes 5, 9, 103 -- Christopher Wilkins, cond;1 Berlin RSO;1 Richard Troxell (ten);2 Christopher Bowers-Broadbent (org);2 Kenneth Kiesler, cond;2 BBC Singers;2 Kenneth Kiesler, cond;3 Deborah Selig (sop);3 Pei Yi Wang (mez);3 Sarah Elizabeth Williams (mez);3 Thomas Glenn (ten);3 Brian Pfaltzgraf (ten);3 Nicholas Phan (ten);3 Jesse Blumberg (bar);3 Tyler Oliphant (bar);3 Mark Kent (bass);3 Univ of Michigan SO & Ch3 -- NAXOS 8.559420 (63:12 ?)

Here we have three works by Philadelphia-born composer and “Renaissance man of American music” (according to the Boston Globe), David Amram (b. 1930). His biography is long and colorful, and, as always, fully documented by Neil Levin’s encyclopedic notes. In a nutshell, Amram has had a mixed musical and cultural background, studying at the Manhattan School of Music under Vitttorio Giannini, Gunther Schuller, and Dimitri Mitropoulos, while simultaneously becoming involved with a number of prominent jazz musicians and ensembles. He has written a considerable amount of music, from incidental scores to Shakespeare plays, Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, Camus’s Caligula, and plays by Eugene O’Neill and T. S. Eliot; to the sound track for an experimental documentary film by Jack Kerouac; to a number of well-known film scores, including Splendor in the Grass, the Manchurian Candidate, and The Young Savages; to over 100 orchestral and chamber works. Amram’s 1987 Symphony, subtitled “Songs of the Soul,” is in some respects similar to Weisgall’s T’kiatot discussed above. Programmatic movement titles notwithstanding, it is a three-movement orchestral score that may be heard as purely abstract music. The work reflects Amram’s interest in authentic Jewish/Oriental ethnic musical modalities. Put that together with the composer’s film-score background, and you have a richly Romantic, exotically perfumed work that could play well as the sound track for a Biblical docudrama. Don’t get me wrong. This is gorgeous sounding music. I’m just trying to describe it and put it into context so you’ll know what to expect. It is performed here by Christopher Wilkin conducting the Berlin Rundfunk Orchestra, in co-production with German Radio and the ROC Berlin.

In 1960, Amram became yet another recipient of one of Cantor Putterman’s commissions to write a liturgical work for his long-running Sabbath Eve Service program. For more information on Putterman and his program, please see the entry under Diamond noted above in Fanfare 27:7. From Amram’s Shir L’erev Shabbat we hear five numbers. According to Neil Levin’s notes, the work was premiered in 1961, but the CD back-flap dates it 1965, perhaps referring to a subsequent performance at the Hebrew Congregation in Washington, DC. Make no mistake about it, Amram is at heart a Romantic composer. The melodic and harmonic language is liberally spiced with 20th-century seasonings, but the idiom remains essentially tonal.

Much the same can be said of the three excerpts heard here from The Final Ingredient (1966), Amram’s second opera. In fact, passages from scene 5, the first of the three excerpts, kept reminding me of the section near the end of Verdi’s Requiem where the solo soprano is set against a cappella choir. The literary reference at least may be an appropriate one in that Amram’s opera is a Holocaust story that tells of the indomitable spirit of a group of Belsen concentration camp inmates determined to observe the ritual of the Passover Seder. The “final ingredient” refers to the egg, one of the items required for the traditional Passover plate, and the one that symbolizes the renewal and continuity of life. As the headnote indicates, a large cast is involved in the production. I hesitate to single out any individual vocal soloist, for all are outstanding, but I will give special mention to Kenneth Kiesler and the University of Michigan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, who do a superb job of cementing together what might otherwise turn unwieldy.

Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

Paul Schoenfield (b. 1947) writes music that is easily grasped but not easily forgotten. A quote from the booklet note states that his works “do for Hassidic music what Astor Piazzolla did for the Argentine tango.” If what is meant by this is that Schoenfield’s music is animated by a strong rhythmic component informed by certain Klezmer-like dance elements, I guess I would go along with the characterization. But there is nothing dance-like about the extraordinarily sorrowful and moving “Soliloquy” of the Viola Concerto. Here is a major new concerted work for viola and orchestra (and how many of them are there?) that is sure to be snapped up by every viola player of note. The piece was written in 1997–98 expressly for Robert Vernon, concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, who gave its premiere performance in 1998, and who plays it here on this CD. Clearly, the work has it origins in Israeli and Eastern European folk song and dance, as well as Hassidic liturgical sources. This is especially evident in the last movement, titled “King David Dancing before the Ark,” a kind of Jewish saltarello, but the overall impression of this concerto is not of a lightweight, pops-concert piece. I believe it is an important new contribution to the viola literature. Vernon is in top form.

The Four Motets, each indicated only by a tempo marking, are settings of four of the seven verses from Psalm 86: “Incline Your ear, O Lord, answer me, for I am poor and needy.” These may be the most beautiful pieces William Byrd ever wrote. I jest of course, but the writing bears a strong resemblance to the Church style of Byrd and Tallis, with just enough 20th-century “irregularities” in voice leading and harmonic progression thrown in to assure you that you haven’t entered a time-warp. Benjamin Britten was quite masterful at writing this type of choral music too.

Schoenfield’s opera, The Merchant and the Pauper, is based on a tale by the great 18th-century Hassidic Rabbi, Reb Nahman. As usual, Neil Levin, author of the encyclopedic notes, and artistic director behind the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music project, goes on for pages of microscopic-print about who Reb Nahman was and the role he played in the evolving Jewish mythology and mysticism that are central to the Hassidic movement. Suffice it here to say that he was a highly controversial figure, as were many of his tales that—through allegory, riddles, and symbolism—drew many fervent believers. The plot of the Merchant and the Pauper presents an original twist on a familiar theme. The Pauper’s wife is kidnapped, but safely returned by the Merchant. The wives of both Pauper and Merchant give birth, the former to a daughter, the latter to a son. In gratitude to the Merchant for the rescue of his wife, the Pauper promises his newborn daughter’s hand in marriage to the Merchant’s son. Meanwhile, as the daughter blossoms into womanhood, her beauty increases, as do the Pauper’s wealth and fortunes. Soon, power and greed corrupt the Pauper, who now no longer wishes his daughter to marry the Merchant’s son. To prevent the marriage, he goes to great lengths to ruin the Merchant, and eventually to have the Merchant’s son abducted, put into a sack, and thrown into the sea (shades of Rigoletto). But this story has a happy ending for all except the Pauper. The son escapes, to be reunited with the Merchant’s daughter in “everlasting joy” (right!), and through the magic of fantasy the Pauper is once again returned to “pauperdom” and the Merchant to “merchanthood.” The story is no sillier than many an opera libretto. What matters is the music. On that score, I can say that even in these relatively short chunks excerpted from act II Schoenfield demonstrates a real flair for the stage and dramatic writing. There is some gorgeous music here, and all of the participants are excellent.

Another winner from this tremendously important project. I recommend it enthusiastically.
Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

Includes work(s) by Ofer Ben-Amots. Ensembles: Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, B. B. C. Singers. Conductors: Karl Anton Rickenbacher, Kenneth Kiesler. Soloist: John Musto.

Includes work(s) by Ernst Toch.

Includes work(s) by Samuel Adler.

Bruce Adolph is a native New Yorker (b. 1955) and a Juilliard graduate (1976). He also studied independently with Milton Babbitt and Vincent Persichetti, and has composed works for numerous top-name artists and ensembles. Many of his concert, stage, and film scores—though by no means all of them—are Judaically theme based, including the score that accompanies the overview documentary on anti-Semitism that introduces visitors to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

For readers unfamiliar with the roots of Ladino, it is, according to the booklet note, “a hybrid secular Sephardi Jewish language, also known as Judeo-Espagnol, which is a fusion of Castilian Spanish (15th century) and Hebrew, dating from the Spanish Expulsion in 1492.” Ladino would subsequently become the main vernacular for generations of Mediterranean Sephardi Jews, playing a major role in their literary and folk-art culture. Adolph composed The Ladino Songs of Love and Suffering in 1983 in response to a commission from soprano Lucy Shelton and well-known horn soloist David Jolley. The request was specific: the piece was to be written for soprano, horn, and guitar, which, according to Adolph, seemed at the time like “an acoustic nightmare.” What often appears implausible, even impossible (bumblebees, the laws of physics tell us, should not be able to fly), often defies expectations. The “acoustic nightmare” turned out to be an acoustic dream combination. Voice, horn, and guitar blend in haunting sonorities in these touching poems of love found, love lost, and love unrequited. Poignantly beautiful music in arrestingly beautiful performances by three of America’s leading artists, Lucy Shelton, soprano, Eliot Fisk, guitar, and David Jolley, horn.

Next up is a generous excerpt (nearly 21 minutes) from Adolph’s two-act opera, Mikhoels the Wise. Written for the “Jewish Opera at the Y” series at New York’s 92nd Street YMHA, and first performed there in 1982, the opera is based on a biographical-historical account of the life and career of actor Solomon Mikhoels (1890–1948) who went by the stage name of Solomon Vovsi. Head of the Moscow State Jewish Theater for many years following the Bolshevik revolution, Mikhoels became an unwitting dupe of Stalin, and was eventually murdered by the Soviet secret police. The excerpt offered here is scene 4 of act 1: “A Train Station in Birobidzhan at Midnight,” in which Mikhoels arrives in Birobidzhan where he is met by Sin-Cha, a young Korean telegraph operator from Vladivostok. All of this takes place following the Japanese occupation of Manchuria (1931–2). Sin-Cha, who just happens to speak Yiddish (only in opera!), explains to Mikhoels that the Japanese atrocities against her people have aroused in her a deep sympathy for the plight of the Jews, and that she has come to Birobidzhan to help the Jewish people build a Socialist society of their own. (No wonder Stalin saw in Mikhoels a useful political tool). The music that accompanies this scene is highly colorful and, at times, dramatic. The singing, while more “speechified” than melodic, is nonetheless quite moving, and seems to follow closely the inflections of the instrumental lines. Erie Mills, soprano, who sings the role of Sin-Cha, and Nathaniel Watson, baritone, who sings the role of Mikhoels, both sound quite convincing, as does Gerard Schwarz conducting the Seattle Symphony.

Out of the Whirlwind, which concludes the program, might best be described as a non-liturgical cantata. It consists of six movements, each based on Yiddish songs composed by Holocaust victims, some of whom survived the concentration camps, and others who did not. The work was commissioned by Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Allied liberation of the German camps. It was first performed in 1984, one year prior to the anniversary. Scored for mezzo-soprano, tenor, large wind ensemble, piano, harp, and bass, the general style of the work is not too far removed from the Mikhoels the Wise excerpt. Colorful orchestration, frequently punctuated by dramatic outbursts, serves as underpinning to generally declamatory but occasionally soaring vocal lyricism. This is a very beautiful and emotionally wrenching work, and it is gorgeously sung by John Aler, tenor, and Phyllis Pancella, mezzo-soprano. Rodney Winther conducts the College-Conservatory of Music Wind Symphony most sympathetically.

Of the Naxos Milken Archive discs I have thus far been privileged to hear and review, this one I think is most likely to transcend any parochial considerations. This should enjoy very wide appeal. Highly recommended.

-- Jerry Dubins, Fanfare

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensembles: Schola Hebraeica, New London Children's Choir. Conductor: Neil Levin. Soloist: Hazzan Ira Rodhe.

The Milken Archive of American Jewish Music is a vast recorded panorama of the rich body of Jewish music, both sacred and secular, that has developed over the course of American history. This abundant repertoire, in its remarkable breadth and diversity, not only reflects the history, evolution, and variety of the Jewish experience in America, but, by extension, attests to Jewish continuity and renewal through more than five millennia, revealing universal qualities that can speak to people of all faiths and cultures.

“To listen to its 19 selections...is to experience a sampling of the huge breadth of American Jewish music.” — Cantor Steven Blane, New Jersey Jewish Standard

“...provides a table of hors d’oeuvres for what is to come...Haskivenu...is particularly lovely. All of the performances here are top-notch.” — Jerry Dubins, Fanfare

“This will give you a taste - I underscore taste - of the works of 37 composers that are included in this marvelous collection of American Jewish music, a collection that is sure to become an important part of the recorded literature of all American music.” — Copley News Service

“It gives a good indication of the project’s production values: up-to-date engineering, full and scholarly notes by Neil W. Levin (the Archive’s Artistic Director), and translations...of sung material. The sampler also sketches out the aesthetic reach of the venture.” — Peter Rabinowitz, International Record Review

“The propulsive and dynamic Brubeck is powered along at full tilt crossed with a typically swaying Jewish accent. The down and dirty Hudl mint shtrudl is the equivalent of a racy song by George Formby—saucy and with a clarinet played scatty Chassidic for all it is worth as slippery as oil...[Milhaud’s Sacred Service] ...joyous...[Achron]...is music of the utmost inventive resource—full of colourful Technicolor rivalry among the instruments of the orchestra...[Weill’s The Etneral Road]...whispered serenity from the choir and a piannisimo solo violin rise to the disturbing suggestion of disillusion. Serenity reflects the God of the Israelites while the wilder beat reflects the followers of the golden calf. Eventually the joyous ‘calf tune’ is taken over by the Israelites to reflect an excited joy.” — Rob Barnett, MusicWeb-International.com

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

"Dionysian imbalanced exaltation… from restless, mysterious meditation of strongly religious character to dizzying Dervish-like ecstasy" was how one newspaper critic described the 1927 premiere of Achron’s Violin Concerto no. 1. In fact, Achron filled his concerto with biblical cantillation melodies that have roots in Jewish antiquity. Mysterious legends of the past and biblical stories also inspired him to create exotic orchestral tone poems based on the Golem of Prague and Belshazzar’s Feast. All of these works are recorded here for the first time.

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

Fully restored from recently discovered original manuscripts, the Genesis Suite depicts the earliest Bible stories, narrated by distinguished actors accompanied by full orchestra and chorus. This unique collaboration of seven famous composers was performed only once, in 1945, before much of the music was lost in a fire.

WINNER: 2005 Grammy Award to David Frost – “Producer of the Year, Classical” for Genesis Suite and four other Milken Archive CDs

“The whole idea of the work has long interested me and it’s wonderful to have it fully restored with all the missing sections and given its first modern recording here under Gerard Schwarz’s baton... Fascinating and audacious...” — John Sunier, Audiophile Audition

“The most significant recent release from the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music... The performances by Gerard Schwarz with the Ernst Senff Choir and Berlin Radio Orchestra are excellent.” — Turok’s Choice

“...here, for the first time in state-of-the-art sound and a magnificent performance led by Gerard Schwarz, you can experience the Genesis Suite in its entirety. Documenting, as it does, an interesting slice of music history in 1940s America, this release is welcome and I would grant even important.” — Jerry Dubins, Fanfare (March/April 2005)

“One of the most fascinating...of the discs in the series... The contributions from Schoenberg and Stravinsky, which bookend the work, are by far the best: concise evocations of primordial chaos striving toward order (Schoenberg) and Creation devolving back toward chaos at the Tower of Babel (Stravinsky). Stravinsky’s ‘Babel’ has a cool sensibility that grows eerie, haunted by his mysterious melodies and rhythms, as well as a long, legato choral chant backed by double-tonguing flutes that evoke the scattering of humanity.” — Richard Scheinin, San Jose Mercury News

“[Schoenberg is]...well chosen for his uncompromising portrayal of the primordial chaotic miasma. The music is suitably dodecaphonic—whirling and active. [Shilkret] supplies a richly stocked and constantly allusive Hollywood-style score. The music is super-Straussian with the vocalising choir painting the dawn of light in a blindingly cinematic evocation... Great fun – an example of saturated cinema kitsch. Golden Age film score aficionados must lose no time and get a copy of this disc immediately. [Milhaud gives] a brisk and vigorous retelling with dramatic music. [Castelnuovo-Tedesco]...his tender music is genuinely touching as you find whenever the narration speaks of Noah and his family. [Toch]...provides the work’s optimistic centre of gravity with its repeated imperious concluding fanfares. [Stravinsky]...links with various of his concert works including Oedipus Rex and the Symphonies of Wind Instruments... A fascinating record of a remarkable moment in time. Its chrome-plated musical sensationalism is enjoyable... I thought it was great fun.” — Rob Barnett, MusicWeb-International.com

“...a fascinating and incredibly diverse musical pastiche that is well worth the effort that went into rescuing it... Their shared mission—to musically illustrate the foundations of Judeo-Christian beliefs—led to grand, cinematically conceived music from most of them... Schoenberg’s skillfully manipulated tone rows make for an eerie, but musically orderly evocation of primordial chaos, while setting an expectant and reverent tone... Shilkret, in perhaps the most cinematic-sounding music here, begins with his own rather atonal miniprelude before underscoring the narrators’ storytelling with dramatic and richly diatonic musical fabric... Wonder and suspense infuse Tansman’s densely atmospheric and mostly tonal epic of Adam and Eve. The narrative declamation of the Creator’s dire lines after the fall is especially true to his rhythmic design, adding weight and severity... Milhaud’s short and punchy Cain-and-Abel episode is the angriest and most startling music here. Like Tansman, he writes episodically, also calling for precise rhythmic synchronization of narrations and music and emphatic moments... [Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s] striking and melodramatic treatment of the Flood story is highly illustrative, in keeping with the best Hollywood style... Perhaps the suite’s most radiant and comforting music comes from Toch. After a somber introductory fugue, the composer does a superb job of realizing the Lord’s promise of a better future... Stravinsky finished the work with the compact, but skillfully assembled Babel movement... Performances are outstanding and nicely recorded....Naxos’s usual excellent notes... Try it — I think you’ll really like it.” — Lindsay Koob, American Record Guide (March/April 2005)

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

Heroic Jewish resistance to German barbarity during the Holocaust was indelibly manifested in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943. Facing imminent deportation to death camps and preferring, if necessary, to die with dignity in battle, thousands of Jews rose up in armed defiance of their tormentors. Their fierce but doomed struggle—against unimaginable horrors and overwhelming odds—began during Passover, the Festival on which Jews recount the story of the Exodus from Egypt through a canonized narrative, or haggada. After the war, American composer Max Helfman, a legendary champion of Jewish music, immortalized the uprising in his dramatic choral tone poem Di Naye Hagode (The New Haggada), based on Itzik Fefer's epic Yiddish poem The Shadows of the Warsaw Ghetto. For Fefer, who was murdered in Stalin's postwar terror against Soviet Jewry, both Germany's genocide and the episodes of armed Jewish response had become the Jewish people's new, central, and most relevant narrative. Like the Passover haggada, this story must be told and retold, lest a single Jew of the Warsaw Ghetto ever be forgotten. Fefer's poem conveys modern Jewish determination to resist and to remember, and that resolve—to remember forever— is underscored by Helfman's powerful music. Di Naye Hagode is presented here in its world premiere recording.

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

Includes work(s) by Charles Davidson. Ensemble: Finchley Children's Music Group. Conductors: Nicholas Wilks, Bradley Lubman. Soloists: Douglas Webster, Amy Goldstein.

German-born American composer Gershon Kingsley has described his creative world as one in which “Mozart dances with the Beatles and Carl Jung struggles to reconcile the opposites of our human soul.” Focusing equally on secular and religious theatrically oriented works, he has infused his music with classical, jazz, popular, and electronic elements, resulting in a highly individual style that blends the traditional with the contemporary and even the avant garde. Heard on this CD is Kingsley’s haunting and compelling musical-theater piece for voices and chamber ensemble, Voices From the Shadow, which is based on intensely personal poems related to the Holocaust—many of them written in the concentration camps—by thirteen poets in six different languages. This is followed by three sacred works: Jazz Psalms—vibrant prayer settings for singers and jazz combo that fuse idiomatic jazz rhythms, sonorities and vocal styles with echoes of traditional liturgical melodies, and excerpts from two choral compositions that combine the enduring spirit of the Sabbath liturgy with electronically synthesized sounds. Both Shabbat for Today, a spirited setting of the Saturday morning service, and Shiru Ladonai (Sing to God), a Friday evening service rich in lyricism, utilize Moog synthesizers to create the instrumental sounds, and demonstrate how Kingsley expanded the expressive boundaries of traditional synagogue music. Noted actor Harry Goz is heard as the narrator in Shabbat for Today.

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

R E V I E W S:

For its 32nd release, the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music brings us a CD of works by the German-born (1922) American composer, Gershon Kingsley. Some may know him from his pioneering work on the Moog synthesizer, and indeed two of the pieces on this program—Shiru L’Adonai and Shabbat for Today—combine synthesizers and voices. Others may know Kingsley from his work in radio, television, and motion pictures, or from his association with the Joffrey Ballet, Josephine Baker, and several Broadway shows. He was also Jan Peerce’s accompanist on a number of international tours.

Kingsley is not the first composer, nor is he likely to be the last, to set to music poetry written by Holocaust concentration camp victims and survivors. Kingsley himself is fortunate to have escaped that fate when his family left Germany shortly after the infamous Kristallnacht in 1938. He spent eight years in Palestine, before immigrating to the US and taking up residence in Los Angeles, a welcoming haven at the time for Jewish refugee musicians and composers.

Voices from the Shadow (1997) is the main business of this release. It is a collection of 18 songs composed to poems written by concentration camp inmates and later survivors. Many were written in fear and desperation, others in hope and an unshakable faith in God’s ultimate compassion. Needless to say, most of the poems, but especially those by or about children, are heartrending. In “My Number is 434” (a reference to the indelible numbers tattooed on the arms of the inmates), a young girl sings, “I dream I am wearing an organdy dress, for I’m sixteen, at my first ball. In my hair is a poppy, in my heart a thrill.” Then too there is the sardonic, morbid humor of a child numbed by and inured to death in the “Terezin Nursery Rhyme:” “Mercy, mercy me! We’re riding in a hearse. Mercy, mercy me! We’re riding in a funeral coach. Here and there we stop off to drop off a corpse or two.”

Relying on a modest chamber ensemble of strings, clarinet, and piano, Kingsley’s settings do not overwhelm the texts. He allows them to speak for themselves, employing his instrumental accompaniments to underline the heartache and the horror with subtle but devastating effect. A striking example is “Ich möchte gerne,” in which the poet longs once again to hear the sound of a train taking him to distant places where he can watch the stars. Throughout, the clarinet imitates the sound of a chugging locomotive. The hideous irony it suggests, of course, is the image of the endless comings of the trains filled with Jews, like cattle, headed to the slaughterhouses. I presume the original languages of the poems have been retained, for the songs alternate between German, Yiddish, English, French, Polish, and Czech. This is a CD—or certainly half of one—not to be missed...Others will enjoy the jazz and synthesizer pieces more than I did. But Voices from the Shadow deserves an urgent recommendation.

Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

The music on this CD is a joyous celebration of Zionist dreams and hopes, as well as of daily life in Israel. From the mystical nostalgia of Old Jerusalem to the rambunctious energy of Yom b’kibbutz (A Day on a Kibbutz), this delightful program takes listeners on an unforgettable musical voyage to the land of Israel.

“Max Helfman’s ‘Israel Suite’ features some sophisticated choral writing... Julius Chajes’ ‘Hebrew Suite’ is evocative... The real surprise on the CD is Herbert Fromm’s delicate ‘Yemenite Suite.’ As usual with the Milken sets, the performances are excellent...” — George Robinson, The Jewish Week (6/16/06)

“Four stars. This is one of the most appealing of the continuing series... [Weill’s Hatikva is]...moving... [Fromm’s Pioneers features] some lovely flute solos... The concluding work on the disc is an eleven-minute romp from Sholom Secunda, a composer remembered primarily for his association with the American Yiddish musical theater. The piece...is designed to depict programmatically life on a typical kibbutz. Well, this seems to be a really swinging kibbutz, what with shades of Harold Arlen, Gershwin and Bernstein in the rollicking and jazzy score!” — John Sunier, Audiophile Audition

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

Cantor, composer, arranger, and consummate performer, Simon Spiro is world-renowned for his pure tenor voice, expressive musicianship, and charismatic personality. This all-new recording features Cantor Spiro in unique arrangements of beloved favorites such as Shalom aleikhem and Ya ribbon olam for the Sabbath, festive music for Hanukka, Passover, and the High Holy Days, the cantorial masterpiece Ba’avur david, and the virtuoso rendition of a Yiddish folktale, Avremele melamed. Another special feature: the traditional wedding benedictions, Sheva b’rakhot—some of the most beautiful Jewish wedding music. Let Cantor Spiro lead you through a musical celebration of Jewish life in all its richness and variety.

“...an attractive and well-chosen programme. Spiro’s voice is pleasant on the ear and it is easy to appreciate his virtuosity.” “The choral arrangements are all very well done... All the choirs on the disc are excellent... The disc comes with the usual superb liner notes; I can highly recommend this to anyone who would like to explore what might, for them, be an unknown area of repertoire.” — Robert Hugill, MusicWeb.uk.net (November 2005)

“The various selections are described as ‘concert favorites,’ and indeed they are, or were, and perhaps because of this CD will become so once again... These pieces emerge as fresh, engaging new works and may perhaps even become concert favorites again... As this CD demonstrates, Cantor Spiro is a real hazzan and has the voice and the ability to project all aspects of the cantor’s art... All the choirs sing with distinction, with intense and rounded tone, superb intonation and ensemble... Credit is gratefully given to Mr. Neil Levin, their conductor... I must single out the performance of ‘Ya Ribbon Olam,’ arranged by Roderick Williams, for special praise. Yes, indeed, Cantor Spiro is superb, but without these magnificent choirs his efforts would not have attained the musical or religious heights both forces together achieved... This is a worthy addition to one’s library of Jewish music. While the average cantor or choir may not sound like Cantor Spiro and the choirs here, wouldn’t it be nice if they did?” — Morton Gold, Jewish Post and Opinion (Indianapolis, Indiana) (May 11, 2005)

“...a keeper... Cantor Spiro is accompanied by a number of choirs including the Schola Hebraeica and the Coro Hebraeico, two of the finest Jewish professional choirs... A double pleasure to get a recording of first-rate cantorial and choral music together... The CD’s highlight is a new Spiro arrangement of ‘Ba’avur David,’ in which the vocal harmonies of the Coro Hebraeico are richly mined for tone color. Spiro’s arrangement of the ‘Sheva B’rachot’ is also noteworthy... A great opportunity to introduce hazzanut to those people who have little exposure to or never imagined they could appreciate this style of liturgical music.” — Jewish Herald-Voice (April 7, 2005)

“Cantor Simon Spiro is in fine voice, and is ably accompanied by the various choral institutions... Neil Levin, who has won an award for his encyclopedic Milken Archive program notes, here takes up the baton, and conducts with equal enthusiasm. This can be recommended for Holyday Calamities alone.” — Jerry Dubins, Fanfare (July/August 2005)

“...a delightful ‘Sheva B’rakhot,’ versions of Judaism’s seven wedding blessings... The jaunty 6/8 section in the middle would seem an ideal send-off for a happy couple, with a deftly crafted choral conclusion providing a measure of solemnity just before the fateful breaking of the glass... Cantor Spiro’s voice…is as pleasing to the soul as it is to the ear. The modal squiggles and shakes of the Ashkenazic style can sound strident when most cantorial tenors have at them, but they are smooth as silk here, thanks to the chazzan’s tasteful control. ‘Ba’avur David,’ a Hebraic obstacle course of runs, quivers and impassioned repetitions that fairly begs for vocal excess, actually comes off more as a meditation than as a vehicle for virtuosic expression. Mazel tov, bravo, and I’m still not sure how he pulled it off.” — Philip Greenfield, American Record Guide

“If you haven’t ventured into this extraordinarily fine project [the Milken Archive], I can’t think of a better place to begin than right here. You hear the glory of massed voices suitable for many occasions, and you hear the splendid tenor voice of Cantor Simon Spiro, acknowledged as a leading interpreter of cantorial art.” — King Durkee, Copley News Service

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.