Search - Jacob / Levenson, Boris / Fitelberg, G. Weinberg, Ivan Rosenblum, Boris Levenson :: Laughter & Tears: A Jewish Saga

Laughter & Tears: A Jewish Saga

Ellen Isler | NYC | 08/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"7/30/03 This is the first "review" of a CD I have ever written for posting on CD Now on Amazon, and I am moved to do so because of the special quality of "Laughter and Tears, a Jewish Saga," by The Wolford/Rosenblum Duo, Centaur CRC 2521. The range of feeling exhibited by all the selections of music, both purely instrumental and with voice, is particularly evocative of the length and complexity of Jewish experience. The selections include stunning original compositions by pianist Ivan Rosenblum and rarely heard contemporary songs from Israel by composer Ben Haim. The delightful, humorous and previously unrecorded early Jewish vaudeville songs by Irving Berlin are wonderfully amusing and the presence of the ragtime idiom in them is a further indication of how much of the world's music has been absorbed into thematically "Jewish" compositions. The section of the CD devoted or named Holocaust Remembrance, comprised of songs by Ellwood Derr, was haunting and poignant but I found even more touching somehow the eloquent instrumental rendition of the traditional prayer, Eli Eli. The performance had a wonderful equilibrium of sound and an appropriately timeless quality. Klezmer music is always fun, but it is played here with clarity and verve. All in all, this is a rewarding smorgasbord of Jewish temperament expressed in highly professional and creative musicianship."