Leo Zeitlin: Yiddish Songs, Chamber Music and Declamations

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Catalogue No: TOCC0294
EAN/UPC: 5060113442949
Release Date: 2015-08-07
Composer: Leo Zeitlin
Artists: Daniella Rabbani, Guenko Guechev, Musicians of the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival, Rachel Calloway

A member of the Society for Jewish Folk Music in St Petersburg, Leo Zeitlin (1884–1930) was known mainly for Eli Zion, a classic of Jewish art-music. Zeitlin died only seven years after emigrating to New York, still a young man, and his reputation languished until the recent discovery of a trunk full of scores brought his music back to light. This album attempts to remedy decades of neglect, especially for his charismatic Yiddish song-settings for voice, strings and piano. Zeitlin’s powerful declamations – Romantic piano music underscoring spoken Yiddish and Russian poetry – points to a genre that once was popular and is now forgotten.

Musicians of the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival: Rachel Calloway, mezzo soprano; Guenko Guechev, baritone and speaker; Daniella Rabbani, speaker; Elisabeth Pridonoff, piano; Luz Manriquez, piano; Dennis O’Boyle, violin; Laura Motchalov, violin; Marylene Gingras-Roy, viola; Isaias Zelkowicz, viola; Aron Zelkowicz, cello

Listen To This Recording:

  1. More: dramatic recitation
  2. Reb Nakhmons nign
  3. Tsien zikh khmares oyf, harts mayns: dramatic recitation
  4. Iber di hoyfn
  5. Benk ikh yo, benk ikh nit?: dramatic recitation
  6. Berceuse (A mayse)
  7. Zay, zeyde, mispalel far undz dayne kinder: dramatic recitation
  8. Eli Zion
  9. Ad ono adoynoy
  10. Zog zhe, rebenyu
  11. JOACHIM STUTSCHEWSKY Eili, Eili
  12. Eili, Eili for mezzo soprano and string quartet
  13. Wiener Volkslied: Du alter Stefansturm
  14. 6 Yiddish Songs: I Gebet fun rabbi Leyvi-Yitskhok
  15. 6 Yiddish Songs: II Klezmorimlekh
  16. 6 Yiddish Songs: III Der parom
  17. 6 Yiddish Songs: IV Shoyn nito der nekhtn
  18. 6 Yiddish Songs: V Patsh, patsh, kikhelekh
  19. 6 Yiddish Songs: VI Der Kadish fun reb Leyvi-Yitskhok

2 reviews for Leo Zeitlin: Yiddish Songs, Chamber Music and Declamations

  1. :

    ‘Throughout, Zeitlin reveals his sensitivity to instrumental colors, textures, and voices. His writing consistently achieves an admirable balance between heartfelt emotional expression, and musical proportion and restraint. As a welcome bonus, Zeitlin’s arrangement for mezzo-soprano and string quartet of the beloved Yiddish melody Eli, Eli is juxtaposed with Joachim Stutchewseky’s setting for cello and piano. … the performances of Leo Zeitlin’s music are first-rate from start to finish, as is the recorded sound. The liner notes by Paula Eisenstein Baker (a key figure in the resurrection of the Zeitlin’s music) and Robert S. Nelson provide detailed information on the composer’s life and the featured works. … I think anyone at all curious to explore the work of Leo Zeitlin will not be disappointed. Recommended.’

    —Ken Meltzer, Fanfare, November/December 2016

  2. :

    ‘Rachel Calloway has a beautiful voice that is tailor-made for these songs and for all the others she sings on this disc. All the musicians involved in this project have done Leo Zeitlin a great service in bringing this neglected composer to the public’s notice. They and Toccata deserve many congratulations.

    This is a disc to savour and I sincerely hope there is plenty more to discover from this talented composer. I note with satisfaction that Toccata call this Volume One of a series entitled ‘Russian Jewish Classics’. I look forward to more releases.’

    —Steve Arloff, MusicWeb International

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