In Celebration of Israel (Milken Archive of American Jewish Music)

Julius Chajes (Composer), Samuel Cohen (Composer), Herbert Fromm (Composer), Max Helfman (Composer), Walter Scharf (Composer), Sholom Secunda (Composer), Elli Jaffe (Conductor), Gerald Wirth (Conductor), Gerard Schwarz (Conductor), Jorge Mester (Conductor), Karl Anton Rickenbacher (Conductor), Samuel Adler (Conductor), Eastman Players (Performer), Margaret Kohler (Performer), Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), National Orchestra of Catalonia (Orchestra), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) (Orchestra), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Eastman Players, Margaret Kohler
• Orchestra: Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestra of Catalonia, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), et al.
• Conductor: Elli Jaffe, Gerald Wirth, Gerard Schwarz, Jorge Mester, Karl Anton Rickenbacher, et al.
• Composer: Julius Chajes, Samuel Cohen, Herbert Fromm, Max Helfman, Walter Scharf, et al.
• Audio CD (April 18, 2006)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Milken Archive
• ASIN: B000EQHS8C
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,392 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hatikva - Karl Anton Rickenbacher

2. Old Jerusalem - Ana Maria Martinez

3. Pioneers (Halutzim) - Samuel Adler

4. Hamisha - Vienna Boys Choir

5. Laila Had'Mama - Vienna Boys Choir

6. B'Yom Kayitz - Vienna Boys Choir

7. Laila Pele - Vienna Boys Choir

8. Ma Yafim Halleilot - Vienna Boys Choir

9. Sisu V'Simhu - Vienna Boys Choir

10. Prayer - Karl Anton Rickenbacher

11. Walls Of Zion - Karl Anton Rickenbacher

12. Hora - Karl Anton Rickenbacher

13. Benzion Miller - Jorge Mester

14. River Jordan - Karl Anton Rickenbacher

15. Andante - Karl Anton Rickenbacher

16. Celebration - Karl Anton Rickenbacher

17. Introduction - Samuel Adler

18. Yom Ze L'Ysira'el - Samuel Adler

19. Bammidbar - Samuel Adler

20. Zamm'ri Li - Samuel Adler

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This record celebrates not only Israel but six excellent 20th-century Jewish composers - all émigrés except the American-born Scharf - whose work should be better known: the music is skillfully composed, varied, constantly interesting and appealing. Strangely enough, it is the most-familiar composer's contribution that strikes the only false note: Weill's arrangement of the "Hatikva," now Israel's national anthem. Though its composition has been debated for decades, it is essentially a simple folk-tune which Weill's noisy, overblown orchestration obliterates with "modern" harmonies, brass and percussion. Given the basically mournful, minor-mode-oriented nature of Jewish music, this "celebration" is tinged with yearning, melancholy and nostalgia, though there are some buoyant dances along the way. Highlights include the Austrian pianist-composer Chajes' vocal and orchestral music; in the latter, the oboe becomes a shepherd's pipe, the clarinet a klezmer-player. Fromm's "Yemenite Cycle," scored for voice, flute, harp, and bells, sounds bright, cheerful and simple, like children's songs. Scharf, a film composer, and Secunda, the most-renowned composer of Yiddish popular songs, naturally reveal their stylistic "roots" with music straight out of Hollywood and the musical theater and aimed straight at the heart. The performances are all admirable; the Vienna Boys Choir, of all participants surely the most incongruous, is terrific.     -- Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect cd., December 7, 2011

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KCGrammie "M." (Kansas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Celebration of Israel (Milken Archive of American Jewish Music) (Audio CD)

I bought this for my granddaughter who was studying Israel. She and I both love it. I would recommend it to others.