Fidl

Alicia Svigals (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Alicia Svigals
• Audio CD (September 9, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Trad. Crossroads
• ASIN: B0000031GM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,813 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Voice of Klezmer: the Violin, January 9, 2003

By 

Erika Borsos "pepper flower" (Gulf Coast of FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Fidl (Audio CD)

In the hands of Alicia Svigals: the violin sings, weeps, laughs, cries, and otherwise mimics the human voice ... Alicia has shown the klezmer fiddle to be of equal value to the clarinet in this genre. The Jewish tunes are haunting, lively, energetic and beautiful! She has mastered her instrument & uses multiple playing styles and techniques: a virtuoso. Although klezmer is *most* often dominated by the sounds of the clarinet: there is no playing "second fiddle here"!!! She is a "primas" or "first fiddler" in every sense of the words!!! :-) Other instruments which are the 'supporting cast' to the violin: are the tsimbl (cimbalom), accordion, occasionally a second fiddle, a bass, and drums. Most of the music is traditional & orginates from Romania, the Ukrainian, Turkey, Greece, Moldavia, & Bessarabia (former Soviet Union). There is a tremendous composition that Alicia herself created for a musical play: it fits all the criteria for great klezmer. Most of the tracks are her interpretations of originals from 78 records of the 1920s - 1950s. Some tracks are wedding music, others are of Hassidic origin, others are music for the Sabbath. There are bulgars, doinas, horas, freylekhs, a zmiro (hymn), a hora batuta and a hybrid "bulgarish-frelekh". The liner notes state the Greeks adapted the last one into a hassapiko. The liner notes are very extensive and helpful. They explain technical details related to the typical musical scales used in klezmer: the "Ahavo Rabo" and Ukrainian scales. The latter resembles the music of the Aegean coast from Greece & Turkey, going all the way up the Balkan peninsula to the Ukraine. This is very special cultural music that allows for a wide range of improvisational capability by the right musician: Alicia Svigals has proven to be among the best! This CD is magnificent! Erika Borsos (erikab93).

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Sweet, Masterful, October 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fidl (Audio CD)

This is one of my favorite CDs. I listen to it almost every day, and my seven week old son loves it, too!

Alicia Svigals, who plays fidl with The Klezmatics, has created an amazing solo album. It ranges across the landscape of human emotions with stunning musicality and sensitivity. Some of the tunes are her arrangements of the traditional, and some are original. All are stunning. I think Alicia has led the revival of the fidl as a 20th, and 21st, century klezmer lead instrument, taking its rightful place again alongside the clarinet.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent music, March 18, 2000

By 

Michael D (Takoma Park, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fidl (Audio CD)

I love this CD. The music is very enchanting. Several songs have an intriguing simple syncopated rhythm, and others have a nice plucked background rhythm from a stringed instrument. Pieces range from very _normal_ klezmer, to interesting new melodies, even one or two that are reminiscent of Celtic melodies.

The audio samples here can sound a bit squeeky, but on a real audio system, Svigal's violin has surprising voice. Similar to Giora Fiedman's clarinet.