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![]() -- repertoire --| operatic roles --| oratorio parts --| private functions --| recital songs --| jewish music ----| DIVA-lÈ ----| tof miriam ----| research |
DIVA-lÈ
The idea of the Opera Diva is well
known: the big voiced, big bosomed prima donna clad in Viking helmet
and little else, breaking glass and hearts. Put this together with the
affectionate Yiddish suffix le, a sweet and endearing diminutive,
and you have a vocalist and concert which joins the worlds of opera
and Jewish music.
Jewish folk songs were an inspiration to both Jewish and non-Jewish classical composers. Based on her research for the 2003 Jewish Music Institutes Millennium Award, Ruti Halvani presents a very personal combination of art and folk music from the last two centuries which illustrates this idea. The concert programme is flexible and includes pieces for piano and solo voice as well as duets. It features arts songs by European Jewish composers such as Simon Laks, and from Britain and America, Alex Knapp, Helen Greenberg, Max Helfman and Lazar Weiner. The work of non-Jewish composers inspired by Jewish folk songs includes Ravels Hebrew Songs, Shostakovichs Yiddish tango songs and work by Rimsky-Korsakov. There are also unusual selections of rare classical arrangements of traditional Jewish folk songs sung in Yiddish, Ladino and Hebrew. DIVA-lÈ premiers on November 16th 2003 at the Hampstead Hall London as part of the Jewish Music Institute's Autumn Series. |
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