Associated stories on MyShtetl

REVIEW OF LAST YEAR’S SELL-OUT CONCERT & LOTS OF PICTURES

YIDDISH SONG FESTIVAL CD OUT SOON

HERTLIA CHOIRS SHINE AT YIDDISH SONG FESTIVAL

For two performances only (and assured to be a sell-out once again) On Sunday 15 August at 5.30 and 8.00pm, the tenth Annual Leah Todres Yiddish Song Festival will be held at the Baxter Theatre.

Mazeltov – the traditional, celebratory good luck wish – is the perfect title for the 10th birthday of the Annual Leah Todres Yiddish Song Festival at the Baxter Theatre on Sunday 15 August at 5.30pm and 8.00pm.

The stellar cast includes Aviva Pelham, Ivor Joffe, Beverley Chiat, David Gordon, Dragana Jevtovic, Kevin Derman, Caely Levy and Richard Gore. Guest artist will be Zola daughter of the legendary Yiddish singer and actress Chayela Rosenthal.

Playing with Fire Klezmer Band is under the direction of the multi-talented Matthew Reid.

The Herzlia Vocal Ensemble and the massed 60 voice Herzlia Yiddish Festival Choir will be making their spirited contribution.

“Yiddish songs speak to you across time and space, borders and boundaries. From its origins in the traditional folksongs of Eastern Europe, to working songs in the Crimea, across the oceans to the United Sates and right here to the southern tip of Africa – Yiddish songs have crossed continents, countries and cultures,” confides Fay Singer, a specialist in Jewish music and co-music director of the Festival

“The songs have a universal appeal as they tug at your heartstrings or tickle your funny bone,” is how Matthew Reid explains the popularity of the Festival. He and Fay have been co- music directors since inception and are still amazed and delighted at the remarkable audience response.

“We never anticipated that there would be such a wide audience for Yiddish song,” enthuses Cape Town’s very own diva Aviva Pelham, who has been involved since inception. “It is even more encouraging to see how the songs have been embraced by the school choir and the teenage ensemble. And we have also watched audiences grow each year.”

Today, as a language, Yiddish might be fragile, but its soul and spirit are still remarkably robust as it bursts into life in Cape Town through this unique festival. This must be the only city in the Southern Hemisphere to have a Yiddish Song Festival and certainly the only one this century to have produced a CD – “Cape Town ZING!” – a live recording capturing the talent, energy and vigour of the 2009 festival.

The repertoire covers such a broad range that it is inevitable that there is something in the programme that appeals or has a special tug. The language is wonderfully emotive. There is also a strong sense of nostalgia and a reconnection to times past. Charming folk melodies through to big band numbers, there really is something for everybody.

“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue sort of encapsulates what the genre is all about,” chuckles Philip Todres who has been producing the show each year. “There are some wonderful golden oldies with associations to the villages of Eastern Europe, where Yiddish was the lingua franca of the Jewish people. There is also lots that is new, as songs were composed for stage and screen especially in New York in the1920’s and before. And off course as Eastern European culture bumped into the cultures of new adopted home lands, there was a definite cross over or borrowing taking place. Something blue? Well that relates to the association between klezmer and jazz where the ‘blue’ note is often a common theme.”

Irma Kesler, who has been responsible for staging the show since 2002 - “Talking about ‘something new’ one of the highlights for me was the staging of ‘The 10 Tap Dancing Rabbis from Minsk’ that had been specially written for us by international son writer Hal Shaper.” That number will be staged again as part of this year’s celebration.

And celebration is what it is all about. The first part of the Festival will be a showcase of some of the highlights of the first 9 years, and then the show will move into all sorts of new material and surprises. It will certainly be a night to remember.

So get your party clothes ready, comfortable shoes to allow for plenty of toe-tapping, and come out to the Baxter and enjoy!

Please diarise dates and times - Sunday 15 August 2010 at 17:30 & 20:00 at the Baxter Theatre, Rondebosch, Cape Town. Ticket prices are R60, R85, R100 & R120 and you can book at Baxter Theatre or Computicket on 083 915 8000, on-line at www.computicket.co.za or at any Shoprite Checkers outlet.

Featured annually on Fine Music Radio 101.3fm

REVIEW OF LAST YEAR’S SELL-OUT CONCERT & LOTS OF PICTURES

YIDDISH SONG FESTIVAL CD OUT SOON

HERTLIA CHOIRS SHINE AT YIDDISH SONG FESTIVAL