Rhapsody Judaica

Guitarist Oleg Timofeyev says: "According to Shostakovich, 'the distinguishing feature of Jewish music is the ability to build a jolly melody on sad intonations.' This is what we love about our repertoire, and we invite our listeners to cry and laugh with us.

Growing up in a Jewish family in Moscow, I started performing Yiddish tunes with my mother as soon as I started playing guitar. We played with a small band in private apartments of refuzniks and felt the pleasant excitement of engaging in underground anti-Soviet acts. Today we are resisting no one, there is no point to prove - there is only a deep and inexhaustible love for Yiddish folklore and Jewish melos."

This recording features: Oleg Timofeyev, guitar / Natalia Timofeyeva, cello / Robert Paredes, clarinet / Matthew Burrier, accordion and Daniel Moore, percussion

Catalog: MAR 349

Track Listing

1. Ikh zits un shpil oyf mayn gitare (trad., arr. by L. Kogan) 2. Aleksandr Spivakovsky, Jewish Dance * 3. Shuster un shneider tantz (trad.) 4. Doyna and Freilekhs (trad.) Sergei Kaufmann: Suite Yiddish 5. Chant 6. Psalmodie 7. Prière 8. Bulgar (trad.) 9. Varshaver Freilekhs (trad.) 10. Der gasn nigun (trad.) 11. Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco: Chant Hebraïque 12. Alexander Vinitsky: Klezmer Fantasy * 13. Papirossen (Herman Yablokoff) Aaron Minsky: Judaic Concert Suite * 14. Entrance of Bride and Groom 15. Adon Olam (Jewish Prayer) 16. Sound of the Shofar 17. Terkishe yale v'yove tantz 18. Misha Elman: Eli, Eli 19. Freilekhs (trad.) * World Premiere Recording Total Playing Time: 1:06