RE: Recording Artisi Isa Kremer.

[Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky <reyzl...>]

Joel,

>" Possessed of a voice of no more than ordinary range and volume"  

Where did this come from?  

Yes, it's indeed true that "she brought much vividness, realism, and 
charm to her interpretations", but her extraordinary operatic and 
concert career belies such a statement.   It might not have been an 
extraordinary voice when _compared_ to _the great opera stars of her 
days_ and her range may not have been as extensive as theirs, but I 
don't believe that anyone can describe it as "possessed of a voice 
of no more than ordinary range and volume".  There are many great 
Italian tenors about whom the very same thing can be said (Schipa
is a perfect example of this), but interpretive skills are not 
minor gifts in an artist.   They are often the very element that 
determine the greatness of an artist.  All opera experts have 
written the same things and all great opera stars have said the 
same things, including Luciano Pavarotti.   Because my husband 
has made 3 films for and with the Metropolitan Opera and its 
singular world-class experts who became my husband's very close 
friends, I have hung around and listened in on enough of their 
conversations to know this.   (I once spent 12 hours in the Met's 
broadcast room during and before the live telecast of Its 100th 
anniversary show which had all the greatest opera stars appear in 
person or on film and I got a whole instant opera education from 
the behind-the-scenes experts followed by a Met staff party with 
all the great stars.  What a treat all of that was.  The education 
I got from the comments by the behind-the-scene staff was even better 
than sitting in 4th row of the orchestra for the first half of 
the 8-hour show.)  Many opera experts have said that a great voice 
by itself rarely achieves great success.   The term I have often 
heard them use to describe this is by saying 'this person has a 
small voice', but 'ordinary' is certainly not it.  Even without 
Kremer's interpretive skills, no one who knows her music would ever 
call it "of no more than ordinary range and volume".   E.g., her 
voice is not just vivid, it has an electric current going through it.

I don't think that you will find any Yiddish song experts disagree 
with my statement that Isa Kremer was and remains to this very 
day _THE_ very, very best Yiddish singer.   I know that my husband 
Josh thinks so too and his expert opinion on such matters is not 
a minor one.  

Sorry guys, but I had to come and defend our beloved Isa here.


Reyzl





----------
From:  Joel Bresler [SMTP:jbresler (at) ma(dot)ultranet(dot)com]
Sent:  Wednesday, September 22, 1999 12:33 PM
To:  World music from a Jewish slant
Cc:  H(dot)Strotbaum (at) let(dot)kun(dot)nl
Subject:  Re: Recording Artisi Isa Kremer.

Hi, Judy.

Thanks for reminding me of the excellent "Stars of David" CD ROM. Its 
(text) entry on Kremer reads like so:

Kremer, Isa
1885-1956 Soprano Russia
Isa Kremer was born in Betzi, Bessarabia in 1885, but at the age of 17 she 
left for Italy, where she studied voice in Milan. Four years later, while 
still in Italy, she made her debut as Mimi in La Boheme. She then sang in 
Odessa and among her roles were Tatiana in Eugene Onegin and the title role 
in Madama Butterfly. In 1916, at the height of her success, she abandoned 
opera for the concert field. Her concert debut in Moscow made her 
celebrated all over Russia. She left Russia in 1919, sang in many European 
capitals, and came to America in 1922, where she long enjoyed a successful 
career, being billed as the "International Ballad Singer". Her final 
concert in the U.S. was at Carnegie Hall on 3 December 1950. In 1940 she 
married an Argentinian psychiatrist, Dr. Giorgio Bermann, and spent most of 
her last years in Buenos Aires, where she died in 1956. Possessed of a 
voice of no more than ordinary range and volume, she brought much 
vividness, realism, and charm to her interpretations, and was known for her 
ability to sing in many languages as if a native. One need only listen to 
her Marechiare to realize what an artist she was.

Best,

Joel

At 11:25 AM 9/22/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Joel:
>I have two articles, a performance review and an interview in my office
>files (from 1924, Canadian Jewish Chronicle) on Isa Kremer and there are
>some ref books beyond Baker's here which you are welcome to look at which
>have some biographical info. Let me know if you plan to come by the
>library. Didn't someone recently release a CDROM on the Jewish opera stars
>that has this information? Judy.
>At 03:06 PM 9/21/99 -0400, you wrote:
> >Dear Friends:
> >
> >If anyone can provide details on Jewish recording artist Isa Kremer
> >(1887-1956), particularly her 2-year stint (ca. 1918-1920) in
> >Constantinople where she recorded for Orfeon, can you please let me know?
> >I'm familiar with entries in Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
> >and also an article ("Remembering Isa Kremer") written by Lois Barr. Thanks!
> >
> >Joel



Joel Bresler
250 E. Emerson Rd.
Lexington, MA 02420 USA

Home:           781-862-2432
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Email:          jbresler (at) ma(dot)ultranet(dot)com



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