Bas Sheva (was: Batsheva)

[Sam Weiss <samweiss...>]

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There's not a lot of info on Bas Sheva. Her out-of-print cantorial album 
"Soul of a People: Hebraic Chants by Bas Sheva" was originally on a 10" 
Capitol LP and re-released by CBS Israel on a 12" disc as Capitol 
W-1451.( I spotted a copy of the latter on http://www.wegotrecords.com/ 
under their "Pops" category, though I can't tell if it's still 
available.)  I don't think it was ever released on cassette or CD -- 
which is a shame, since it's a unique musical document.  As for her 
forbear Sophie Kurtzer, however, one of her recordings is included in 
Henry Sapoznik's compilation "Mysteries of the Sabbath: Classic 
Cantorial Recordings, 1907-1947" (Yazoo CD 7002), for which I wrote the 
following liner notes:

................................................................
<<13. Sophie Kurtzer (19?-19?)    Kiddush (Shabbos)
Very little is known about the singular personality who was billed as 
"Lady Cantor Sophie Kurtzer from Odessa."  Besides the Kiddush, Kurtzer 
recorded five other selections from the standard liturgical repertoire 
for Pathe Records, but obviously did not officiate anywhere as a 
cantor.  Moreover, she did not record any Yiddish selections, nor does 
she seem to have left a mark on the Yiddish theatre scene.  What we do 
know is that she was the sister of an active cantor, Yossele Kanevsky, 
whose daughter, Bernice, was also a "Lady Cantor."  The latter enjoyed 
great popularity, working under the name of "Bas Sheva." 

To begin listening to this recording without prior knowledge of who is 
performing can be an unsettling experience.  The voice is uncanny; it is 
not quite feminine, nor is it masculine.  The image that comes to mind 
is that of an unusually robust boy alto on the verge of a voice change.  
It is a sound apparently cultivated through direct imitation of 
cantors.  Not until the register change on the word "vonu" do we hear a 
recognizably female voice peeking through.  The performance, sung very 
idiomatically, is a standard cantorial rendition of the official formula 
consecrating Friday night as the Sabbath.  The orchestra, which has more 
of a "klezmer" than "cantorial" instrumentation, primarily provides 
chordal support plus the choral responses of "borukh hu uvorukh sh'mo" 
and "omeyn."  >>
.............................................................


Getting back to Bas Sheva...  The six pieces on her album include 2 
cantorial chestnuts, the Schorr-Koussevitzky "Sheyibone Beys Hamikdosh" 
and the Schlossberg "R'tzei," plus Zorey'a Tz'dokos, Mi She'oso Nisim, 
Habeyt Mishomayim, and Sim Sholom.  These 4 contain snatches of familiar 
music, but for the most part seem to be original arrangements of 
standard cantorial licks.  The orchestral arrangements alone are worth 
the price of admission, sounding at times like an Alfred Hitchcock 
soundtrack, but always a wonderful match for Bas Sheva's very broad 
style.  The closest match to the theatrical energy of this cantorial 
program are the fiery Moishe Oysher arrangements, though no comparison 
between the two singers is intended. While Oysher's campy moments stand 
out as such in the context of his abilities as a cantorial giant, Bas 
Sheva proudly incorporates the schmaltz into her basic approach.  Her 
voice is impressive and on the whole very engaging; its bedrock is that 
of a cabaret singer, and is not the classical instrument of many of 
today's female cantors.

Bas Sheva also appears in the 1949 film Catskill Honeymoon, which is 
commercially available.

______________________________________________________
Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ

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