Re: Bas Sheva (was: Batsheva)

[Lori Cahan-Simon <l_cahan...>]

I have not heard her.  How does she compare to one of my favorites,
Sheindele, di chazente?

Sam Weiss wrote:

> <http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;item=1413340362>
> 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
>