Re: Bas Sheva

[Fay Singer <sarafay...>]

The S.A. Jewish Music Centre recently received a 10" copy of Soul of a
People: Hebraic Chants by Bas Sheva. It formed part of a donation of LP
records given to us by Cantor Philip Badash, emeritus cantor of the Green
and Sea Point Synagogue, Cape Town.
We are grateful to Sam Weiss for the information he has provided.

Fay Singer
sarafay (at) mweb(dot)co(dot)za


----- Original Message -----
From: Sam Weiss <samweiss (at) bellatlantic(dot)net>
To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2001
Subject: Bas Sheva (was: Batsheva)


> <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
>
>

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