Cantor Isaac Algazi: Sweet Singer of Israel (new release Rubin/Ottens Jewish Music Series Wergo)

[Joel E. Rubin <rubin...>]

Announcing the the 8th release in the Jewish Music Series of Joel Rubin and
Rita Ottens (Schott Wergo):

Cantor Isaac Algazi: Sweet Singer of Israel
Ottoman Jewish Music from the Early 20th Century
SM 1622-2
Available on 6 May, 2002

Rabbi Isaac Algazi (b. 1889 Izmir/Turkey, d. 1950 Montevideo/Uruguay), the
"Sweet Singer of Israel", was one of the most outstanding cantors of the
Turkish-Jewish synagogue. One of the leading Turkish-Jewish intellectuals of
his time, Algazi was the first to establish the art of solo cantorial
singing in the public prayer of Sephardi Jews, influencing 20th century
Sephardi cantorial music throughout the world.

The Turkish-Jewish tradition combined religious Hebrew texts with Ottoman
art music. It can be traced back to the vital role of Jewish musicians at
the Arabian courts before the expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian
peninsula in 1492. Developments such as the reciprocal influence between
Jewish musicians and Turkish dervishes, the masters of Moslem chant and the
makam (Turk. = mode), can also be found in the interpretations of Algazi.
These are characterized by a nasal voice quality, a preference for the high
register and falsetto, and emphasize vibrati and virtuosic changes between
the registers. 

The recordings were mostly made in Istanbul from 1925-1929. The material
consists of chants of the High Holidays and the Sabbath, as well as
religious and secular songs in Judeo-Spanish (Ladino). The accompanying
instruments are mostly oud or kanun which were played by the foremost
instrumentalists of that time. It is therefore not surprising that Isaac
Algazi "Effendi" recorded for almost every European record company in
Turkey, including the German Odeon and British Columbia labels. In the 1930s
there was not a single Jewish household in Turkey with a phonograph which
did not possess recordings of the singer, and the non-Jewish Turks admired
the cantor with the high "woman's" voice, considering him to be one of their
greatest musicians.

This production contains 25 of Algazi's finest recordings, selected by Rubin
and Ottens from the original double cassette and book production by Edwin
Seroussi, "Mizimrat Qedem: The Life and Music of R. Isaac Algazi from
Turkey" (Jerusalem: Renanot Institute for Jewish Music, 1989). The
recordings, which are available for the first time on CD, have been
digitally remastered by Christian Zwarg.

The accompanying text booklet contains an introductory essay on the Jewish
Music Series by Rita Ottens and Joel Rubin, and explanatory notes to the
life and music of R. Algazi by Edwin Seroussi of the Jewish Music Research
Centre at Hebrew University.

A co-production Schott Wergo Music Media GmbH/Jewish Cultural Programming
and Research GbR in cooperation with Renanot Institute for Jewish Music
With the kind support of the PRO MUSICA VIVA Maria Strecker-Daelen Stiftung

Note: the US distribution of Wergo normally lags about 8 weeks behind
Europe. In the meantime, you can order directly from German sites such as
www.amazon.de.

For more information on the Jewish Music Series and other publications and
activities of Joel Rubin and Rita Ottens, we invite you to visit
www.rubin-ottens.com




---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+