Re: Regina Prager

[Eliott Kahn <Elkahn...>]

Bob:

This is from Irene Heskes' excellent introduction to her YIDDISH AMERICAN 
POPULAR SONGS, 1895 TO 1950, Washington: Library of Congress, 1992.

"On the Jewish stage, the heroes and heroines all sang important ballads. 
Significantly, although the synagogue was traditionally a male musical domain, 
in the theatrical world women, no less than men, sang the serious liturgical 
melodies along with popular tunes..."

".... From the beginning of the Yiddish theatricals, actual liturgical music or 
adaptations of liturgical melodies were incorporated, underscoring spiritual 
contents and moralistic intentions."

Regina Prager was active in the early years of the Yiddish Theatre. One of her 
performances was at the Thalia Theatre on the Bowery in 1897. This was one of 
the earliest theatres to stage Yiddish theatricals and at least ten years 
before the development of the "Yiddish Rialto"--the large number of Yiddish 
Theatres on Second Avenue on the Lower East Side of New York City.

Heskes interviewed Prager's daughter, who gave her some materials that had 
belonged to her mother. Among these materials was a poster publicizing the 
above 1897 performance, which Heskes donated to the Library of Congress and is 
now a part of their permanent "American Treasures" exhibition.

Also among these materials is a pamphlet entitled: EIN JUEDISCHES OPERNTHEATER 
UND SEINE PRIMADONNA, by Hermann Scharf, published in Czernowitz in 1893. It's 
written in a form of German subjunctive and difficult to translate, but here's 
what I can glean from it:

Regina Prager was 27 years old when this was written, which means she was born 
in 1866. She was a soprano, originally from Lemberg (Lvov), who who performed 
the lead roles in two Goldfaden operettas, SHULAMIT and BAR KOCHBA (Dina). She 
received a little musical training in her home town but then went off to sing 
as a chorister in Poland. Prager was an excellent actress and praised as an 
extremely talented performer. I have no information as to when she emigrated to 
the U.S. Heskes cites Prager's dates as 1874-1949, but I've learned to take 
performers' birth dates with a grain of salt--especially female ones. (Sorry 
ladies, but you know this is true.)

I recently had the good fortune to arrange and describe Irene Heskes' Papers as 
well as compile an in-depth biography of her. All of this material will be up 
on our web site within the next few months.

This would also be a good time to mention that the first four of my finding 
aids to some of our special music collections will be up on our web site within 
the next month or so. I will notify the list exactly when the time comes.

Good Shabbes,

Eliott Kahn


At 11:04 AM 1/2/03 -0500, you wrote:
>Lorin,
>
>Thanks.  Some of the selections (particularly "Shma Koileini") sound as
>though they might be cantorial.  Is this another example of a "lady cantor"?
>Or is it all Yiddish theater?
>
>Bob
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Lorin Sklamberg" <lsklamberg (at) yivo(dot)cjh(dot)org>
>To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
>Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2003 9:56 AM
>Subject: RE: Regina Prager
>
>
>> Hello, list!
>>
>> The YIVO Sound Archives has the following recordings by Mme. Prager:
>>
>> Die Schwie: Duet with Kalmen Juvelier
>> Von die Zweigen die Fidelach: Duet with Kalmen Juvelier
>> A Mensch Soll Man Sein: Duet with Kalmen Juvelier
>> Shulmes [Gekumen iz di tsayt]: Duet with Kalmen Juvelier
>> A Mensch Soll Men Zein: Aria
>> Schenkt A Neduwe
>> Dzingra
>> Tsigayner Lied
>> Polonaise
>> Shma Koileini
>> Shir Hashirim
>> Liebes Duet: Duet with Kalmen Juvelier
>> Ben Hamelech
>> Nahr Ihm Alein
>> Gekumen iz di tsayt
>> Ariye fun Tsvey Tnoim
>>
>> This last is not the Edison cylinder  that appears in Spottswood, but a
>> Zonophone recording.
>>
>> Mr. Lorin Sklamberg, Sound Archivist
>> YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
>>
>> 15 West 16th Street
>> New York, NY 10011
>> Tel. (212) 294-6169
>> Fax (212) 292-1892
>> lsklamberg (at) yivo(dot)cjh(dot)org
>> http://www.yivoinstitute.org
>>
>> > ----------
>> > From: Bob Wiener
>> > Reply To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
>> > Sent: Wednesday, January 1, 2003 5:54 PM
>> > To: World music from a Jewish slant
>> > Subject: Regina Prager
>> >
>> > Can anyone give me information on Regina Prager?  (It seems that she's
>> > included in the recording -- 32 World Famous Artists Sing Oldies Of The
>> > Yiddish Theatre.  And I have an LP (w/o notes) including a selection
>from
>> > Bar Kochba.)
>> >
>> > Among other things she apparently made a 78rpm recording of a piece
>> > loosely translated (from Yiddish?) as "Aria of 2 T'noyim".  Does anyone
>> > recognize this title?
>> >
>> > Bob
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Dr. Eliott Kahn
Music Archivist
Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
3080 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
WK: (212) 678-8076
FAX (212) 678-8998
elkahn (at) jtsa(dot)edu

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