Operatic idiom

[Francesco Spagnolo <yuval.italia...>]

Most of the research about the Bordeaux (and Bayonne) Portuguese 
communities has been done in the last decade by French 
ethnomusicologist Herve Roten, who is based in Paris. The ritual is 
indeed fascinating, and the blend of musical materials that appear in 
the Portugues repertoire is like no other.

Regarding the "operatic idiom" that Sam mentions, my understanding is 
that -- mostly after Israel Adler's research -- the role of Italy is 
crucial. Italy's Sephardic communities spread this "idiom" around the 
Jewish world for at least a couple of centuries. This is true because 
of a double "connection".

First, the Sephardic one: musical links among Portuguese communities 
(mostly between Venice, Livorno and Amsterdam) date back at least to 
the mid-18th century; the recently presented/performed oratorio 
"Esther", composed by non Jewish musician Cristiano Giuseppe Lidarti 
on a Hebrew adaptation of Haendel's "Esther" libretto by rabbi M. 
Saraval (1770's), is one of the most amazing examples of this "opera 
connection" among Sephardim in Europe. Lidarti apparently wrote music 
for both the communities of Pisa (of Portuguese descent, linked with 
Livorno) and Amsterdam... These communities' musical practices were 
based on the long established impact of art music upon Jewish life in 
Italy since the late Renaissance.

Second, the operatic one: considering that Belcanto was by far the 
most appreciated musical style of the 18-19th centuries among 
West-South European Jews, those cantors who mastered it were widely 
requested. It seems that the Livornese cantorial school provided such 
professionals (who often were also trained as 
rabbis/shochetim/mohalim...) for many a synagogue throughout Europe 
and the Mediterranean, from London to Bucharest to Alexandria, 
Salonica, and the New World (Philadelphia/New York). They became 
popular both for their singing style and for the repertoire they 
mastered (chiefly composed since the 1830's in Livorno).

Some samples of this repertoire are still echoed in 20th century oral 
traditions, as documented by the Leo Levi recording (like those I 
presented in the CD "Italian Jewish Musical Traditions") or in some 
of the pieces that appear in the CD "Singing Dew", based on the 
Sephardic traditions of Livorno and Florence.

So, I would add these two recordings -- usually understood as 
"Italian" -- to the wonderful list provided by Joel...

One interesting idea is that of exploring the fact that the "operatic 
idiom" might have spread to the Ashkenazi world, eventually bearing 
some influence on hazanut...

Francesco


>I just had the opportunity to listen to a French recording I got 
>from Hatikvah Music, "Musiques de la Synagogue de Bordeaux: Rite 
>Portugais." which features several Sephardic cantors and a wonderful 
>male choir with a sound not unlike the presentation by Mr. Mehler's 
>choir.  From the musical content as well as the liner notes it is 
>clear that there was much conscious synagogue composition in the 
>prevailing operatic idiom.  (Judith Cohen had referred to this as 
>well.)  And it is quite likely that such pieces travelled between 
>the various Portuguese Sephardic communities in Europe.  But my main 
>purpose in writing this is to recommend the CD.  It is a live 
>recording of a concert on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of 
>the Bordeaux Synagogue.   The singing is wonderful, and there is a 
>great stylistic and linguistic variety that includes ancient 
>cantillation and prayer chants,  Old Spanish tunes, Turkish melodies 
>as well as the cosmopolitan arioso styles mentioned earlier.  The 
>interesting thing is that it all hangs together beautifully and 
>gives a convincing picture of the liturgy that moved those 
>congregations at the end of the 19th century.  The recording is a 
>moving document to a nearly destroyed tradition and very enjoyable 
>to listen to.



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