There
have been some notable and extremely useful releases
in this Naxos series of American Jewish Music issued in
conjunction
with the Milken Archive. Among the most noteworthy are ‘Leonard
Bernstein: A Jewish Legacy’ and ‘Dave Brubeck: The Gates
of Justice’. This recent offering of the music of Gershon
Kingsley is not quite on the same level, being an uneven
mix in terms of interest.
Written
in 1997, the main work, Voices from the Shadow (Poetry
of the Holocaust), represents some of the most interesting
music of the recording. A fascinating amalgam of musical
styles is combined with some extremely poignant, passionate,
desperate and hopeful texts, all written in concentration
camps or by prisoners who survived. Using six different
languages - Yiddish, German, Polish, Czech, French and
English - the version recorded here does not include
the narration that forms the remainder of this piece
of musical
theatre. The effect is still arresting and at times unsettling
and enormously thought-provoking. The main influence
of musical theatre is clear, but a strong aspect of romanticism
can also be heard – and in particular romantic song – along
with an unmistakable and distinct element of traditional
Jewish individuality. Compelling, impassioned and most
of all sensitive performances bring Voices from the
Shadow to the fore in this disc, with an appropriate
ensemble of fine musicians, directed by the composer himself.
The
remainder of the disc does not live up the expectations
created by Voices, the two halves of the disc being
almost entirely at odds with each other. A disappointing
recorded sound, in which the singers can barely be heard
above the warm and clear instruments, particularly the
percussion and bass, is to detriment of the overall effect
of the Jazz Psalms. This is an interesting experiment;
however, the jazz aspect, while present in some of the
improvisatory passages, is evidently steered towards music
theatre by the choral element.
For
all the enthusiasm and tight ensemble of The Kingsley Singers,
there is an unfortunate, rather unrefined and flat resultant
sound, along with an excess of vibrato. All of this contributes
to the failure of any of the final three works (Jazz
Psalms, excerpts from Shabbat for Today and
excerpts from Shiru Ladonai) to come to life. The
consequential effect of synthesizers combined with a cantor
and a choir in Shabbat for Today and Shiru Ladonai,
is slightly disconcerting, particularly with a poor balance
between the electronic sound and the live singers, providing
an unsatisfactory clash of genres. A wide range of influence
is once again evident in both these works, but the combination
of each strand of stimulus isn’t always as convincing
as one would wish.
Some
of the music presented isn’t all that appealing but the
disc cannot be written off – Voices from the Shadow is
definitely worth having.
Adam
Binks
see also review by Glyn Pursglove
Amy Goldstein, Mary Catherine
George, Lisa Vroman (soprano)
