A Powerful Tribute to Jewish Musical Creativity, in Yiddish and German https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/arts-culture/2016/03/a-powerful-tribute-to-jewish-musical-creativity-in-yiddish-and-german/

March 31, 2016 | Sam Hall
About the author:

The most recent concert in the acclaimed Pro Musica Hebraica series, entitled Wandering Stars: Two Centuries of European Jewish Song, featured three outstanding vocalists. Sam Hall writes:

The three voices—all deep, expressive, and rich—were those of Mark Glanville, Mathias Hauseman, and Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell. Glanville brought to his performance dramatic flair and a virtuosic humor, Hausmann a focused intensity. Russell’s voice—to my ears—was perhaps the most beautiful I have heard in person. The singers were subtle and nuanced in their inflections, powerful but never showy in their emotional intensity. . . .

The choices for the program were selected and arranged with great economy so as tell the story of the Jewish art music associated with the Central European Lieder tradition [based on setting Romantic poetry to music], from its great commencement with Schubert in the 19th century to its passing, along with that of the cultural world that begot it, during and after World War II. We see the Jewish forms of the genre [both] in their internal development and in their relations to the wider culture.

My only regret is that this was a one-time performance—I would want more people to be able to go—but it’s one I’m very happy I got to see.

Read more on DC Metro Theater Arts: http://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2016/03/30/pro-musica-hebraica-wandering-stars-2centuries-of-european-jewish-song/