Search - David Krakauer, Scott Goff, Gerard Schwarz :: Klezmer Concertos & Encores (Milken Archive of American Jewish Music)

One Clarinet Doth Not a Klezmer Concert Make

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 03/23/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I ordered this CD unheard because it includes a quartet by Osvaldo Golijov, an adventuresome young Argentine composer whose music frequently incorporates his Jewish and Hispanic heritages into his thorough modernism, with novel and exciting results. As it turns out, his piece, titled Rocketekya, is the most outstanding selection.



What's klezmer about this music, you ask? Chiefly it's the clarinet, played in the distinctive style of Eastern European Jewish celebratory music by David Krakauer, in a context of "regular" classical idiom. The effect is whimsical, like having Zero Mostel playing godfather at a Christian baptism.



The first and largest composition, Robert Starer's four-movement K'li Zemer, deserves to be called a concerto - in effect, a soloist of one musical culture declaiming eloquently in concert with an orchestra of another culture. I like it. I suspect I'll listen to it often, as I will the Golijov. The three compositions that separate Starer from Golijov, are truly encore pieces, interesting enough to hear once at the end of a fine performance but not substantial enough to hear again and again."

Different Jewish Music

Wachovia | Wake Forest, NC USA | 12/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD consists of "real" classical music. The music of this CD is classical suites INSPIRED by Klezmer Music. It is a really neat collection. My favourite pieces are Manginot and Hakdashot because they feature the bass clarinet, a rarity in solo music. This is a great CD and it is a wonderful way for a clarinetist or Music lover to expand their musical knowledge and tastes."