Nigunim: Hebrew Melodies
Label: Canary Classics [CC10]
Released: June 25, 2013
Orli Shaham, piano
Gil Shaham, violin
Jewish folk music has always played an integral part in Gil and Orli Shahams' lives. This release includes masterpieces by Ernest Bloch, Joseph Achron, and Leo Zeitlin, and as their idiomatic writing for the violin suggests, they all started their musical lives as child prodigy violinists. Also included is music from the wonderful Schindler's List score by John Williams.
The center-piece of this release comes from the work sharing the album's title Nigunim, commissioned by Gil and Orli from Israeli composer Avner Dorman. Dorman's composition shares the universal appeal of the wordless melodies on which it was named. 'He has created a masterpiece and in my experience everybody who hears the piece falls in love with it they're electrified by it,' Gil explains. Indeed, when he recently toured the work, San Diego Today affirmed that 'it was hard to miss [its] visceral excitement and structural elegance,' the Boston Globe admiring the 'uncommonly intriguing sounds'.
Orli Shaham matches [violinist Gil Shaham] closely in lyrical feeling and spontaneous bravura.
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Josef Bonime Danse hebraïque
Joseph Achron Hebrew Melody Op.33
Avner Dorman Nigunim (Violin Sonata No.3) i Adagio religioso
Avner Dorman Nigunim (Violin Sonata No.3) ii Scherzo
Avner Dorman Nigunim (Violin Sonata No.3) iii Adagio
Avner Dorman Nigunim (Violin Sonata No.3) iv Presto
Joseph Achron Hebrew Lullaby
Joseph Achron Hebrew Dance
John Williams Three Pieces from Schindler's List - Theme from 'Schindler’s List', Slowly
John Williams Three Pieces from Schindler's List - Jewish Town (Krakow Ghetto, Winter ’41), Andante
John Williams Three Pieces from Schindler's List - Remembrances, Moderato
Leo Zeitlin (trans. J. Achron) Eli Zion
Ernest Bloch Baal Shem - Vidui (Contrition) Un poco lento
Ernest Bloch Baal Shem - Nigun (Improvization) Adagio non troppo
Ernest Bloch Baal Shem - Simchas Torah (Rejoicing) Allegro giocoso poco lento
"One of San Francisco's favorite violinists, Gil Shaham, joins his pianist sister Orli on this collection of Hebrew melodies. The title refers to Avner Dorman's Violin Sonata #3, Nigunim, which the Shahams jointly commissioned with the 92nd St. Y. Based on the common elements of Jewish melodies throughout the world, Dorman's sonata is filled with haunting multi-cultural beauty. It also seems right at home with works by Bonime, Achron, Zeitlin, Bloch (Baal Shem), and Williams (Schindler's List)." — The Bay Area Reporter
"An entrancing and moving labour of love from Gil Shaham and his sister Orli, exploring Hebrew melodies. Bloch's Baal Shem beautifully played, but the lesser known pieces captivate." ★★★★★
I can’t imagine a better performance of these works. There is no need to recount Gil Shaham’s devilish virtuosity. He plays with panache; however, it’s the expressivity that is the center-piece here...This album is full of that singular Jewish spirit, the sadness and the smile. It is heartfelt and profound." — MusicWeb International
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