I came into klezmer a little like Perlman. Classically trained
as a flautist and having very little experience of the genre,
a clarinettist friend of mine called out of the blue and asked
if I was free to do a gig, as the trumpet player of their trio
had left for Eastern Europe giving virtually no notice. Having
been dropped into such a strange element, it’s taken a while to
get used to the idiom and character of klezmer. The flute does
crop up once or twice in this set, but is not a natural instrument
for such ensembles, and I certainly have no Jewish background
on which to draw.
The
DVD is the clue to the other discs in this set, with Perlman’s
first Klezmer lesson forming part of the opening. All the
way through you can see him absorbing the scales, structures
and sonorities of the music of his own Jewish culture, culminating
in a live New York performance – his final ‘audition’. The film
is a very well put together documentary, showing how welcoming
and willing the expert klezmer specialists are to work with
Perlman, and also showing how the great violinist copes with
and relishes each new experience. Some of the characters in
the klezmer scene also do a few timeless turns, and the wit
and humour around the dinner table is a joy to behold, with
Red Buttons, Fyvush Finkel and others reminiscing and filling
in some of the history of the klezmer. You can see him playing
one of those electric non-body violins as well – it’s all great
fun, and worth seeing more than once.
The
two other discs have both been released separately in the mid-1990s
on the Angel label. Featuring four different bands, it’s actually
worth starting with the live disc, since each set of four or
five tracks is taken in sequence by each group, giving you the
chance to become acquainted with their individual sounds and
character. Each is quite traditional, but has their own different
instrumentation and ‘soul’. Brave Old World is rich with accordion,
dulcimer, bass and other instruments, The Klezmaniacs are a
little tighter, more dance orientated and with piano and drum
as part of the picture. The Andy Statman Klezmer Orchestra combines
elements of both of these, and the Klezmer Conservatory Band
adds some healthy brass sounds to the mix. Excellent clarinet
playing and some cracking singers are dotted throughout the
disc, and Itzhak Perlman’s violin soars with refined and soulful
elegance over everything – where appropriate: he’s certainly
not everywhere, and a no point in this entire set do you have
the feeling he’s taking over to the detriment of the other musicians.
Part
of the way these musicians feel about klezmer is the ‘keeping
alive’ of a tradition. The term comes from the Hebrew words
‘kley zemer’, which refers to the musical instruments themselves.
‘Klezmorim’ is the name given to those who play the instruments.
Originating in Europe as long ago as the 15th centrury,
the traditions were ironically revived by ex-pat Jewish musical
heroes such as Abe Schwartz, Harry Kandel, Dave Tarras and Naftule
Brandwein, whose American 78rpm records re-imported the music
of klezmer back into Europe in the first half of the 20th
century. Much of the music is for dancing, and much if not all
of it is concerned with aspects of wedding ceremonies. There
is a sense of joy in much of the music, but, to my ears, almost
always tinged with an air of melancholy. This is not to do with
any association with the tragedies in Jewish history, but in
the modes and scales used in the music, and also in the character
of the playing – often with those little catches, slides and
inflections which are derived directly from the emotional content
of the singing voice. Working with the marvellous Lerner and
Moguilevsky duo when they were in The Netherlands not so long
ago, I learned a great deal about how much emotion can be laid
on a single note – something which in reality happens very rarely
in typical western ‘classical’ instrumental or even vocal music.
More evidence of this can be found on Disc 1 of this set, which
begins with an impassioned Reb Itzik’s Nign, not only
in Perlman’s gorgeous violin solo, but in the downward bends
of the clarinet, the whole thing being underpinned by one of
those unforgettable and unmistakable, but ultimately somehow
intangible klezmer progressions. CD 1 is a bit of a mixed
bag, with the various ensembles hustled into a programme with
a great deal of variety, from the slow, deceptive simplicity
of the Flatbush Waltz and the remarkable Dybbuk Shers
to the manic restlessness of the Basarabye. As with
the live recording, there are plenty of tracks where Perlman’s
violin takes a back seat or hardly appears at all, and the balance
and recordings are all very good indeed.
I
happen to know that these recordings are rated pretty highly
by hard-to-please and highly experienced klezmer musicians,
and for my part I certainly have no criticisms to make. The
only people likely to regard this as ‘klezmer for pussy-cats’
are those regularly exposed to hard-core klezmer in the klezmer
dungeons of Poland and Moscow, and I only know one such person
and he’s a bit of a pussy cat himself if the truth be known.
There are some rather pop-orientated arrangements on Disc 1
but the feel of the music doesn’t suffer too much from the occasional
note from an electronic keyboard or some possibly over-enthusiastic
drumming, even in the rather drippy version of Fisherlid.
Most importantly, Itzhak Perlman’s own sense of the music gives
us an entirely different view of this grand figure of the classical
music world, and he really ‘gets’ what the music is about –
he has it in his blood, after all. If your experience of Jewish
music goes no further than Hava Nagila but you would
like to know more, then this has to be one of the best places
to start. If you are a true fan of Itzhak Perlman you simply
must have this set. There’s the marvellously entertaining
DVD as an introduction, and a double feast of superbly played
klezmer by some of the best exponents on the planet – or in
the United States at least. Itzhak Perlman’s masterly and often
humbly expressed contributions are the icing on the cake.
Dominy
Clements
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