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Ear for the past, eyes on the future

Israeli singing star Chalva Alberstein finds resonance in Prague
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By Darrell Jónsson
For The Prague Post
October 8th, 2008 issue

Photo by Dudu Becher
A fan of Czech literature and film, Alberstein says she felt "really at home" recording Lamelle here.
Chava Alberstein


When: Saturday, Oct. 11, at 7:30
Where: Rudolfinum
Tickets: 350-700 Kč, available at National Theater box offices

In today’s entertainment world, where performers of questionable depth can attain gold and platinum record sales, Israel’s Chava Alberstein stands out as an artist of remarkable substance. Lauded as “the premier voice of Israeli music,” Alberstein has captured and built worldwide appeal with songs in French, Arabic, English, Yiddish and Hebrew.
Singing in an array of languages comes naturally to Alberstein, who left Poland at the age of 4 with her parents to live in the multilingual émigré Israeli encampment of Sha’ar Ha’aliya. It’s a long way from that to her current discography of more than 40 recordings, including gold, double- and triple-platinum works, and what many see as iconic stature.
The roots of Alberstein’s appeal lie in the better ideals of the post–World War II era that led to and immediately followed the formation of Israel in 1948. “It’s not intentional but, instinctively, in a way, I’ve been trying to keep the past alive and look into the future while living in the present,” she says. “Not to give up what was in the past, but also with musical styles I’m going forward.”
Throughout Alberstein’s career, she has included traditional Yiddish songs in her performances. Still, her work with the Klezmatics, which produced the 2001 CD The Well (on Rounder), signaled Alberstein’s desire to break further from traditional Yiddish folklore. Touring with the Klezmatics that year also brought her to Prague, where she met someone who shared her vision of making a more contemporary Yiddish musical expression. With a background that included an interest in the stage music of Kurt Weill and as a leading expert in the progressive 20th-century symphonic works of Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer and producer Aleš Březina was uniquely enthused and suited for the task.
There was also a general resonance with the Czech landscape and musical past that reinforced in Alberstein a realization she describes as “maybe somehow my spiritual and musical roots are still in Central and Eastern Europe. And Aleš and the musicians seemed like my family. They understood so well and went so deep with the feelings into the texts I translated for them. I must admit, I felt at home, really at home.”
The exchange of ideas, though, was a two-way street. “I have a lot of sympathy for Czech music, literature and film,” Alberstein says. “We grew up in Israel with [Jaroslav] Hašek, [Karel] Čapek and Miloš Forman films.” In 2004, Alberstein contributed two songs to the soundtrack Březina wrote for Horem Pádem (Up and Down), which garnered a nomination for a prestigious Czech Lion award. With that accolade under their belts, Alberstein and Březina returned to their plans for new music for the endangered Yiddish language.
In the preparations that led to the 2006 CD Lamelle (on NMC Music International), which Březina produced, Alberstein had no intention of composing a requiem for a dying language. “I chose text that was very lyrical, and there is only one song that reminds us of the Jewish tragedy of the Holocaust,” she says. “This song also refers in a very poetical way to the biblical story when Abraham is ordered to sacrifice his son Issac. In the story, a lamb suddenly appears and Issac is saved. But, in the Holocaust, there was no lamb, and the people were sacrificed.”
She sings over the telephone,
“ ‘Lamelle is not here … they are gone ... we are gone ... but Lamelle did not appear.’ But most of the songs are love songs, romantic songs, lullabies with universal themes that people would enjoy everywhere.”
Despite her humility, Alberstein seems keenly aware of what she symbolizes to her audience. As a musician, though, her statements remain more painterly than polemic. “When we play outside of Israel, we try to create a panorama, to give the audience a little touch of life here, because, when they think about Israel, they usually think of either orthodox people or soldiers — this is what you see on the news,” she says. “Israel in fact is a normal country with normal problems, with children and families and love and elderly people — and human nature.”

Darrell Jónsson can be reached at features@praguepost.com


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