2006-05-28-shostakovitch

2006-05-28 Shostakovitch

Jerry Levens

Words and Music

Concert shows how Shostakovitch, though not Jewish,
had great empathy for Jews of the Soviet Union

Jewishsightseeing.com, May 28, 2006

By Jerry Levens

LA JOLLA, Calif.— To my wonderful surprise, the "Celebrating Shostakovitch" program at the Lawrence Family JCC on Wednesday, May 24, turned out to be so much more than I had expected. It was an exciting, uplifting and inspiring evening of Jewish Art Music: a phrase, which Professor Joseph Dorfman employed when giving his commentary to the audience at the start of the program.

The evening opened with a “bouquet” of Yiddish folk songs, which, to my surprise, I immediately recognized from our family visits in the early 1940’s to my father’s home in Minneapolis. After our Shabbos dinner, especially on those warm sticky Minneapolis nights, Pa, as everyone referred to my Dad’s father, would lean back in his chair, lift up his concertina and play these very same songs.

My aunt Leana would soon join in on the piano, an old out-of-tune upright. After a short while, Pa would say, just above the music “Lilly, Lilly, in Yiddish, in Yiddish." My mother's Yiddish, which was letter perfect in the spoken form, would then join them. What I recall most of all was her clear vocal articulation and her wonderful facial expressions; you could understand her message even if you did not know the language.

Alas, today I no longer remember much of that wonderfully expressive mother tongue. Therefore, I would like to say, “Thanks for the memories” to all who had a hand in creating this wonderful segment, but especially to Hila Plitmann. It took but a few notes from her beautiful voice to whisk me back in time some 60 years ago. I have heard it said that music could very quickly bring back a forgotten memory. This music surely did.. My mother’s voice was then simple, young, fresh. Plitmann’s voice is beatifically developed and quite glorious in the broadest sense of the word. However, for me it was Plitmann’s clear vocal articulation and her wonderful facial expressions, which allowed me once again to understand the message.

Plitmann received both her Bachelor and Masters Degree in Music at The Juilliard School in New York: gosh, that's my alma mater. Her professional career was launched in 1998 when she premiered David Del Tredici’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Spider and the Fly” under the baton of Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic. The rest, as they say, is history. She has performed with almost every major orchestra in the country and, not so long ago, made her acting début in Terrence McNally’s play Master Class. This is a soprano voice I hope to hear from more often.

Music, however, is not made from high notes alone. The three vocalists who preformed so admirably that evening also included Alma Mora, mezzo-soprano, who won the New York City All-City Vocal Competition at age 18, and Mark Saltzman, tenor, whose various career interests include cantor, writer, director, composer and performer.

Dorfman’s “Trio, in memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich” was very well received by those present. During the intermission, I had an opportunity to speak with other listeners. Their comments, for the most part, spoke to how much they were enjoying “this modern music” and how nicely the “dissonant sounds” are interwoven into the music: adding poignant emphasis to thestory when needed.

The Shostakovich song cycle deals with hardship, death and anti-Semitism. It was composed in the midst of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s attempt to exterminate Jewish culture in Russia. Both Shostakovich and Dorfman use dissonance in a similar way: to draw attention to the dissonant, antagonistic and repugnant quality of Jewish life during that period in Russian history.

Dorfman’s reference to Jewish Art Music was also was reflected by the classical elements in his own composition. I became aware of certain recurring phrases and musical patterns, which I recalled hearing in the Symphony No.13 of Shostakovich: often called "Babi Yar." This term refers to the mass murder of 100,000 people in a ravine named Babi Yar near Kiev in 1941.

Dorfman’s use of counterpoint as well as the 18 variations (Chai) in the closing movement “Cantus Firmus” provided continuity or bonding together, which I think of as a classical structure.

Before I leave this wonderful evening, I feel it is incumbent upon me to once again emphasize the quality and stature of the evening’s artists. I felt that they all represented the finest in musical achievement and in so doing the finest in our Jewish culture. This festival has been a very rewarding experience.