Rebeka and other egzamples of Yiddish Tango…

Rivkele, Rebeka Music: Z.Białostocki, Yiddish text: unknown Olga Avigail & Tango Attack vocal: Olga Avigail, piano: Hadrian Tabęcki, bandoneon: Grzegorz Bożewicz, guitar: Piotr Malicki Performed in Cultural Center Wilanów Warsaw …(from Polish Jewish Cabaret): The tango Rebeka was perhaps Polish Jewish composer Zygmunt Białostocki’s most beloved and often-recorded song. It’s said that people requested it so often at the nightclubs, they would request it a second time while it was still playing the first time! Bialostocki used snatches of familiar chasidic niggunim (melodies) to tell the story of a poor Jewish shopkeeper’s assistant who falls in love with a handsome goy when he comes to buy newspapers and dreams of a better life with him… In Yiddish version, which maybe was sung by Tadeusz Faliszewski, Rivkele is rejecting the love of polish nobleman, because of her attachment to Jewish tradition.
Ewa Demarczyk-Rebeka(Poznań 1980)
Maja Kleszcz – “Rebeka” Gala 32 Przeglądu Piosenki Aktorskiej. www.majakleszcz.com
YIDDISH TANGO FROM WARSAW – Millennium Stage (September 24, 2019)
“There may be only mere fragments of shellac left now of the enthralling tango music which captivated Poland nearly 90 years ago. But touch the needle of time to history, and you can still hear whispers of the magnificent tunes that soundtracked a truly golden age in Polish culture – and theirs is a story that will never be fully silenced.” – J. BRETAN, CULTURE.PL As the tango craze swept through Eastern Europe, pre-war Warsaw bore witness to the birth of the dance form’s most eclectic permutation—Yiddish Tango. A testament to the growing tide of internationalism, Yiddish Tango melds the traditions of Slavic, Jewish, and Argentine culture. The roots of Yiddish Tango, however, lie in the creative exchange that took place in the theaters, cabarets, and cinemas of Poland. Musicians, songwriters, and composers steeped in both the classical and klezmer traditions found liberty in the expression of popular Polish music. Olga Avigail’s repertoire strikes a fine balance between music for dancing and for contemplation. New arrangements of Yiddish tango with traditional Argentinian bandoneon organically merge modern sound and the unique style of pre-war tango which veered away from the original Argentinian form and adopted a softer and more lyrical sound, clearly influenced by klezmer. “Most of the artists, who invented a world-class, high-quality tango music in Poland, perished in the Holocaust. I have a mission to keep their legacy alive” – said Mieleszczuk. Presented in collaboration with the Polish Cultural Institute New York and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland.
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