Norbert (Nathan) Glanzberg
SOUNDS OF MEMORY
BTR 9601 (CD & MC)
Mira Zakai, alto
Menachem Wiesenberg, piano
Irit Rub-Levy, Daniel Gortler - pianos
Born in Rohatyn, Poland, Norbert Glanzberg (1910-2001) immigrated to Paris in1933 and spent several years in the Underground during World War II. He was captured and served time in prison, eventually finding refuge under the patronage of composer George Auric. Glanzberg wrote several songs for singers such as Edith Piaf and Yves Montand and achieved great acclaim. The song cycle presented in this CD was written in the mid-1980s. Mira Zakai, who impressed Glanzberg with her singing, gives a moving rendition of these Lieder.
The Yiddish Suite, dedicated to Isaac Bashevis Singer, is based upon stories the composer’s mother used to tell him in his childhood. Hence, the illustrative titles of its movements. The Suite evokes the daily life of a little eastern European shtetl at the end of the 19th century.
1-11 In Memoriam for voice and piano (Holocaust Songs)

1 Der Ofen von Lublin (The oven of Lublin) (Theodor Kramer)
2 Abschied (Farewell) (Hubert Gsur)
3 Im Gefängnis (In prison) (Johanna Kirchner)
4 Versprich mir eins (Do promise me) (Ernst Münzinger)
5 Die letzte Epiphanie (The last epiphany) (Werner Bergengrün)
6 Greta (Adam Kuckhoff)
7 Für Ule (For Ule) (Adam Kuckhoff)
8 Nachtgedanken (Night meditations) (Wolfgang Philipp)
9 An die Völker der Erde (To the peoples of the world) (Werner Bergengrün)
10 Alter Baum (The old tree) (Chris Hornbogen)
11 Lied zur guten Nacht (A good-night song) (Chris Hornbogen)
En 1942, Johanna Kirchner est arrêtée par la police de Vichy et livrée à la gestapo. Elle est condamnée à dix années de prison, mais en 1944, après un nouveau procès,  elle est condamnée à mort et exécutée le 9 juin 1944 à Berlin-Plötzensee.
12-18 Yiddish suite for two pianos

12 In Shtetl (In the small town)
13 Di Bobe Gedenkt in Ershtn Bal (Grandmother recalls her first ball)
14 Viglid (Lullaby)
15 Jossele un Jankele af der Britshke (Yossele and Yankele in the coach)
16 Mitsve Tants (Mitsve dance)
17 Pogrom un Kadish (Pogrom and Kaddish)
18 Un Trotsdem... (And yet, after all...)