Naive: AM173

From the shtetl to New York relates the odyssey of thousands of men and women through music. From lullabies to jazz standards, from ‘Rozhinkesmit mandlen’ to ‘My Funny Valentine’. From Yiddish theatre to musicals, from ‘Fiddle’ to ‘I got rhythm’. From klezmer to ragtime, from ‘Ukrainian Memory’ to Alexander’s Ragtime Band. From the shtetl to the golden age of American musical comedies. Between the end of the nineteenth century and the Second World War, almost 600000 European Jews immigrated to the United States to escape pogroms. Parents and children left the shtetl of old Europe for a ‘paradise’ in America. Yiddish theatre satirically represented the immigrants’ lives, hopes and ambitions. Drawing inspiration from their rich cultural roots, some of these immigrants changed the face of America with their creativity. They contributed to building the American dream which they expressed through their music and drama, and gave rise to some of the greatest American musicals and jazz standards. The leading figures in the musical world were Israel Isidore Beilin (Irving Berlin), Jacob and Israel Gershowitz (George and Ira Gershwin), Hyman Arluck (Harold Arlen), Rogazinsky (Richard Rodgers), Asa Yoelson (Al Jolson) and Sonia Kalish (SophieTucker).

Isabelle Georges has been the leading lady of many musicals, including Singing in the Rain, Le Passe-Muraille, La Périchole, Barnum, and Titanic, she has worked with Michel Legrand, Jérôme Savary and Maury Yeston, with whom she recorded the album December Songs. For the past three years she has toured England with two shows she wrote herself: La French Touch de Paris à Broadway, and Judy and Me, a tribute to Judy Garland, for which she received the Best Singer Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 2005. The Sirba Octet was founded on a desire to offer new interpretations of Yiddish and gypsy music. The musicians, all of whom studied in the most prestigious conservatories, pull off the difficult feat of successfully blending chamber music and traditional music.