Songs of Love and Exile Izhar Elias & Channa Malkin

• Traditional Sephardic:
• 1 Lavava y suspirava 05:12
• 2 La serena 02:36
• 3 Durme, hermozo hijico 03:08
• 4 La rosa enflorece 03:37
• 5 Hija mia 02:20
• 6 Como la rosa 04:17
• 7 Morenica 04:12
• 8 Nana sefardí 03:30
• 9 Linda de mi corazón 01:34
• 10 Caminí por altas torres 04:53
• 11 Nani nani 03:51
• 12 A la una yo nací 02:35
• 13 Durme durme 03:11
• Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968): The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra:
• 14 The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra: I. Drink Deep, my Friend 00:48
• 15 The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra: II. Dull and Sad is the Sky 01:30
• 16 The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra: III. The Garden Dons a Coat of Many Hues 01:42
• 17 The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra: IV. The Dove that Nests in the Tree-Top 02:36
• 18 The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra: V. O Brook 01:41
• 19 The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra: VI. Fate Has Blocked the Way 04:25
• Total Runtime 57:38

Info for Songs of Love and Exile

The debut album of an exciting young Dutch soprano: an anthology of popular Sephardic songs completed with excerpts from a rare song collection by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

Having made her operatic debut at the age of 16, singing Barbarina with the Dutch National Opera, Channa Malkin has since made solo appearances with Mariss Jansons and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as well as early-music luminaries such as Andrew Parrott and Joshua Rifkin. For her first recording, she has chosen to explore her Jewish heritage with songs from her childhood: ‘Underneath the seemingly simple melodies telling life’s usual stories,’ she writes in the album’s introductory notes, ‘I felt the longing of generation upon generation for a homeland left long ago but never forgotten.’

Channa Malkin is joined here by her regular duet partner, the guitarist Izhar Elias, who is well known to collectors of Brilliant Classics recordings for his imaginative choice of repertoire and vivid performances.

Gramophone lavished praise on his ‘sympathetic accompaniment’ to Erik Bosgraaf in their recording of the lute book by Jakob van Eyck (BC93391): ‘As a reference work this set should be considered indispensable; as one to be dipped in for pleasure, highly desirable.’

The selection of Sephardic songs they have made ranges between subjects of love, war, birth and death: epic tales sung by medieval Spanish bards, Jewish liturgical melodies and texts, and Arabic styles of melodic ornamentation. Malkin and Elias have made their own arrangements, letting the music guide them intuitively and drawing inspiration from their backgrounds in early music, Jewish cantorial singing and Spanish folk song interpretation, as well as their personal family histories.

Their selection also includes several Sephardic songs arranged by contemporary composers, in order to explore the ways in which this music can be performed as classical art song. Israeli composer, guitarist and Sephardic song expert Daniel Akiva, Spanish composer and conductor Lorenzo Palomo and Joaquín Rodrigo each offer a unique take on the Sephardic song idiom. So does the Italian-American composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: his collection of The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra sets the poetry of an 11th-century rabbi from Grenada.

Channa Malkin, soprano
Izhar Elias, guitar

Channa Malkin
soprano, made her operatic debut at age 16 as Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro, Dutch National Opera). Her operatic repertoire includes Poppea (L’incoronazione di Poppea, Rotterdam Opera Days), Despina (Centre for Opera Studies in Italy), Zerlina (Staddschouwburg Leeuwarden), Dalinda (Ariodante, Dutch National Opera (cover)) and all female roles in Grieg’s Peer Gynt (Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in Concertgebouw).

Examples of concert appearances are Händel's Dixit Dominus and William Hayes' The Fall of Jericho (Holland Baroque / Alexander Weimann), the boy solo in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Mariss Janssons), the soprano solos in Bach’s Matthew Passion (Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra / Joshua Rifkin), B minor Mass (JBO / Andrew Parrott), Händel’s cantata Lucrezia (Rotterdam Opera Days) as well as J. Malkin’s song cycle Black Flowers with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

Channa received her BMus with honors from Utrecht Conservatoire in 2012, and has won scholarships from Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and Van den Ende Foundation. She participated in an Erasmus exchange at the Royal College of Music in London. In 2015, she participated in the talent programme of the Dutch National Opera, where she covered the role of Dalinda (Ariodante) and took part in masterclasses with Sarah Connolly, Sandrine Piau, Rosemary Joshua and Andrea Marcon.

Future engagements include the leading role in Händel goes Tinder, a new Händel opera pastiche to be performed in nightclubs and theaters across the Netherlands, as well as various recitals with her duo partner, guitarist Izhar Elias.

Sopraan Channa Malkin maakte op 16-jarige leeftijd haar operadebuut als Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro bij De Nationale Opera. Recente optredens zijn o.a. de sopraansolo in het Dixit Dominus van Händel en The Fall of Jericho van William Hayes met Holland Baroque onder leiding van Alexander Weimann, evenals de hoofdrol Dorinda in de nieuwe multimedia-opera Händel goes Tinder.

Op het operapodium vertolkte Channa rollen als Despina (Cosi fan tutte), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni) en Charite (Cadmus et Hermione, Lully). Met het Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest zong Channa alle vrouwelijke rollen in een Nederlandstalige bewerking van Peer Gynt (Grieg) in het Concertgebouw. In 2015 was Channa onderdeel van Nieuwe Stemmen bij de Operadagen Rotterdam, waar zij vijf recitals verzorgde rond het thema Vrouwen in oorlogstijd, en de rol van Poppea zong in een bewerking van Monteverdi’s L'Incoronazione di Poppea onder leiding van Timothy Nelson. Channa nam ook deel aan het talentprogramma van de Nationale Opera rondom de uitvoering van Händel’s Ariodante, als cover voor de rol van Dalinda.

Op het concertpodium zong Channa onder meer de boy solo in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms met het Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest onder leiding van Mariss Janssons. De Matthäus Passion en de Hohe Messe van Bach voerde zij onder meer uit met het Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, onder leiding van resp. Joshua Rifkin en Andrew Parrott. Verder zong zij onder meer de sopraansolo’s in Bach’s Johannes Passion, het Fauré Requiem, Händel’s Messiah, Händel’s cantate Lucrezia en diverse cantates van J.S. Bach. Verder heeft Channa diverse wereldpremières op haar naam staan, o.a. van de liederencyclus Zwarte Bloemen van Josef Malkin. Deze voerde zij uit in New York, Salt Lake City, Sofia en in het Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam met het NedPho.

Channa studeerde in 2012 met lof af aan het Utrechts Conservatorium bij Charlotte Margiono. Zij won diverse beurzen van o.a. het Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, de Van den Ende Foundation, het Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst en het Norma Fonds. Zij nam deel aan masterclasses met o.a. Sarah Connolly, Andrea Marcon, Sandrine Piau, Rosemary Joshua, Rudolf Jansen en Robert Holl.

Channa is een bevlogen liedzangeres, en vormt samen met gitarist Izhar Elias het Duo Malkin-Elias. Zij treden regelmatig op in Nederland en daarbuiten. In november 2018 zijn zij met hun programma Songs of Love and Exile te beluisteren in o.a. de Noorderkerk in Amsterdam en de Stadsgehoorzaal Leiden.

Daarnaast hecht Channa veel waarde aan het introduceren van opera aan een breed publiek. Daartoe bedacht zij samen met violiste Anastasia Kozlova en schrijver/regisseur Michael Diederich de multimediaproductie Händel goes Tinder, gebaseerd op diverse opera’s van G.F. Händel. Na een succesvolle pilot tijdens Festival Groeneveld in juni 2018, wordt voor 2019 en 2020 een theater- en festivaltournee georganiseerd met steun van het Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst en het Norma Fonds.

Izhar Elias
(Amsterdam, 1977) is one of the most sought-after specialists in early music, chamber music and new music for guitar.

He has given concerts, lectures, and masterclasses, and been the soloist in concertos with renowned orchestras, in Europe, Russia, south-east Asia, Australia and the USA. He won the prestigious Dutch Music Prize in 2011, the highest musical award given by the Dutch government.

Through extensive research, he has been able to recreate a musical language of the Baroque, Classic and Romantic periods using original instruments and historical methods.

He has also premiered over 50 works and mixes different artistic disciplines in his collaborations with choreographers, experimental film makers and theatre directors. In 2014 he premiered the double concerto Schattenspiel, for electric guitar, classical guitar and big symphony orchestra, together with the composer and heavy metal guitarist Florian Magnus Maier in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Izhar Elias’ impressive collection of CD releases have earned him worldwide critical acclaim. To name a few of his albums: Rossini’s opera Semiramide transcribed by Mauro Giuliani (guitar solo, Brilliant Classics), Hommage à Debussy (guitar solo, Brilliant Classics), Big Eye movies and music (guitar, recorder and movies, Phenom Records), Paisiello in Vienna (guitar, mandolin and fortepiano, Brilliant Classic), Carrousel (guitar and clarinet, Sound Liaison), Sharkiya (guitar, mandolin and harpsichord, IMI). Recently the album Guitar Vibes has been released (Brilliant Classics), with works for guitar and strings, celebrating the universality of the guitar. Belgian magazine Stretto called the album “a remarkably original and very very special CD”.

Izhar Elias is surrounded by many world class musicians. A few of his remarkable collaborations: Together with guitarist Fernando Cordas Izhar Elias specializes in performing early 19th century duo’s on historical instruments. He has a unique duo with Georgian clarinet virtuoso Levan Tskhadadze. He is member of trio Cordevento (with Erik Bosgraaf – recorder and Alessandro Pianu – harpsichord), which revives the virtuoso music from the 17th century, a repertoire often on the border of art and popular music. Cordevento has performed in many of Europe’s most prestigious concert halls and early music festivals, such as the Konzerthaus (Vienna), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels), Konzerthaus (Berlin), Concertgebouw (Bruges), and the Utrecht Early Music Festival.

Elias has studied with Ton Terra, the Groningen Guitar Duo, Zoran Dukic, Kees Hendrikse and Carlo Barone (19th century performance practice).The performance practice of the baroque guitar he learned from a.o. William Carter, Adrián Rodriguez van der Spoel and Lex Eisenhardt.

Booklet for Songs of Love and Exile