Nigunim, Hebrew Melodies Gil Shaham & Orli Shaham

• Josef Bonime (1891 - 1959):
• 1 Danse hebraïque 02:50
• Joseph Achron (1886 - 1943):
• 2 Hebrew Melody Op. 33 05:30
• Avner Dorman (b. 1975): Nigunim, Violin Sonata No. 3:
• 3 Nigunim, Violin Sonata No. 3: I. Allegro religioso 05:31
• 4 Nigunim, Violin Sonata No. 3: II. Scherzo 03:40
• 5 Nigunim, Violin Sonata No. 3: III. Adagio 06:41
• 6 Nigunim, Violin Sonata No. 3: IV. Presto 03:54
• Joseph Achron:
• 7 Hebrew Lullaby 02:37
• 8 Hebrew Dance 05:41
• John Williams (b. 1932): Three Pieces from Schindler's List:
• 9 Three Pieces from Schindler's List: I. Theme from 'Schindler's List'. Slowly 03:28
• 10 Three Pieces from Schindler's List: II. Jewish Town. Andante (Krakow Ghetto, Winter '41) 04:12
• 11 Three Pieces from Schindler's List: III. Remembrances. Moderato 04:48
• Leo Zeitlin (1884 - 1930):
• 12 Eli Zion 05:03
• Ernest Bloch (1880 - 1959): Baal Shem, Three Pictures of Chassidic Life:
• 13 Baal Shem, Three Pictures of Chassidic Life: I. Vidui (Contrition). Un poco lento 03:08
• 14 Baal Shem, Three Pictures of Chassidic Life: II. Nigun (Improvisation). Adagio non troppo 06:05
• 15 Baal Shem, Three Pictures of Chassidic Life: III. Simchas Torah (Rejoicing). Allegro giocoso 03:53
• Total Runtime 01:07:01

Info for Nigunim, Hebrew Melodies

Siblings Gil and Orli Shaham's new release is an offering of Hebrew melodies. Jewish folk music has always played an integral part in the Shahams' lives; as Gil recalls he grew up hearing Achron's Hebrew Melody being sung by his grandparents in Jerusalem. Such music vividly evokes its troubled origins. 'When I think about the time, people lived such hard lives in such poverty in the shtetl, and I think literature and music was an incredible escape for them,' the violinist reflects, yet the Hebrew melodies' potency is such that they transcend the world from which they sprang. 'One very powerful aspect of this music is its soulfulness,' Orli Shaham says; 'I don't care what background you come from, I don't think you can listen to it without feeling that connection.'

This release includes masterpieces by Ernest Bloch, Joseph Achron, and Leo Zeitlin, as their idiomatic writing for the violin might suggest they all started their musical lives as child prodigy violinists.

The center-piece of the disc comes from the work sharing the album's title Nigunim, commissioned by Gil and Orli from Israeli composer Avner Dorman. Unlike Bloch, Achron, and Zeitlin, Dorman is a composer/pianist and this can be clearly heard in the equality he gives the piano in this fascinating 4 movement offering. Dorman's composition shares the universal appeal of the wordless melodies on which it was named. 'He has created a masterpiece and in my experience everybody who hears the piece falls in love with it they're electrified by it,' Gil explains. Indeed, when he recently toured the work, San Diego Today affirmed that 'it was hard to miss [its] visceral excitement and structural elegance,' the Boston Globe admiring the 'uncommonly intriguing sounds'.

John Williams is the only composer here who does not share the Shahams' Jewish heritage, but his mastery in the score Schindler's List is such that according to Orli, 'he has absolutely captured the feeling of ghetto life and what that looked like and how people interacted - the pieces included here are so authentic that they are a part of this tradition.'

"I can’t imagine a better performance of these works. There is no need to recount Gil Shaham’s devilish virtuosity. He plays with panache; however, it’s the expressivity that is the center-piece here...This album is full of that singular Jewish spirit, the sadness and the smile. It is heartfelt and profound." (MusicWeb International)

"...Played continuously without pause, the 26-minute Stumble begins with a celesta lullaby and ends in the throes of an exhilarating triple fugue which includes in its midst what Mackey describes as 'thevarious stages of progress and regress in the physical and spiritual evolution of the piano.' And yet, for all the size and complexity of Mackey's impressive musical engine, the lasting impress is of authentic affection and love. Shaham has innocent fun with Mackey's Sneaky March, brings an etheral beauty to John Adams's China Gates, and, with Jon Kimura Parker, intrepidly investigates the intersections of angularity and romanticism in Adams's Hallelujah Junction..." (Gramophone)

Gil Shaham, violin
Orli Shaham, piano

Gil Shaham
is one of the foremost violinists of our time, whose combination of flawless technique with inimitable warmth and a generosity of spirit has solidified his legacy as an American master. He is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors, and he regularly gives recitals and ensemble appearances on the great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.

In the 2012-13 season, Shaham continues his long-term exploration of “Violin Concertos of the 1930s,” a project beginning in 2010 and comprising performances at some of the most well-established concert venues with the world’s greatest orchestras. “Violin Concertos of the 1930s,” including the Barber, Berg, Stravinsky and Britten Violin Concertos, as well as the Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 and the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2, will be performed with the Orchestras of Baltimore, Boston, New York, Chicago, Montreal, San Francisco and Kansas City and abroad with the Orchestre de Paris and the NHK Symphony. In the coming months, Shaham will release his first recording tied to the project on his label, Canary Classics, which includes the Barber, Stravinsky and Berg Violin Concertos with three leading orchestras under the baton of David Robertson. Beyond “Violin Concertos of the 1930s,” Shaham returns to other favorite repertoire this season; pieces include the Brahms concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony, the Beethoven concerto with the Boston and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras, and Mozart’s “Turkish” concerto with the Pittsburgh, Toronto and Seattle Symphony Orchestras. The season kicked off with a busy summer that included performances at Caramoor, Aspen, the Blossom Festival, Tanglewood and the Hollywood Bowl. In April 2013, Canary Classics will release Nigunim, a new CD – featuring Shaham alongside his sister, pianist Orli Shaham – that celebrates the “soulful melodies” of their Jewish heritage.

Shaham is also an avid recitalist and chamber musician. During recital tours in the US, Europe and Japan, Shaham explores new work including the world premiere of a solo suite written for him by William Bolcom and the recent commissioned duo works by Avner Dorman and Julian Milone with Akira Euguchi on piano. This season also sees Shaham return to Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, bringing his unique approach to these beloved works with an eye towards releases the complete work on CD in the coming seasons.

Last season, Shaham’s highlights included engagements in New York with three different world class orchestras including performances of the Brahms concerto at Carnegie Hall with the Cleveland Orchestra and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Hartmann Concerto Funebre with the New York Philharmonic. Other high profile enegagements include performances with Boston, San Francisco, London, New World and Atlanta Smyphonies, a Japan tour with Mariss Jansons and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestre, as well as residencies with Orchestre de Paris and Berlin. Shaham has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, including bestsellers that have appeared on record charts in the US and abroad. These recordings have earned prestigious awards, including multiple Grammys, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. His recent recordings are produced on the Canary Classics label, which he founded in 2004. They comprise Haydn Violin Concertos and Mendelssohn’s Octet with Sejong Soloists; Sarasate: Virtuoso Violin Works with Adele Anthony, Akira Eguchi and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León; Elgar’s Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and David Zinman; The Butterfly Lovers and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Singapore Symphony; Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A with Yefim Bronfman and cellist Truls Mork; The Prokofiev Album and Mozart in Paris, both with Orli Shaham; and The Fauré Album with Akira Eguchi and cellist Brinton Smith. Upcoming titles include several installments of his “Concerto of the 30’s” project and Hebrew Melodies, an exploration by Gil and Orli Shaham of both traditional and modern Jewish music, including the world-premiere recording of Israeli composer Avner Dorman’s new work “Niggunim,”

Gil Shaham was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971. He moved with his parents to Israel, where he began violin studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music at the age of seven, receiving annual scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. In 1981, while studying with Haim Taub in Jerusalem, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. That same year he began his studies with Dorothy DeLay and Jens Ellerman at Aspen. In 1982, after taking first prize in Israel’s Claremont Competition, he became a scholarship student at Juilliard, where he worked with DeLay and Hyo Kang. He also studied at Columbia University.

Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and in 2008 he received the coveted Avery Fisher Award. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius. Shaham lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their three children.

Booklet for Nigunim, Hebrew Melodies