The sweet and melancholy vocals of Arkady Gendler, a 90-year-old singer from Zaporozhye, Ukraine, are showcased on his new album, Yidishe Lider (Golden Horn Records). Gendler, regarded by his musical peers as a “living treasure of Yiddish song,” sings mainly his original compositions, which have never been recorded before, and a few tunes written by others. “Mayn Shtetl Soroke” is about a world lost in the Shoah, Gendler’s hometown in Bessarabia. Great credit goes to Christian Dawid, a clarinet virtuoso and aficionado of Yiddish music, for guiding this project, which was funded through an online Kickstarter campaign. The result is a meticulously recorded album of rare emotional and artistic depth. — M.S.
(American Jewish World, 10.12.12)
