With Eternal Echoes, violinist Itzhak Perlman has returned to the world of Eastern European Jewish music, a turn he first took in the mid-’90s with his exploration of klezmer music. For this project he has reunited with one of the preeminent figures in the klezmer revival, Hankus Netsky of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, who again serves as arranger and musical director.
So what’s different this time around? Expanding on the focus of their earlier project, Perlman and Netsky have invited a marvelous new presence into the music: the sublime voice of cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, and turned the focus largely to cantorial repertoire.
The artists interpret material drawn from a variety of sources — directly from liturgical tradition, from 20th-century settings of prayers, and from folk song — while the tone is exalted and soulful throughout.
Listen To The Music
A Dudele (A Song to You)Ysim'Chu (They Shall Rejoice)
The ensemble is a mix of chamber orchestra, including young players from the Perlman Music Program, the violinist’s music education organization, and members of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, who are among the finest players on the klezmer scene.
Netsky’s sharply conceived and sensitive arrangements keep the voice and violin front and center, as the repertoire calls for, while adding emphasis and shaping the arc of the music with fine detail. With the album’s emphasis on tradition and the emotive nature of the music, this could have easily been a pure nostalgia project, but the instrumental approach is restrained enough to let the beauty of the repertoire simply speak for itself.
For much of the recording, the violin acts rather as a second voice, serving as a foil, as a duet partner, as a responding congregation. Perlman, who in his earlier projects proved an idiomatic and convincing klezmer player, despite turning to this idiom late in his career, sounds wonderful here, with that familiar sweet tone and lyricism put to good use in a variety of settings. Along with the cantorial pieces, two instrumental tracks are included: exuberant klezmer repertoire that spotlights Perlman in the midst of Netsky’s colorful and carefully crafted arrangements.
With the full cast assembled, the effect is truly transporting.
Cantor Helfgot more than holds his own with his famous partner. While the sheer richness and expressive intensity of his voice grab you from the start, there’s much more to discover in his performance. His phrasing is extraordinary, always balancing a sense of rhythmic freedom with a certain gravity given to each note, everything landing in just the right place. This is as true in the fully composed passages as in the melismatic improvisations. Even without Perlman, Netsky, and the excellent players, the singing would have been wonderful. With the full cast assembled, the effect is truly transporting.