The springtime Jewish holiday of Passover is about liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt. In this one-hour special, violinist Itzhak Perlman shares Passover music from many traditions, plus songs and memories from his childhood in Israel. The program draws its shape from the Passover seder and, like that ancient family ritual, the music gets progressively giddier as the show moves along.
Listen Friday at 5 p.m. on Classical IPR.
Selections include music from familiar classical works (Handel’s Israel in Egypt), and from lesser-known classical pieces such as Halévy’s opera La Juive, with Jan Peerce; Dessau’s 1934 German setting of the Haggadah; Korngold’s glorious Passover Psalm.
Perlman’s playing is represented by a duet with Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, as well as the beloved theme from Schindler’s List. Other recordings include unusual takes on traditional tunes, like a swing “Dayenu,” “Who Knows One?” in Ladino, the zany Moishe Oysher treatment of “Chad Gadya,” and “Go Down, Moses” sung by Paul Robeson.
Program playlist:
Dayenu Variations
Arr. Jon Simon
Jon Simon, piano
Jon Simon Solo Piano
Silver Lining Records
He led them through the deep (from Israel in Egypt)
George Frideric Handel
Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
Israel in Egypt
Philips 432 110-2
Ha Lahma Anya
Moishe Oysher; arr. Simon Spiro
Cantor Simon Spiro and Schola Hebraeica
Traditional Cantorial and Concert Favorites
Milken Archive/Naxos 8.559460
Ma Nishtanah
Jewish Holiday Songs, Vol. 3
Hataklit Ltd
Knechte waren wir dem Pharao in Ägypten (from Hagadah Shel Pessach)
Paul Dessau; text by Max Brod
Alfred Muff, bass; North German Radio Choir; Hamburg Alsterspatzen Children’s Choir; Gerd Albrecht, conductor
Hagadah Shel Pessach
Capriccio 10 590/91
Theme from Schindler’s List
John Williams
Itzhak Perlman, violin; John Williams, conductor
John Williams Greatest Hits 1969-1999
Sony Classical
Chassidic Medley: Adir Hu/Moshe Emes
Andy Statman, clarinet; David Grisman, mandolin
Songs of Our Fathers
ACD 14
Rally (from The Prince of Egypt)
Hans Zimmer
The Prince of Egypt
Dreamworks DRMD 50041
Children’s Dance (from Cantata of the Bitter Herbs)
Ernst Toch
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz, conductor
Cantata of the Bitter Herbs
Milken Archive/Naxos 8.559417
Go Down Moses
Paul Robeson
He smote all the first-born of Egypt (from Israel in Egypt)
George Frideric Handel
Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
Israel in Egypt
Philips 432 110-2
The Ten Plagues (from Cantata of the Bitter Herbs)
Ernst Toch
Theodore Bikel, narrator; Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz, conductor
Cantata of the Bitter Herbs
Milken Archive/Naxos 8.559417
He rebuked the Red Sea (from Israel in Egypt)
George Frideric Handel
Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
Israel in Egypt
Philips 432 110-2
But the waters overwhelmed their enemies (from Israel in Egypt)
George Frideric Handel
Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
Israel in Egypt
Philips 432 110-2
Dayenu (swing version)
Sam Medoff and The Yiddish Swingtet
Music from the Yiddish Radio Project
Shanachie Entertainment
Kama Ma’alot Tovot – Dayeinu
Yaffa Yarkoni
Jewish Holiday Songs, Vol. 3
Hataklit Ltd
O Dieu, Dieu de nos pères (from La Juive)
Jacques Fromental Halévy
Jan Peerce, tenor; Victor Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Wilfred Pelletier, conductor
Lebendige Vergangenheit
Preiser
Zog, Maran
Shmuel Bugatch; lyrics by Avrom Reisen
Martha Schlamme, singer; Robert DeCormier, conductor
Raisins and Almonds
Vanguard Classics
Chassidic Medley: Adir Hu/Moshe Emes
Andy Statman, clarinet; David Grisman, mandolin
Songs of Our Fathers
ACD 14
T’filas tal
Itzhak Perlman, violin; Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot; Rusell Ger, conductor
Eternal Echoes
Sony Masterworks
Passover Psalm, op. 30
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra; Marcello Viotti, conductor
Paradisi Gloria Psalms
Profil 4036
Oh, Freedom [actual track name is “Spiritual Trilogy”]
Odetta
Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues
Trigger Records/Rykodisc 1004 (1996 CD) or V.I. Music 450661 (2005 CD)
Miriam’s Song
Debbie Friedman
The Journey Continues
Sounds Write Productions, Inc. SWP 614
Ani Maamin
The Western Wind
The Passover Story
Western Wind Records 1800 CD
Shir Ha’ma’alot
Yossele Rosenblatt
Best Yiddish Songs
Hataklit Ltd
Eliyohu hanovi
arr. Zalmen Mlotek
Children’s Chorus of Workmen’s Circle Schools, Zalmen Mlotek, conductor
“Gut Yom-Tev Kinder!” (audiocassette)
Hodu Lashem (Psalm 118)
Rabbi Samuel Elyahu Taub
Benzion Shenker and the Modzitzer Choral Ensemble, Elliot Birnbaum, director
Sholosh R’golim: Modzitzer Melodies
Heginah Records NR 1202 (LP)
Adir Hu
arr. Moni Amarilio
Yehoram Gaon
Songs for Passover in the Sephardic Tradition
CBS 80668 (LP)
Adir Hu
Shlomo Carlebach and Neginah Orchestra
Yisroel Btach BaHaShem
Zimrani Records 224
Ken Supiesse y Entendiesse
Fortuna
La prima vez: kantes judeos espanyoles
Sonopress/FAP 7
Khad Gadyo
arr. Zalmen Mlotek
Children’s Chorus of Workmen’s Circle Schools, Zalmen Mlotek, conductor
“Gut Yom-Tev Kinder!” (audiocassette)
Chad Gadya
Shoshana Damari
Greatest Songs
Hed Artzi
Un Kavritico
Arr. Flory Jagoda
Cantor Gastón Bogomolni
Pesach With an Accent
Bogomolni 845121046236
Chad Gadya [actual track name is “Concluding Folk Hymns”]
Moishe Oysher
Moishe Oysher - Passover Seder, Kol Nidrei & Chanukah Party
Leisure Time Music
Le’Shana Ha’ba’ah
Jewish Holiday Songs, Vol. 3
Hataklit Ltd