Still, the sound of dozens of voices swelling harmoniously in song is glorious. This album does not disappoint. One aspect of the recording that I find curious is the lack of solos. It certainly does not affect the pleasure of the combined voices. With newly translated English narration by Zuckerman and Mlotek, this is the story of Yiddish life in this century, from village life and children playing, through the Holocaust and the triumph of voices that are not stilled.
Survivors carry on.
It had not occurred to me that it had Eastern European roots, nor did I expect to hear them again in this oratorio. Despite the pleasure of discovering this piece, and its excellent production, the narration is somewhat heavy. In part, that may be because the narration ends with the end of the war, and so much has happened, and especially so much has changed with regard to Yiddish in our culture, since. By pegging this album to the time defined by Rauch and Younin's oratorio, with its strong ties to fifty years ago, the album also dates itself. Yiddish culture revives sufficiently to once again be a language of the future.