CCMOnStage Presents
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, 2022, Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
String Quartet-in-Residence at CCM
Gershon Gerchikov, violin
Alexandra Kazovsky, violin
Jan Grüning, viola
Amit Even-Tov, cello
By Matan Porat
The Judeo-Spanish language, also known as Ladino, was originally spoken in Spain but after the Edict of Expulsion in 1492 spread across the Balkan, Turkey and Morocco among Jews.
These Four Ladino Songs were chosen from a rich heritage of folksongs, almost all of which are dealing with the themes of love and pain. The quartet is in three contrasting movements.
The first movement consists of two songs, “Los Bilbilicos” and “Yo Era Ninya”, and depicts the yearning of a faraway loved one.
The second movement is a scherzo, full of humor and wit, on the text of “mi suegra, la negra”, a humorous text about an evil stepmother who makes the life of the bride miserable.
The final movement is a theme with seven variations on “Durme, Durme”, which concludes with the quartet singing the theme and nursing a baby to sleep.
The quartet was commissioned by Ann and Harry Santen and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, for the 20th Anniversary of the Ariel Quartet.
Los Bilbilicos
Los bilbilicos cantan
Con sospiros de amor
Mi neshama y mi ventura
Estan en tu poder
La rosa enorece
En el mes de mai
Mi neshama s’escurece
Sufriendo del amor
Mas presto ven palomba
Mas presto ven a mi
Mas presto tu mi alma
Que yo me vo morir
The Nightingales
The nightingales sing
With sighs of love
My soul and my fate
Are in your power
The rose blooms
In the month of
May My soul darkens
Suffering from love
Come quickly my dove
More quickly come to me
Come, you my soul,
For I will surely die
Yo era ninya
Yo era ninya de kaza alta
No savia de sufrir
Por kaer kon ti berbante
Me metites a servir
I was a girl
I was a girl from an upper class family and I never knew of any suffering,
Because I fell in love with you,
You’ve brought me misfortune.
Mi suegra, la negra
Mi suegra, la negra
Con mí se daquileya
Yo no puedo más vivir con ella
Ella es muy fuerte, como la muerte
Más presto me veré sin ella
Un día, asentada con mi marido
Ella detrás como un enemigo
Me dió un pillisko, me dió un modrisco Más presto me veré sin ella
En los días de la dulzura
Ella ensembra la amargura
El güerco venga, por la soltura
Que yo ya no puedo vivir
Con ella con mi suegra, la negra
My mother-in-law, the dark one
My mother-in-law, the dark one
Taunts me
I cannot live with her anymore
She is very strong, like death
How quickly I can see myself without her
One day, sitting with my husband,
She was behind me like an enemy,
She gave me a pinch, she gave me a big bite
How quickly I can see myself without her
On the sweetest of days
She sows bitterness
May the devil come and take her away
For I can no longer live with her
With my mother-in-law, the dark one
Durme, Durme
Durme, durme ijiko de madre
Durme, durme sin ansia i dolor
Durme, durme sin ansia i dolor
Sleep, sleep
Sleep, sleep; mother's little boy
Free from worry and from pain,
Free from worry and from pain.
Described by the American Record Guide as "a consummate ensemble gifted with utter musicality and remarkable interpretive power," the Ariel Quartet has earned a glowing international reputation. The ensemble is comprised of Alexandra Kazovsky, violin; Amit Even-Tov, cello; Gershon Gerchikov, violin; and Jan Grüning, viola. The group was formed in Israel in 1998 and has served as CCM’s string quartet-in-residence since 2012.
rock stars of the classical scene
Cincinnati Enquirer
Assistant Professor of Violin
Assistant Professor of Violin
Assistant Professor of Viola
Assistant Professor of Cello
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November 1, 2024
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