Ensemble Nuria performs traditional Italian-Jewish music at the Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art, Jerusalem

 

Ensemble Nuria  (Ari Bloch)

Located in the building of the Italian Synagogue, Jerusalem, the Museum of Italian Jewish Art provided the ideal setting for a concert of Italian Jewish music performed by Ensemble Nuria (artistic director - Ayela Seidelman, original arrangements - Bari Moscovitz) on September 19th 2024. Welcoming the audience was Daniel Niv, curator of the Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art. Ruth Diskin, director of the Culture and Arts Projects department of the Jerusalem Foundation, spoke of the Jerusalem Foundation's support of local culture.

 

All the melodies performed in the program stemmed from the Jewish traditional music of Venice, Rome, Ferrara, Florence, Livorno and other Italian communities. Most were Hebrew liturgical songs and poems known as "Piyyutim". Following the annihilation of Italian Jewry in the Holocaust, this repertoire was in danger of being lost, were it not for the tireless effort of Italian-Israeli ethnomusicologist Leo Levi, who, following World War II, devoted decades to recording traditional melodies sung by 20 Italian-Jewish communities. It is due to him that this cultural legacy has been preserved. (Two of Levi's daughters were present at the concert.) Of Ensemble Nuria's contribution to this auspicious project, Ayela Seidelman writes: "The task of reviving these pieces and preserving them in the fuller context of the Italian culture they inhibited was fascinating, as the works revealed themselves in their unique beauty and spirit".

 

Ensemble Nuria comprises an impressive line-up of international singers and instrumentalists, the instrumental ensemble made up of an uncommon mix of instruments, the four singers taking part in this event being Keren Kedem, Yair Harel, David Lavi and Fr. Alberto Pari. Each item presented different timbral settings, highlighting the song texts as well as the versatility of the artists. To mention just a few: a rendition of "Ki Lo Naeh" (He is worthy of our praise), a Passover song from the community of Alessandria, opened with tenor/guitarist David Lavi's beautiful singing of the melody, its instrumental solos and hearty build-up of textures then to include all four singers. Issuing in an emotional setting of "Kol Nidrei" (All vows), the declaration opening the Day of Atonement, was Keren Kedem, followed by David Lavi, the unison singing of the vocalists subscribing to the significance of the Day of Atonement, emerging all the more compelling with the haunting sounds of tubular bells and Yair Harel's spiritual, richly-timbred and imposing treatment of the melody.

 

No concert of Italian Jewish music would be complete without a work of Italian-Jewish violinist/court composer Salamone Rossi (Mantua). David Lavi's discerningly-phrased and cantabile singing of Rossi's setting of "Barechu" (Let us praise) from Rossi's "Songs of Solomon" (1623) was complemented by mellifluous playing on the part of the bowed instruments.  And from Catholic composer Benedetto Marcello's 13 transcriptions of piyyutim from Venetian synagogues, we heard the Passover song "Avadim Hayinu/Schiavi fummo" (We were slaves), featuring the warm, mellow tenor voice of  Fr. Pari (Franciscan Order, director of the Magnificat Music School, Jerusalem) singing in both Hebrew and Italian (the Hebrew text replacing the Latin used by Marcello), with instrumental "comments" featuring, among others, Adi Silberberg's imaginative and elaborate recorder-playing.

 

Formerly known as "Ensemble Bet Hagat", Ensemble Nuria, founded by Canadian-born 'cellist Ayela Seidelman, has assumed the important mission of keeping alive almost-forgotten treasures of early Jewish music, such as were heard at the Jerusalem concert. In his rich, subtle arrangements, Bari Moscovitz (lute/theorbo) mixes timbres of the (mostly) period instruments, (those including early percussion) with those of the singers in music-making that inspires both performers and listeners. The artists' polished performance and lush collaborative ensemble sound, together with their deep enquiry into this repertoire, invited the audience to experience the different sound worlds of each piece as well as the individual musical expression of each artist.  The Ensemble's debut album "Illumination - Italian-Jewish Spiritual Music" was selected by the American Record Guide as one of the best albums of 2020.