Five records with the great works of Cantor Mordechai Hershman. The first decades of the 20th century

Five records with the great works of Cantor Mordechai Hershman. The first decades of the 20th century

Five records with the best works of the famous Cantor Mordechai Hershman. Data in the original package. Published by Columbia, London. the first decades of the 20th century.

In the records are his great songs: Al tashlichenu lehet zikna, shma kolenu, phlishge yiden, mlikga yiden on, der lamdan, elu devorim, mitraze berachamim, ata yazarta-tzivitel tayl, di broche bon halel, modim anachnu lach.

Hershman was in the front row of cantors from the Golden Age of cantorial music in the early 20th century. In a soft, poetic tenor voice he moved his audience, and his cantorial passages became classics in Ashkenazi cantorial music. Among his famous passages: elu devorim, Akavia ben Mahalalel, modim anachnu lach. He also recorded Yiddish songs and opera pieces. Hershman performed cantorial works, but did not compose. Most of his cantorial pieces were composed by renowned composer Yaakov Rappaport.

The Jewish Russian Cantor Mordechai Hershman [1888 - 1941]: Born in Chernigov, Russia (now Ukraine), when he was 6, he was orphaned by his father, who was involved in glass trading. His foster parents did not cultivate his talents, but he continued to visit the synagogue and loved to listen to the cantors and their songs. At the age of 12 he was adopted by his grandfather, who moved with him to Solovio, where he began to study in an orderly fashion with Cantor Dorfman.

In 1904 he served for the first time as cantor in the synagogue in Zhitomir for a period of several months. A year later, he was appointed "Hazan Sheni" in the synagogue of the Jewish community in Vilna. A few years later the chief cantor died and Harshman took over. It was a period of prosperity for the Jewish center in Vilna, and Harshman was one of the symbols of the period. 

With the end of the First World War, he returned to the synagogue for his role on Saturdays, and was already known in all European communities. He also appeared in various synagogues throughout the continent, as well as performing concerts with cantorial passages from operas, and twice as soloist with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 1920, he was impressed by the musician Lio Leo, and invited him to the United States. Hershman emigrated and was appointed Chief Cantor of the Beit El Synagogue in Boro Park, Brooklyn, where he served for 10 years. In his last years he continued to perform in synagogues and concert halls throughout the United States, visiting European communities and also came to Israel. His records from those years are an inalienable asset.

The records are in the original COLUMBIA RECORDS package. Case with gilt lettering. Stains on the Case. Four records in fine condition, one record broken at the end. Audio quality not reviewed.