Klezmer Music

Klezmer, traditional Eastern European Jewish music, is said to have originated in the city of Odessa (Ukraine). The klezmorim were professional (and usually poor) musicians, who would travel through villages entertaining at festive occasions such as weddings and social events. The group Odessa specializes in klezmer music enriched by non-Jewish influences: Greek, Ottoman, Gypsy, and Macedonian.

In his introductory note to this CD, Itzhak Perlman informs us that, more than anything else he has recorded, this is truly his own music–"what you might hear if you came to my house and I decided to jam with some friends." And jam he does–with some very talented friends indeed. Klezmer music, which combines the folk and religious music of Yiddish-speaking cultures with various musical traditions of countries such as Russia, Turkey, and Greece, is unusual territory for a major label and a superstar artist, but here the combination works perfectly.

Alla Polacca is an invitation to delve into the world of sounds, scents and flavours of Poland and Polish folklore. What is presented here is a journey through Poland and Polish culture through the eyes of various European and Polish composers who lived, worked or traveled to Poland in the seventeenth and eighteenth century and whose compositions present elements of the Polish style.