He played the clarinet melodies in Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List”. Giora Feidman could also be heard in German films. The musician takes Corona very pragmatically.
Tel Aviv (dpa) – Musicians have a hard time in times of pandemics: Lockdown phases can cloud creativity, Corona rules prevent concerts. But Giora Feidman blocks heavy thoughts, at least from an artistic point of view. “I have time. I record music,” says the clarinetist. “For me the virus was an opportunity.”
Feidman, who spent most of his life in Israel, has been enchanting with his klezmer music for decades. The CD “85”, which appears on the occasion of his birthday, contains an excerpt from his Corona creative phase. Feidman will be 85 on March 25th.
The clarinetist mainly plays the music of his ancestors, who come from Bessarabia, which corresponds to today’s Moldova and southern Ukraine. It is the music of Eastern European Jews, as it has been playing at weddings and birthdays for generations – exuberant and lamenting, lively and thoughtful. Feidman’s program also includes tangos from his home in Argentina and classical pieces.
A week before the CD he published a new book called “Klang der Hoffnung”. For Feidman, it’s a “great gift”. “I wanted to share my experience,” he explains. “I’ve seen so much that I can do to contribute to other people’s lives.”
Feidman can indeed look back on an eventful life. He was born in Buenos Aires in 1936. Even as a toddler, he was fascinated by his father’s clarinet. Every now and then he grabs his instrument and tries a few notes. At some point they play duets together for hours and make music at parties.
At the age of 18 Feidman became a clarinetist at the Teatro Colón, the famous opera in Buenos Aires. At 21 he got a job with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Tel Aviv. During this time he presents pieces on the radio with a quintet once a week. At some point he says: We can do something else – and plays klezmer. A little later he leaves the orchestra.
Feidman became known in Germany in 1984 with Peter Zadek’s production of Joshua Sobol’s Holocaust play “Ghetto”. He plays the clarinet melodies in Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List” (1993) – there is an Oscar for the music. He can also be heard in the German films “Jenseits der Stille” (1996) by Caroline Link and “Comedian Harmonists” (1997) by Joseph Vilsmaier.
The multiple grandfather celebrates his birthday far away from his family. Feidman usually lives in a small village near Tel Aviv and considers Israel to be his home. But he spent the past nine months in Germany. The strict and changeable corona rules in Israel deter him from returning home. He is also waiting for a vaccination. But now he wants to try to travel home soon, says Feidman.
He also plans to be back on stage in the coming months. But whether this will really happen remains unclear. Feidman takes it again pragmatically. “If I’m invited, I’ll go,” he says. “Otherwise I’ll keep making records.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210318-99-869943 / 3
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