Engel & Shostakovich: Ach, nit gut! From Yiddish Folk Poetry

Five classically trained musicians – four singers and a pianist – with a passion for Yiddish music. They spent the past four years on our project of Yiddish folk song arrangements by “classical” composers and recorded the album Akh, nit gut! last summer with the Dutch label Zefir Records. Point of departure is Dmitri Shostakovich’s song cycle “From Jewish Folk Poetry” for soprano, mezzo-soprano and tenor – but there is a twist to it: We sing the songs with the original Yiddish texts! The album further consists of songs by the father of the New Jewish School: Joel Engel. Engel’s songs have been arranged by British composer / singer Tyrone Landau who also sings the tenor parts.