Sirba Orchestra! Russian, Klezmer & Gypsy Music Sirba Octet, Nicolas Kedroff, Orchestre Philharmonique Royla De Liege & Christian Arming

• 1 Katioucha / Otchi Tchornye (Medley) 04:55
• 2 Valenki 03:00
• 3 Cocher, ralentis tes chevaux 05:33
• 4 Tata, Vine Pastele 03:54
• 5 Kalinka 04:56
• 6 Farges Mikh Nit / Zug Es Meir Noch Amool (Medley) 06:54
• 7 Le temps du muguet 03:24
• 8 Ya Vstretil Vas 04:22
• 9 Gayen Zay In Shvartze Reien 06:33
• 10 Hora Moldoveneasca / Thème des Lăutarii / De La Cluj La Chişinău (Medley) 06:09
• 11 Azol Tanzmen 05:06
• 12 Dos Broitele / A Vaible A Tsnien (Medley) 03:53
• 13 Suite de Moldavie: Jelea Din Bosanci (Doïna) / Hora Din Grăniceşti / Sirba Lui Nutu (Medley) 08:09
• 14 Moskovskaya Polka 04:45
• Total Runtime 01:11:33

Info for Sirba Orchestra! Russian, Klezmer & Gypsy Music

A collection of the best loved melodies of Cabaret Tzigane and klezmer music, Sirba Orchestra! is a collaboration between the Sirba Octet, a full symphony orchestra and one of the best balalaika players, Nicolas Kedroff.

In 2015, the friendship binding the Sirba Octet to the Orchestre de Pau /Pays de Béarn led them to create a new program: Sirba Orchestra!, at the heart of Russian, Romanian and Moldovan melodies and Ashkenazi traditions.

Sirba Octet invited Nicolas Kedroff and its magical instrument from Russia, the balalaika, to sublime a few numbers. A borderless path with multiples tones, festive, melancholic or passionate. Songs and poems orchestrated for unpublished versions that use all the musical and expressive resources of the symphony orchestra. A Russian cabaret which celebrates love songs – Otchi Tchornye (Dark Eyes), Ja Vstretil vas (I met you) or Kalinka – and its indispensable romances such as Cocher ralentis tes chevaux or Katioucha – a young girl in love with a soldier gone on duty to defend his homeland…

Numerous life stories and emotions gathering around the central Yiddish orchestral piece Gayen zay in shvartze Reien, a ghetto song both illuminating and deeply moving. Drawn from the Jewish folk songs that made the Barry Sisters, Sirba Octet reinterprets Zug es Meir Noch Amool (Tell Me One More Time) and thus establishes a musical bridge in a Yiddish 50’s Jazz feel.

Gipsy Russian cabaret and Romanian or Moldovan traditional dances: The Sirba Octet, the orchestra and the balalaika answer to each other successively and naturally slide towards Gipsy Russian cabaret repertoire – notably with the famous song Valenki (Felt Boots), written by nomad gypsies – and Romanian or Moldovan traditional dances – Tata vine pastele (Daddy, Easter Is Coming !) and the Suite de Moldavie, a medley of Doinas, songs that originated amongst shepherds. That rich program made of tales, a surprising musical project for three soloists, came to life in this album with Sirba Octet and thanks to the talents of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège directed by Christian Arming and Nicolas Kedroff… before Sirba Orchestra’s next musical journey with other symphonic ensembles.

Sirba Octet
Nicolas Kedroff, balalaïka
Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège
Christian Arming, direction

Sirba Octet
When violinist Richard Schmoucler founded the Sirba Octet in 2003, he created an entirely new sound. With arrangers Cyrille Lehn and Yann Ollivo, five fellow musicians from the Orchestre de Paris, a pianist and a cimbalom player, he formed a unique ensemble with a fresh perspective on klezmer, Yiddish and gypsy music.

In collaboration with the Orchestre de Paris, the Sirba Octet performed Un violon sur les toits de Paris, (A fiddler on the rooves of Paris), at the Théâtre Mogador, a concert which they developed into their first acoustic album, A Yiddish Mame, released in 2005 under the label Ambroisie (Naïve). With Slavic and Yiddish nuances, this anthology of Eastern European melodies is drawn from Schmoucler’s own memories of happy family gatherings.

Significant artistic partnerships: In 2007, as part of the Festival d’Île-de-France, the Sirba Octet worked with Isabelle Georges, the multi-talented singer, dancer and actress known as a ‘triple threat’, to produce Du Shtetl à New York. An array of music from the shtetl and standards from the golden age of American musical theatre, via jazz, ragtime and lullabies composed by second generation immigrants, the show charts the journey made by millions of Eastern Europeans from their shtetls, or villages, to New York, melting pot of musical influences from all over the world. The show was inspired by Fabienne Rousso-Lenoir’s documentary Du Shtetl à Broadway and celebrates heredity and inheritance, an important foundation of the Yiddish community.

The Sirba Octet continued to work with Isabelle Georges on Yiddish Rhapsody, a show based on traditional Yiddish music but accented with elements of jazz, salsa, musicals, rock and samba. Commissioned by the Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn, conducted by Fayçal Karoui, Yiddish Rhapsody was unique in its staging of the octet alongside a 50-piece orchestra and was therefore able to perform orchestral as well as chamber music. The show became their third album with Naïve, and was performed with the Orchestre Lamoureux at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Orchestre de Trier in Germany, the Liège Royal Philharmonic, the Tonkustler Orchester at Festspielhaus and at Musikverein in Vienna.

Their albums have received critical acclaim in the press, winning notably a ‘10 de Répertoire-Classica’ for Du Shtetl à New York, the European Association for Jewish Culture prize and a Choc de Classica for Tantz! The group was also the subject of a documentary by Alain Duault for France 3 entitled A day with the Sirba Octet and Isabelle Georges. In 2011 the Sirba Octet and Isabelle Georges were selected by the Victoires de la Musique Classique to appear alongside the Orchestre des Pays de la Loire conducted by John Axelrod.

Appearing regularly at leading festivals in France and abroad, the Sirba Octet have performed at many prestigious venues including the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Musikverein in Vienna with longer runs at Théâtre Mogador, l’Européen, La Cigale et à l’Espace Pierre Cardin à Paris. In 2012, they took part in the Festival Radio Classique at the Olympia with Isabelle Georges and, in 2013, they appeared at Musiques en fête aux Chorégies d’Orange which was broadcast live on France 3.

Thanks to their talented arranger Cyrille Lehn, the Sirba Octet are constantly enriching their repertoire, adding pieces that range from the most famous to the lesser known. Lehn worked with the group on a project for which they were joined for the first time by Catherine Lara. This new adventure led to the album Au cœur de l’âme Yiddish (The Spirit of the Yiddish), released on Sony in November 2012. Captivated by their world, Catherine Lara chose eight of her most acclaimed pieces to record with the Sirba Octet. In April 2013, they performed the album live for two concerts at l’Alhambra in Paris.

Sirba Octet’s orchestral show was one of the highlights of their 2015 season. For Sirba Orchestra! they once again worked with the Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn conducted by Fayçal Karoui with a guest appearance from Nicolas Kedroff, the talented balalaika player. The show comprised a series of performances at the Palais Beaumont in Pau in June 2015 that were broadcast live on Radio Classique. Focussing on Yiddish and Slavic music, the show is a window on the lively and moving musical traditions of Eastern Europe. The group will take the show to the Orchestre de Bretagne and the Orchestre Royal Philharmonique de Liège in 2017.

Booklet for Sirba Orchestra! Russian, Klezmer & Gypsy Music