a biblical musical drama by Sandra Goldberg

Reviews:

Giora Feidman plays Sandra Goldberg:

“And he [Feidman] also calls out “Bravo” in the concert after the first encore: Zürich Chamber Orchestra violinist Sandra Goldberg wrote the klezmer melody, had shown it to Feidman during the rehearsal, and he now plays it enthusiastically with heartfelt embellishment. The audience cheers.”

The “Hora” from “JUDAH JUDAH” was performed in an arrangement by the composer for clarinet and strings at a concert with the Zürich Chamber Orchestra in the Tonhalle in Zürich.

(LINK to the original review (in German) by Susanne Kübler from the Zürich “Tages-Anzeiger” of 18 March, 2010)

“It was a pleasurable experience to get to know Judah Judah: the combination of oratorio, theater and musical genres transports the biblical story into our modern times. Sandra Goldberg makes skillful use of various models, incorporates Jewish and Greek melodic material into her work, and has created a colorful, multi-facetted music in the process. Full of verve, humor and excitement, it also touches our deeper sentiments through its soulful melodies. I wish Sandra Goldberg much success in the realization of her project!”

Dr. Thomas Gartmann, Head of Music and Assistant Director of the Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia.

Fascinating Multimedia Mix

by Walter Labhart

As a violinist, Sandra Goldberg performs in the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. As a composer, she astonished her audience at St. Peter’s Church.

Sandra Goldberg, a U.S. American by birth, knows very well what artistic means are necessary to fascinate an audience. Her musical “Judah Judah” (stage director: Robin Mueller), which was premiered on January 11 under the committed musical direction of Monica Buckland and repeated the next day, is an artful combination of text and dance, music and projected images based on the Book of Maccabees from the apocryphal books of the Old Testament. The timeframe of her musical is Chanukah, the Jewish festival of lights lasting eight days and nights which occurs around the time of Christmas. Offset by some scenes which take place in the present, the historical account of the successful uprising of the monotheistic Maccabees against the ruling polytheistic Greeks who desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem in 174 B.C.E. is the focal point of the story.

Masterful mix of styles

The years of experience with contemporary music gathered by Sandra Goldberg as a violinist in the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and in chamber music concerts worldwide were audibly in evidence in her multimedia composition. Elements of the traditional oratorio were juxtaposed in an original manner with those of modern musicals and timeless Biblical motives. The introductory number “Judah the Maccabee”, full of swing rhythms and syncopations alternating between soloist, chorus and piano (played by Beat Dähler), set the stage with a catchy pop atmosphere.

The long and soulful lyrical melodic lines of “Kadosh”, sung by Carl Hieger with subtle nuances, the intensely felt “Sabbath Prayer”, and “Judah’s Song” with its choral sections in gospel style, had all the more of a meditative effect. After some stupendous dancing by Mirjam Sutter and further solos by Hitomi Kutsuzawa (alto), Randal Turner (baritone) and Helmut Vogel (narrator), the final “Hora”, a fiery round dance to a passionate klezmer melody, was enthusiastically received and even animated some of the audience to get up and dance alongside the performers.

(“Zürichsee-Zeitung”, Jan. 14, 2009 — “Die Südostschweiz” [Chur], Jan. 14, 2009)