Revisiting Lea

Ori Leshman is recording contemporary arrangements of Lea Goldberg’s songs, performed by a wide variety of artists and uploaded and broadcast on YouTube.

By BARRY DAVIS
Lea Goldberg (photo credit: FRITZ COHEN/GPO/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
Lea Goldberg
(photo credit: FRITZ COHEN/GPO/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
Lea Goldberg is one of Israel’s most beloved writers. The German-born poet, playwright, author, translator, researcher and lecturer died in 1970, at the early age of 58, but she left behind her an enormous body of work including around 700 poems. Many of these were subsequently put to music and, today, form the lyrical substratum for some of Israel’s most beloved songs.
The Israeli songbook is full of works based on Goldberg’s enchanting words, which have been scored by Israel Prize-winning tunesmith Sasha Argov, David Zehavi and Naomi Shemer, and performed and recorded by a whole host of stellar vocalists such as Matti Caspi, Chava Alberstein and Yehudit Ravitz.
With such an illustrious musical lineup having thrown their weight and talents into getting Goldberg’s words off the page and into the public’s ears, one might have thought that her legacy was well and truly cast in the national psyche, and would be eagerly consumed, and kept alive, by generation upon generation of Israelis.
Ori Leshman was not so certain about that.
The 45-year-old composer, conductor and pianist wanted to ensure that Goldberg’s work is kept in the public eye, and made as palatable as possible to the younger generation of music fans. To that end, and to mark the 45th anniversary of Goldberg’s untimely death, Leshman put together an ambitious project that involved recruiting an impressive roster of musicians to record more contemporary arrangements of Goldberg songs, and to proffer them to the world via the Internet.
The result of that endeavor can now be seen and heard on YouTube, under the title of Kolo Shel Halev (“The Sound of the Heart”). The project name comes from the lyrics of a song written by Goldberg called “Hehalil” (“The Flute”), which is performed by Din Din Aviv.
Thus far, 10 songs have been recorded, with the singer spectrum including leading artists from across different generations and disciplines, such as veteran pop crooner Alon Olearchik and seasoned pop and rock singer Rivka Zohar – who teams up with 32-year-old former A Star Is Born talent show contestant Liron Lev – with members of the younger crowd Aviv, Avi Greinik and Osnat Harel also on board.
The final products include reworkings of scores by tried and trusted songwriters like Mickey Gabrielov, David Zehavi and Achinoam Nini. Leshman himself wrote the music for a new rendition of “Tzipor Ketuma” (“Orange Bird”), which is performed by his wife, Mai Yisraeli Leshman, and incorporates elements from diverse cultural baggage, including Yemenite-sounding passages.
“Hehalil” is also a case in point. “You had Israeli composers like Mordechai Zeira and David Zehavi and [Haim] Agmon, what they did back then was world music. No one called it that, but that’s what it was. It took in all sorts of cultural influences, from the East and the West. I find that fascinating. Din Din comes from that world.
“This is a project of the Shir Ad association, with support from the Meitar Foundation,’” Leshman explains. “The association engages in the preservation and renewal of Hebrew song and Israeli music, and making it accessible to the public.”
But, surely, Goldberg’s words are happily sung by all kinds of vocalists, and at all kinds of gatherings, across the country and around the calendar? Is such a project really the order of the day? Leshman feels that, while the writer’s work is still out there, there are some works that have fallen by the wayside and, far more important, he wants to make the songs as user friendly as possible to youngsters. “I want them to be contemporary, not only in terms of the musical arrangements but also in the way the materials are approached,” he states.
There are also grander plans afoot. Leshman feels that much of Israel’s musical heritage has been left to languish out of the public eye and consciousness, and he is desperately keen to rescue hundreds of works that, he believes, may eventually end up ignored and forgotten. “This should be a national project,” he says, adding that, with the Goldberg venture, he wanted to take the work a step further.
“I wanted to renew Lea Goldberg’s songs because, for me, renewal is preservation, and keeping them alive and well. You have to take the Israeli songbook – you have the American songbook, and the French and Germans have one too – and take these classics, which Lea Goldberg wrote for her own generation.”
Part of Leshman’s approach to making the songs relevant for today’s younger listeners was to encompass as wide an age spread as possible, from sexagenarians Olearchik and Zohar through 53-year-old Yirmi Kaplan to twentysomething Harel. “People naturally identify with singers from their own generation,” muses Leshman, adding that Shir Ad also utilizes Israeli songs for wider-ranging educational ends. “You can take songs and use them to teach Zionism, history, Hebrew language and Hebrew poetry.”
Leshman says there is a pressing need to make our cultural treasures accessible and appealing.
“If you think about it, if young Israelis don’t feel a bond with their heritage, why should they stay here? They could possibly have an easier life in some other country. It is important for them to learn about the country and its history and culture, and music is a part of that. This is our culture.”
Leshman was also eager to ensure that the end product was as attractive as possible and spared no expense. “I contacted some of my pals, like Olearchik and Yirmi Kaplan, and I told them I’d take the best recording studio in Tel Aviv, Bardo Studios, and the best technicians around, we’d cover it with cameras and take a director. We’d take three days, sit down and talk about the texts and the whole projects, I’d get the best instrumentalists in the country, and let’s see what happens.”
Leshman was not disappointed with the results.
“We got three days of musical heaven,” he exclaims. “You can see the light in the artists’ eyes, and that they are doing this for art’s sake, and for the good of Israeli music.”
The latter may sound somewhat pretentious but the artists were clearly up for it, and synchronized their mindset with Leshman’s. “None of the artists were paid for this,” he notes with alacrity.
“It is very gratifying to see such wonderful artists who are willing to contribute to such an important project and, of course, to see the public response.
I hope we will be able to renew more and more of Lea Goldberg’s works in the future.”