Tsippi Fleischer - Retrospective Collection

Two arrangements which Fleischer prepared for the festivities, performed by Yotvata’s founders-residents. This was her first encounter with the director Hanan Snir, then a kibbutz member – a meeting which led to several joint projects, culminating in the musical Alei Kinor. Here, we have reproduced only two of Fleischer’s arrangements; the quality of the performances forced us to omit the rest.

• PlayDownload1 Be-Arvot Hanegev 02:30 min.

  Tsippi Fleischer’s rich, waltz-like arrangement of a classic of pre-State Hebrew song.

• PlayDownload2 La-Midbar Sa’enu 2:39 min.

  Tsippi Fleischer’s rock-like arrangement of a Bedouin melody adapted as a Hebrew song.

A selection of items from “Little Lola’s Song Club” – a one-woman show by famous Israeli actress-singer Gila Almagor, in which she presented some of the finest show tunes in the repertoire. The show, which receives hundreds of performances in 1972-1974, featured Tsippi Fleischer as both arranger and pianist, alongside other prominent musicians.

• PlayDownload3 Lola, Lola 02:53 min.

  The show’s opening number. Lyrics: Jay Livingstone; music: Ray Evans; arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer.

• PlayDownload4 This evening children 01:32 min.

  Lyrics & music: Hollander; arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer.

• PlayDownload5 Mad about the boy 02:10 min.

  Lyrics and music: Noel Coward; arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer.

• PlayDownload6 Un jour je quitterai 03:04 min.

  Words: M. Magne; music: V. Katcha; arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer.

• PlayDownload7 Lola; My man 03:59 min.

  This file contains two contrasting songs: “Lola” (words: Hollander; lyrics: Liebmann), and “My man” (words: Yvan; music: Arkel), both arranged by Tsippi Fleischer.

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This song was featured on an LP, issued in 1974, which documented a program reviving songs by Alexander (Sasha) Argov. This is one of two arrangements which the composer himself commissioned from Tsippi Fleischer. Singers: Tsila Dagan, Danny Messing, Oded Hur, Naomi Kafri

The trio's LP
click to enlarge

This female vocal trio, directed by Tsippi Fleischer (music, vocal and instrumental arrangements, conducting, production) was active in 1970-1973, and made history in the field of Hebrew popular song, thanks to its articulate light-music style. Their performances retain their freshness, and are still being played on air. This selection arises from live and commercial recordings alike, including the trio’s LP, released in 1973. The singers are: Noga Eshed (later a prominent advocate of Hebrew song), Idit Harpz, and Tamar Eshel

• PlayDownload9 Minstrel 01:44 min.

  Words and music: Naomi Shemer; arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer. This arrangement, sung wordlessly, served as the theme tune for radio and TV programs. It always opened the trio’s performance, as a tribute to Naomi Shemer who introduced Tsippi Fleischer and the three singers to each other.

• PlayDownload10 Transformations of a minuet 02:02 min.

  Without words; music: J. S. Bach; arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer. Melody and accompaniment alternate between Noga Eshed and Tamar Eshel, singing in the Swingle Singers’ da-ba-da style.

• PlayDownload11 The maidens’ song to Samson 04:17 min.

  Words: Leah Goldberg; music and arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer. The soloist in this bossa-nova-style song is Noga Eshed; prominent instrumental contribution from the Israeli saxophonist Orpheus “Mamelo” Giatanopolos.

• PlayDownload12 Two kingfisher fly in the sky 02:23 min.

  Lyrics: Nurit Zarchi; music and arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer. Soft-rock style, with unexpected breaks and pauses.

• PlayDownload13 A wish (what a pity) 03:40 min.

  Lyrics: Tirtza Atar; music and arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer. Slow-rock style, with a prominent role for Idit Harpaz.

• PlayDownload14 Le coucou 02:10 min.

  Music: Louis-Claude Daquin; arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer. The arrangement combines cuckoo calls with walking-bass technique

• PlayDownload15 I'm six-months pregnant 02:26 min.

  Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev; music and arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer. Taharlev’s humourist spirit inspires all three singers, who alternate as soloists.

• PlayDownload16 Eve 01:21 min.

  Lyrics: Yonatan Ratosh; music and arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer. Music and arrangement are inseparable in this song. The setting for voices accompanied only by drumming is suggestive of Fleischer’s growing interest in writing for the theatre.

• PlayDownload17 I always tip-toe 01:51 min.

  Lyrics: Shimrit Or; music and arrangement: Matti Caspi. The mutual appreciation between Caspi and Fleischer led her to commission this song from him, and to entrust him with preparing the arrangement, and directing the band members in the recording studio. He agreed without hesitation. The soloist is Idit Harpaz.

• PlayDownload18 Numi numi (Lullaby) 02:08 min.

  Lyrics: Zrubavel Gilad; music: David Zehavi; arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer. A perky, bossa-nova style arrangement of one of the most popular Israeli lullabies.

• PlayDownload19 Falling leaves 03:00 min.

  Lyrics: Amnon Becker; music: Yinon Neeman; arrangement: Tsippi Fleischer. As in No. 18 above, Tsippi Fleischer revealed her fresh, mischievous spirit by arranging this wistful, melancholy song in a gentle jazz-waltz rhythm.

Alei Kinor received special attention during the launch of the composer’s collection at the Israel National Library in Jerusalem (November 6, 2008).

• PlayDownload20 Tsippi Fleischer speaks 01:26 min.
• PlayDownload21 Tsippi demonstrates at the piano 01:31 min.

  The composer chose to illustrate her brief talk at the piano with extract from songs nos. 6 (Zemale’s song) and No. 5 (Estherl’s song) from the musical.

This lavish production, by the Beer Sheba Theatre, was the initiative of director Rafi Niv, who retained his enthusiasm for the 1975 premiere, which he watched as a child. Nadav Rubinstein, the musical arranger for the 2004 production, received permission to expand the original orchestration. Selected scenes from the 2004 production can be viewed on the video page in the composer’s website; see also the page dedicated to this production on the website’s World Activity section.

Files 22-37 below represent the complete contents of the CD which was produced on the basis of on-stage singing with playback accompaniment. The detailed layout for each song provides complete singer/actor credits and gives pointers for each musical number’s role within the musical. The original CD was part of lavish project booklet, which formed part of an educational kit on Shalom Aleichem and the shtetl, produced by the Theatre’s educational department and distributed to schools in Beer Sheba and the southern region of Israel.

Note: many materials related to various productions of Alei Kinor (including the aforementioned booklet) can be found in the composer’s collection at the Music Division of the Israel National Library in Jerusalem: MUS121A – scores and parts (pre-opuses); MUS121E – materials related to specific productions.

Instrumentalists in files 22-37:

• Nadav Rubinstein – piano, keyboards, clarinet
• Zur Ben Ze’ev – double-bass, electric guitar
• Shai Alon – acoustic and electric guitar
• Nitzan Ein Habar – saxophones, flute, clarinet
• Nitzan Chen Raz’el – violin
• Israel Nahum – drums

• PlayDownload22 Overture (orchestral) 02:20 min.

  The overture weaves together different motifs from the musical.

• PlayDownload23 Un poco espressivo (Open your ear) – song no. 1 02:52 min.

  The Klezmer and his sons have fun with their music. Participants: Naftalzi the Klezmer – Erez Weiss; Zemale – Tal Weiss; Naftalzi’s sons – Ophir Zemach, Yossi Almog, Oded Yehezkel.

• PlayDownload24 Nuches – Song No. 2 01:56 min.

  Zemale’s parents seek his future as a successful Jewish boy. Participants: Shai Mikhl, Zemale’s father – Matan Klieger; Peissi Beyle, Zemale’s mother – Hilla Ma’aravi.

• PlayDownload25 Musical transition 00:24 min.

  An orchestral passage.

• PlayDownload26 There’s nothing like a violin and bow – Song no. 3 04:10 min.

  Naftalzi gives a sort of music lesson to his sons. Participants: Naftalzi the Klezmer – Erez Weiss; Naftalzi’s sons – Ophir Zemach, Yossi Almog, Oded Yehezkel.

• PlayDownload27 Musical transition 00:33 min.

  An orchestral passage, presenting several motifs.

• PlayDownload28 Making a violin – Song No. 4 02:26 min.

  The children humorously build a mock-violin, from objects within reach. Participants: Zemale – Tal Weiss; Naftalzi’s sons – Ophir Zemach, Yossi Almog, Oded Yehezkel.

• PlayDownload29 Estherl’s Song – Song no. 5 02:12 min.

  Estherl, the rich man’s daughter, reflects – who will be her bridegroom? With Tal Yahalomi as Estherl.

• PlayDownload30 Zemale’s song – Song no. 6 02:20 min.

  Zemale, the musical’s protagonist, rebels against the town’s adult world – they don’t understand his soul’s longing for music. With Tal Weiss as Zemale.

• PlayDownload31 Baruch Shehecheyanu – Song no. 7 00:56 min.

  A song for all participants, which joyfully symbolizes the act of marriage. Led by Chen Hagai as the matchmaker.

• PlayDownload32 Efraim Klotz’s song – Song no. 8 01:46 min.

  Efraim Klotz, the tattletale, bursts in and disrupts the wedding festivities. With Zviki Levin as Efraim Klotz.

• PlayDownload33 The swearing song – Song no. 9 00:37 min.

  The two women – Zemale’s mother and Naftalzi’s wife – exchange juicy insults. This scene symbolizes the constant mockery that Klezmers always endure. Participants: Peissi Beyle, Zemale’s mother – Hilla Ma’aravi; Chava/Eve (Naftalzi’s wife) – Nilli Zruya.

• PlayDownload34 The dream 03:55 min.

  Zemale’s nightmarish fantasies, portrayed in sounds and voices. This section consists of a magnetic tape, with no onstage singing, drawing on various motifs from the musical, and serving as a backdrop for a visual scene.

• PlayDownload35 Baruch Shehecheyanu (reprise) 00:16 min.

  A song for all participants, re-introduced for stage needs.

• PlayDownload36 Final song – Song no. 10 01:00 min.

  A song for all participants in praise of music – the musical’s true protagonist. The composer did not enjoy the Esta rhythm forced on her melody, and did not approve of the cuts made in the song. Compare with her own playing in file 41 below.

• PlayDownload37 Baruch Shehecheyanu – curtain call 01:24 min.

  An orchestral segment. This relatively simple song, with its folk-like spirit and joyful atmosphere, was chosen as the musical backdrop as the participants went on stage to take their bows and acknowledge the audience’s applause.

The musician Yulia Balla, who is in charge of music teaching at the Eshkol Elementary School in Beer Sheba and conducts the school choir, came across the educational kit produced by the Beer Sheba Theatre in connection with their 2004 production of Alei Kinor, and was enchanted by it. She decided to present several songs with piano accompaniment (in accordance with Tsippi Fleischer’s original score) at the 2006 Choirs’ Convention in Afikim.
This short performance met with great success. The children’s choir, Sounds of Eshkol, arrived with Yulia to the music teachers’ annual further-educational convention (Tel Aviv 2010), at the invitation of the Music Education division at the Ministry of Education, and also appeared twice at the Ada Ban Nahum Grants award at the Beit Tzvi School for the Performing Arts in Ramat Gan (2007, 2009).
In the professional recording associated with this performance, Tsippi Fleischer herself plays the piano part in the final song (file 41 below)! This marks the first time that songs from Alei Kinor were performed by children. This captivating performance, made outside Beer Sheba in 2007, marked a new stage in the life of this musical, in school projects throughout Israel; see also the extracts from the Petach Tikva performance (files 42-47 below), and finally in Beer Sheba again with Yulia Balla (file 48).

• PlayDownload38 Un poco espressivo (Open your ear) – song no. 1 04:18 min.

  For notes on this song, see file 23 above.

• PlayDownload39 Nuches – Song No. 2 02:33 min.

  For notes on this song, see file 24 above.

• PlayDownload40 Baruch Shehecheyanu – Song no. 7 00:59 min.

  For notes on this song, see file 31 above.

• PlayDownload41 Final song – Song no. 10 02:41 min.

  For notes on this song, see file 36 above. On this occasion, Tsippi Fleischer took over the piano part, to demonstrate the stormy, samba-like atmosphere built up by the thundering piano rhythms, which underpin the choir’s relatively longer notes.

Anna Barenboum, director of music studies and choir conductor at the Hoess Elementary School in Petach Tikva, heard the Eshkol Choir perform several songs from Alei Kinor at the annual further-education meeting in 2001; she immediately decided to mount a full- scale production of the entire musical at her school, which had already produced several operas. She also roused the enthusiasm of other teachers in her school – in literature, stage direction, movement and stage design.
Here are a few segments from this performance, recorded professionally at the Jaffa Music Centre shortly after the stage production at the school’s yard in Petach Tikva. In addition to children from the school’s choir, who perform the vocal parts, the cast also includes players from the school’s violin and xylophone classes, joined by a few teachers and one professional drummer – Yossi Papo-Levy – who was invited specially to take part in this performance. Several segments from the stage production can be seen in this video.
The staging concept evokes the presence of the child Zemale alongside the adult Zemale, recounting his memories.

• PlayDownload42 Violins’ leitmotif 00:44 min.

  A group of children (mostly girls) from the Hoess School in Petach Tikva playing violins, conducted by Anna Barenboum.

• PlayDownload43 There’s nothing like a violin and bow – Song no. 3 02:54 min.

  The Hoess School Choir, with a handful of players, conducted by Anna Barenboum.

• PlayDownload44 Making a violin – Song No. 4 02:37 min.

  The Hoess School Choir, with a handful of players, conducted by Anna Barenboum.

• PlayDownload45 Estherl’s song – Song no. 5 03:50 min.

  The Hoess School Choir and a handful of players, conducted by Anna Barenboum, with a young girl soloist as Estherl. The entire xylophone class was on stage, producing the prominent xylophone sound at the song’s instrumental introduction.

• PlayDownload46 Zemale’s song – Song no. 6 03:04 min.

  The boy who portrayed the Zemale as a child successfully inhabited the role of character who wonders at the adult world.

• PlayDownload47 Efraim Klotz’s song – Song no. 8 01:38 min.

  The boy who portrayed the Zemale as a child successfully inhabited the role of character who wonders at the adult world.

In 2015, Yulia Balla initiated a new, lavish production of Alei Kinor. She enlisted forces from outside the school to help with the costume design, and got the entire school, in a marvelous feat of teamwork, to create this full-fledged, grandiose production. Here we present one song as an illustration, but we recommend viewing the full production, as well as samples from the accompanying materials, which can be seen on our World Activity section.

• PlayDownload48 Baruch Shehecheyanu – Song no. 7 01:02 min.

  The Eshkol School Choir, Beer Sheba, conducted by Yulia Balla, from the 2015 production of the complete musical.