Travelling between her love of classical music and the folk repertoire of Eastern Europe, where she finds her roots, Noëmi Waysfeld created a musical journey which links those two worlds. Soul of Yiddish, released by AWZ in March 2021, takes us to the melancholic beauty of traditional Yiddish songs, mixed with original compositions on texts written by the poetess Rivka Kope (1910-1995), as well as a Yiddish cover of the Barbara’s French song A peine.
Noëmi Waysfeld sang many times absence and despair. The songs of Russian prisoners in Siberia in Kalyma (2012), the melancholic Portuguese fado in Alfama (2015), and the solitude provoked by the loss of a dear one in Zimlya (2019).
In Soul of Yiddish, her fifth album, it is no longer question of exile, but more of travelling. Noëmi Waysfeld delivers an intimate and spiritual story; an exploration of her roots, for which she surrounded herself with the violin player Sarah Nemtanu, the guitarist Kevin Seddiki and the double bass player Antoine Rozenbaum.
Just like a story-teller, Noëmi Waysfeld’s voice sound sandy, veiled, like the soft glow of a candle. And to finish in magnificence, she concludes the album with a beautiful performance of Kol Nidreï, the prayer opening the celebration of Yom Kippur.
The Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur reminds us, in the introduction of the booklet of the CD Soul of Yiddish, that the history of the Jewish religion often deprived women to sing prayers. This Kol Nidreï can be considered as a kick in an anthill: « This liturgy from Yom Kippur claims that our words are neither reliable nor credible. Women, throughout history, were precisely accused of not being trustworthy. Now is the time to make hear other speeches. When their voices rise to lead the prayer or to revisit it, this « naked » truth suddenly appears. »
- Noëmi Waysfeld, vocals
- Sarah Nemtanu, violin
- Antoine Rozenbaum, double bass
- Kévin Seddiki, guitar, arrangements and compositions
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