Eclectic dreams

Esther Ofarim performed a few weeks ago at Tel Aviv's Mann Auditorium. Wait a minute, Esther Ofarim performed a few weeks ago at the Mann Auditorium? How is it that no one announced it in advance or at least reported how it was?

Ofarim, who lives in Germany, does not grace us with her presence every two weeks. Indeed, it turns out it was a performance for retirees that was not open to the general public (the only site that reported on it was Motke.co.il - a meeting place for the young at heart).

The concert was excellent says someone who was there, and it is possible that the successful experience was one of the reason why Ofarim has decided to perform again at the Mann Auditorium, this time for anyone of any age who likes her voice. The concert will take place on March 18.

A few months ago, Ofarim released a new live album. Wait a minute, Ofarim released an album a few months ago? How is it that no one announced it ahead of time, or at least reported on its content and quality?

It is very simple: the album, "I'll See You in My Dreams," recorded live in Hamburg in early 2009, was released by a German recording company whose albums are not officially distributed in Israel, hence the radio silence it encountered.

Too bad, this is a very nice album. Lots of people could have enjoyed it, and not just fans of Hebrew music. A look at the list of songs Ofarim chose to perform, even before a first listen of the album, indicates an extremely eclectic nature.

There is an American folk song, "O Laddie O"; an Irish folk song, "My Lagan Love"; an English song from the 16th century, "The Willow Song"; pop standards, "Yesterday" and "Hallelujah"; songs by Brecht and Weill, "Alabama Song" and "Surabaya Johnny"; songs from American musicals, "I Have Dreamed" and "I'll See You in My Dreams"; songs in Ladino, "Adios Querida"; two Israeli folk songs, both by Mordechai Zeira, "Ma Omrot Eynayich" and "Neula Hi Dalti"; and of course "Cinderella Rockefella."

Concerts with a little bit of this and little bit of that are often superficial and sketchy, but concerns that Ofarim will aim in too many directions evaporate very quickly.

Her formula is a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but in depth.

Despite the extreme number of different styles, there is no supermarket checkout-like feel to it. And if there is, it is a high-class supermarket.

Every song was carefully chosen, carefully arranged, carefully played and of course, carefully sung. It is for albums like this that the term "in very good taste" was created.

Ofarim always has always been a very diverse singer and after 50 years in the business, it is no surprise that her stylistic signature is amazingly broad. But it is not just a matter of seniority and of natural vocal talent, but also, and perhaps also, primarily, a matter of outlook. When Ofarim performs an Irish folk song or an Elizabethan song, or even a Broadway standard or a song by Brecht and Weill, it seems as if she knows how to find the delicate and elegant point where she is close enough to the song, but not too close.

It is a winning combination of intimacy and necessary distance. Ofarim interprets the songs, but as the opening line of "Ma Omrot Eynayich" says, she does so "without spelling everything out."

Ofarim benefits from the wise arrangements and piano playing of Yoni Rechter, her regular musical director and from three other superb musicians: violinist Michael Paweletz, guitarist Bernard Fichtner, and bassist Micha Kaplan, an Israeli living in Berlin.

They too move along the edge between intimacy and distance, primarily in songs we have already a thousand times. In "Yesterday," for example, or in "Ma Omrot Eynayich," there is no pretension of a radical interpretation, but there are games with the beat and harmony changes and interspersed contrapuntal tones. All of these can make a song sound trite from all the effort of trying to sound fresh.

The album's country of origin, Germany, is clearly apparent in the applause heard at the end of each song. The applause is methodically cut after a second and a half, an attentiveness that creates a restrained and frigid European atmosphere.

After the last song, the album's producers really let loose: they cut off the audience applause after five seconds. At Ofarim's concert in Tel Aviv next month (with Rechter, saxophonist Guri Agmon, flutist Ilan Salem, guitarist Yossi Levy and bassist Mickey Warshai and a repertoire of Hebrew songs for the most part), the applause will probably last a lot longer.