Description

GERSHON SIROTA (SIROTINI) (PODOLIA, 1874 – WARSAW, 19 APRIL, 1943)

Gerson Sirota was born in 1874 in Odessa and first sang in synagogues there. However, in 1900 he was named Chief Cantor of Vilna, a position later to be held by a number of other famous cantors, including Mordechai Hershman. It was here that Sirota reached great prominence, performing frequently before the Russian nobility. In 1908, Sirota was called as Chief Cantor of the Great Synagogue in Warsaw. With a widespread reputation on an international scale, primarily because of the wide distribution of his recordings which he had begun in 1903, he began a series of concert tours of America. He first toured cross country in 1912, appearing in most of the major synagogues as well as concert halls. Sirota’s international concert tours continued on an undiminished scale between the wars. He returned to the United States again in 1922 and on a number of other occasions, culminating in a 1938 tour. So frequent were Sirota’s  excursions abroad that the synagogue officials in Warsaw decided to replace him. When he returned after officiating in New York on the High Holidays of 1927, he found that a successor had been found for his position, the young Moshe Kusevitsky. Sirota had no trouble finding another position in Warsaw, and in 1934 he was honored by Warsaw Jewry for his thirty years of service to the community at a special concert held at Warsaw’s Hippodrome Theater. Tragically, Sirota was not spared the fate dealt to the Jews with the advent of Nazism. Returning to Warsaw after a trip abroad in 1938, he was trapped in the Warsaw Ghetto. His four sons and four daughters and their families are believed to have died during the shelling of the city. Sirota is believed to have perished on the concluding day of Passover, 1943. There is little question that Sirota possessed one of the greatest voices of his time. A true dramatic tenor, with both great range and flexibility, as well as a beautiful quality, Sirota might well have become an outstanding operatic singer, but for religious reasons he chose to remain a cantor. Caruso, having heard him sing, was quoted as stating: “Thank God he has chosen to employ his heavenly gift in a different field and I do not have to compete with such a formidable challenger in opera.” Early in his recording career, Sirota made several operatic recordings under the name Sirotini so as not to divulge his true identity, but later excursions into opera were all sung under his real name.

TRACKLIST

1. Berosh Ha-shana yekatevu 1-75603 4096-o–
2. Haben Yakir Li 1-75611 4104-o-
3. Haneroth Ha-aelu 1-75610 4103-o-
4. Hayom Haras Oylom 1-75604 4097-o-
5. Kedusho Mimkaumcho 1-75607 4100-o
6. Kewakoras Roje sdroi 1-75605 4098-o-
7. R’tse Bemnukhoseynu 1-75602 4095-o-
8. Schlosch Eshre Midot
9. Tzadik Katamar Yifrakh 1-75599 4092-o-
10. U. Nsane Toikef 1-75598 4091-o-
11. V’haser Satan 1-75606 4099-o-
12. V’te’eray Eilecha 1-75600 4093-o-
13. Weszomru 1-75612 4105-o-
14. Yaleh Takhnuneynu 1-75597 4090-o-
15. Умипней Хатоейну 1-75601 4094-o-