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. Adoin Oilom Victor 35450-A
2. Aw Horachmim Victor 17771-B
3. Birchos Kohan Victor 17771-A
4. Broisch haschoni Victor 64275
5. Habein Jakir Li Victor 64272
6. Hajojm horas oilom Victor 64273
7. Halbein chatoeinu Victor 64230
8. Hamchadeisch b’tuwoj Victor 17796-A
9. Iru Eineinu Victor 64385
10. Kwojdoj und mimkojmoi Victor 17796-B
11. L’dojr wodojr Victor 17798-B
12. Odom Yasoido Meator Victor 35450-B
13. Rezei wimnuchoseinu Victor 17798-A
14. Socharti Loch Victor 17797-A
15. Tikanto schabos Victor 17833-B
16. Umipei chatoënu Victor 61107
17. Umsanei Teikef Victor 64274
18. Weseeraw olecho Victor 17744-A
19. W’nemar loi hibit owoja Victor 64384
20. Wschomru Victor 17833-A