Description

GERSHON SIROTA (SIROTINI) (ODESSA, 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 011500 168Hp G&T, Vilna 1903
2. Habein jakir loi Efrajim 11568 415z G&T, Warszawa 1902-12
3. Himoze lopu 11584 1682z G&T, Vilna 1903
4. Jaale 11583 1681z G&T, Vilna 1903
5. Jisgadal wejiskadasch 11574 1680z G&T, Warszawa 1902-12
6. Me scheosso nissim 11589 1690z G&T, Vilna 1903
7. Melech rachmon 11569 416z G&T, Warszawa 1902-12
8. Mimkoimoi hu jifen (w. chorus) 11563 410z G&T, Warszawa 1902-12
9. Odom yasoido meator 011501 169Hp G&T, Vilna 1903
10. Rezei 11585 1683z G&T, Vilna 1903
11. Schlosch esrei midoisch 11567 414z G&T, Warszawa 1902-12
12. Umipnei chatoenu 11570 417z G&T, Warszawa 1902-12
13. Wehoser Soton 11573 1691z G&T, Vilna 1903
14. Weiseelaw olecho 11572 419z G&T, Warszawa 1902-12
15. Weschomru 11591 1692z G&T, Vilna 1903