If you are looking for neglected stocks in these shaky times, you could do worse than sink a pair of ears into the music of Paul Ben-Haim. It seems to be heading for revival. Lahav Shani is recording the symphonies for DG and other works are popping up all over the place. This 145-minute compilation under review mingles orchestral and chamber music to positive effect, prompting this listener at least to reconsider some aspects of a much-misunderstood composer.
A conducting assistant to Bruno Walter in Munich, Paul Frankenburger fled to Palestine when the Nazis seized power and changed his name to son-of-life. He was a true revivalist, excavating lost melodies of Sephardic Jews and educating two generations of native composers, among them the eminent and successful Noam Sherriff.
Ben-Haim was widely considered a bit of a Bartok for his ethnomusicological interests but closer attention reveals more of a Korngold, a would-be populist who tempts and teases an audience with film quotations and other familiarities. Yizkor, his 1942 “poem for violin and orchestra” is far more lyrical than its memorial subject suggests, gloriously given wing here by the violinist Liv Migdal. Ben-Haim wrote flatteringly well for stringed instruments, even more so for the contralto voice. There is a quasi-Elgarian ease to the way Hagar Sharvit immerses us in Mediterranean songs.
Among varied allusions to the Davidic Psalms, “To the Chief Musician” is an arresting reflection on who’s in charge of an orchestra, touching lightly on Mahler, Bartok, Hindemith and others, just as Erich Wolfgang Korngold might have done. It’s almost a concerto for orchestra, only more original. This set is full of fascinating discoveries, made in Germany by the effulgent Staatskapelle Weimar. I loved pretty much every minute and recommend it as a sound investment of anyone’s time.
