Holland's
Shura Lipovsky has a reputation as one of Europe's best interpreters of Jewish and Yiddish songs. For this outing she uses a very stripped-down backing of just violin and the hammered dulcimer known as the cimbalom, both played with consummate skill. But it places great emphasis on her voice, and
Lipovsky handles the pressure with a wonderful, easy grace, apparent from the very first on "Layg Dayn Kop." If you're anticipating heart-lifting material you might be disappointed. It's a dour, serious outing that's more art music than anything else. But if you approach it in the right frame of mind, it can be very rewarding, if not always easygoing. Covering Ladino, Hebrew, and Ashkenazik Yiddish music, it has a wide range, and
Lipovsky herself certainly lives up to her billing as a singer, gloriously expressive and often subtle in the way she shades a lyric (the booklet offers English translations of everything). Put it on for those reflective moments when you need to be somewhere away from the world. ~ Chris Nickson