Foreign Letters

Amazon.com
Like Joni Mitchell, Israeli singer-songwriter Chava Alberstein possesses a rare combination of passion, sensitivity, anger, and intellect. She also personifies the womanly side of an overwhelmingly masculine warrior culture. Her glorious alto, supported here by a consort of subtle acoustic instruments, conveys every possible shade of emotion as she travels between nostalgic klezmer-flavored Yiddish folk songs and modern Hebrew language poems about hard-won mundane moments and sudden alienation. Romance spans the centuries as she describes a prewar rural beauty with a heart of ice but also rebukes a latter-day urban Lothario. As Alberstein is the same age as her embattled homeland, her songs often act as a timeline. She sings of bewildered immigrants learning to survive in a modern secular state and shell-shocked natives in a constant state of adjustment. An uneasy optimism permeates her work, despite the frightening present and uncertain future. --Christina Roden

Tracks:

Leaves Fall
Mirele
Liar
The Ladder
The Secret Garden
A Maidens Prayer
High Atop a Mountain
Back Home
An Image
Indifferent
Passport Control
Foreign Letters

Amazon.com

Like Joni Mitchell, Israeli singer-songwriter Chava Alberstein possesses a rare combination of passion, sensitivity, anger, and intellect. She also personifies the womanly side of an overwhelmingly masculine warrior culture. Her glorious alto, supported here by a consort of subtle acoustic instruments, conveys every possible shade of emotion as she travels between nostalgic klezmer-flavored Yiddish folk songs and modern Hebrew language poems about hard-won mundane moments and sudden alienation. Romance spans the centuries as she describes a prewar rural beauty with a heart of ice but also rebukes a latter-day urban Lothario. As Alberstein is the same age as her embattled homeland, her songs often act as a timeline. She sings of bewildered immigrants learning to survive in a modern secular state and shell-shocked natives in a constant state of adjustment. An uneasy optimism permeates her work, despite the frightening present and uncertain future. --Christina Roden

Customer Reviews:

A Beautiful Voice and the Best Israel Has to Offer.......2006-01-03

I love all of the tracks on this cd. My favorite, however, is The Secret Garden. Chava Alberstein has an incredible voice, full of passion and sorrow--in a word, soul. I have other cds of hers, but the tracks on here are by far some of her best.

Try it, you'll buy it; and you'll love it!

Great voice and pleasant music!.......2005-08-09

A friend recommended to get acquainted with Chava Alberstein's music, and I am so happy he did. Chava Alberstein has a great deep, expressive, and husky voice. The music is very pleasant and there is a feeling she sings "from the heart". Her songs in Hebrew are simply beautiful...I now admire this very talented singer and would collect her albums if given a chance.

true gem.......2004-10-29

chava alberstein is an israeli singer who has been recording continuously since the mid 60s.she has recordings in everystyle thinkable and she is equally convincing as a rockstar,folk singer with a guitar,or smoky cabaret chanteusse.in this fascinating trilingual album she gives a new distinctively personal and modern twist to world music.words fail to describe the feelings she conjures with her voice.just put this cd on and you'll embark on a beautiful musical journey.