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"The
true gem of the evening [...] Etty Ben-Zaken staged
the world premier About
Vivaldi's "Stabat Mater"
"[...]
Etty Ben-Zaken in a fascinating performance [...]
her approach is original, contemporary, and I dare to predict: a brake-through." "[...]
I've heard many performances of Vivaldi's "Stabat" but even
the most beautiful of them, like those of Short and Scholl, Mingardo
and Stutzmann, did not excite me as that of Ben-Zaken.
She sings in her low, clean voice, in an approach that blends a non
operatic drama, with an ethnic character. . . That was a flash-and-blood
Stabat. Not a refined, 'salon' piece, but a cry of a bereaved mother.
It couldn't be sung more painful." About
"The Bride Unfastens Her Braids, the Groom Faints - Ladino Love
Songs"
"Ben-Zaken
performs these songs in a perfect way." "In
between the songs, Ben-Zaken told three stories she
has heard from her grandmother. Her hypnotizing voice made the entire
hall still, and the stories were so fantastic, creating happy laughter
waves in the audience. But at the end of the stories, one must admit,
not only laughter tears were flowing from our eyes." "There
are many beautiful performances [of the Ladino songs], but that of
Ben-Zaken is not only beautiful but unique. She offers
you the songs, more than sings them, and they penetrate through your
ears right into the heart." "Etty
Ben-Zaken [...] sings [the songs] with dramatic power and
a special sensitivity to the stories they tell. Her voice is imbued
with an amber-like richness perfectly suited to the bittersweet poignancy
of these love songs. Eitan Steinberg's subtle arrangements
remain faithful to the originals while fusing Middle-Eastern idioms
with avant-garde vocabulary." About the Music-Theater "Stabat Mater - a Human Prayer" "[...]
This creative couple, composer Eitan Steinberg and
singer Etty Ben-Zaken [...] actually, the word "singer"
is far from describing this interdisciplinary artist [...] The collaboration
between the two goes on through the years, and time after time amazes
with the cultural richness that flows from it. Now they have created
Stabat Mater - a Human Prayer: a large human lament,
and at the same time a rare contemporary protest . . . the piece succeeds
to be at the same time all-embracing, with excerpts from the Latin
prayer, a Judeo-Spanish Romanca, an American folk song and texts in
a folk and medieval styles in Hebrew and Arabic: But it also narrows
down to something totally personal, and in an artistic way paints
a picture of motherhood and loss, life and death [...] Stabat
Mater - a Human Prayer is a Music-Theater full of beauty
- both musically and visually..." (Excerpt from the article "The
flood-gates of tears were opened" Israel's daily "Haaretz,"
August 2004) About the Music-Theater "The Sultan is Pregnant" "The US premier of Eitan Steinberg's cheeky mini-opera The Sultan is Pregnant dazzled. With her flexible, world-pop voice, singer Etty Ben-Zaken narrated and acted out this folk tale - about a sultan who, after becoming pregnant and bearing a son (don't ask) swears off war - to perfection." (Boston Herald, October 2004) "Etty
Ben-Zaken wrote a fascinating text, partly an old tale,
partly a sharp actual essay [...] and with it comes the musical
beauty created by Eitan Steinberg and the captivating
performance of Ben-Zaken herself in voice and movement." About the Music-Theater "Princess of Five Faces" "The list is short of superlatives to describe
the beautiful stage, "...And the climax: the piece Princess
of Five Faces. Composer |