Chava Alberstein
Chava Alberstein playing guitar and singing into microphone onstage
Alberstein in 2007
Background information
Birth nameEwa Alberstein
Born (1946-12-08) 8 December 1946
Szczecin, Poland
OriginKiryat Haim, Israel
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1964–present
Labels

Chava Alberstein (Hebrew: חוה אלברשטיין, born 8 December 1946 in Poland) is an Israeli musician, lyricist, composer, and musical arranger. She moved to Israel in 1950 and started her music career in 1964. Alberstein has released over sixty albums in Hebrew, English, and Yiddish. She is known for her liberal activism and advocacy for human rights and Arab-Israeli unity, which has sometimes stirred controversy, such as the ban of her song "Had Gadya" by Israel State Radio in 1989. Alberstein has received numerous accolades, including the Kinor David Prize, the Itzik Manger Prize, and honorary doctorates from several universities.

Biography

Born Ewa Alberstein in Szczecin, Poland, her name was Hebraized to Chava when she moved to Israel with her family in 1950.[1] She grew up in Kiryat Haim.

In 1964, when she was seventeen, Alberstein was invited to appear at the Hammam Nightclub in Jaffa. She sang four songs, accompanied by herself on guitar and her brother Alex on the clarinet.[2] The program was broadcast live on the radio. After a guest appearance on Moadon Hazemer, recorded on Kibbutz Beit Alfa, she signed a recording contract with CBS.[2] Early in her career, she appeared at the Amami Cinema in Haifa's Neve Sha'anan neighborhood. Haaretz columnist Neri Livneh described her as "a little slip of a thing in a blue youth movement shirt, her face covered by huge glasses".[3]

Alberstein was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in 1965 and became one of many Israeli artists to rise to stardom by entertaining the troops.

Musical career

Alberstein has released more than sixty albums. She has recorded in Hebrew, English, and Yiddish. In 1980, she began to write and compose. Most of the songs on her album Mehagrim are her own work.[2] Alberstein's husband was the filmmaker Nadav Levitan, who wrote the lyrics for her album End of the Holiday. In 1986, Alberstein wrote music for her husband's film Stalin's Disciples.[4] Levitan died in 2010.[5] Alberstein's songs have been included in a number of multi-artist collections, among them Songs of The Vilna Ghetto and The Hidden Gate – Jewish Music Around the World.

Critical acclaim

According to Israel's second largest daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, Alberstein is the most important female folk singer in Israeli history:[6]

If [Israel has] a true folk singer, it is Chava Alberstein.

Political views and controversy

Chava Alberstein in a performance for Israeli wounded soldiers, 1969
Chava Alberstein in a performance for Israeli wounded soldiers, 1969

Alberstein is a champion of liberal causes. Throughout her career, she has been an activist for human rights and Arab-Israeli unity.[1] In 1989, her song "Had Gadya" (a version of the song traditionally sung at the Passover seder[7] with an additional verse in which she criticizes Israel's policy towards Palestinians[8]) was banned by Israel State Radio.[4][9][10] The song was later used in the film Free Zone by director Amos Gitai in Natalie Portman's seven-minute crying scene.[11]

Alberstein is also a proponent of the Yiddish language, both in her recordings and in a video titled "Too Early to Be Quiet, Too Late to Sing",[12] which showcases the works of Yiddish poets.

Awards

Alberstein has won the Kinor David (David's Harp) Prize. In 1999, she received the Itzik Manger Prize.[13] On 28 January 2011, she received the Lifetime Achievement Music Award from the Israel Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers of Musical Works, and holds honorary doctorates from Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science of Israel. On 13 May 2018, she was awarded an honorary doctorate in music from Brandeis University.

Quotes

  • "Even though I have lived in Israel nearly my entire life, I am constantly questioning my place in the world. Maybe this searching comes from being an artist, maybe it comes from being a Jew. I'm not really sure".

Discography

NumberAlbum NameRelease DateLanguageReferences
1Hine Lanu Nigun1967Yiddish
2Perach haLilach1967Hebrew
3Tza'atzueiah shel Osnat1967Hebrew
4Mirdaf1970HebrewGold[12]
5Mot haParpar1968Hebrew
6Chava Alberstein beShirei Rachel1969Hebrew
7Margaritkalach1969Yiddish
8Mishirei eretz ahavati1970Hebrew
9Chava beTochnit Yachid 11971
10Chava beTochnit Yachid 21971
11Isha ba'Avatiach1971Hebrew
12Chava vehaPlatina1974
13Chava veOded be'Eretz haKsamim1972
14Lu Yehi1973Hebrew
15K'mo Tzemach bar1975Hebrew
16Lehitei haZahav1975HebrewGold[12]
17Tzolelet Tzabarit1975[12] or 1976[14]
18Elik Belik Bom1976
19Halaila hu shirim1977Hebrew
20Karusella 11977
21Karusella 21977
22Karusella 31977
23Shirei Am beYiddish1977Yiddish
24Hitbaharut1978
25Chava vehaGitara1978
26Chava Zingt Yiddish1979Yiddish
27Ma Kara ba'Eretz Mi1979
28Ani Holechet Elai1980
29Shir beMatana1980
30Kolot1982
31Shiru Shir im Chava1982
32Nemal Bayit1983Gold
33Avak shel kochavim1984
34Mehagrim1986
35Od Shirim beYiddish1987Yiddish
36HaTzorech baMilah, haTzorech baShtika1988
37London1989
38MiShirei Eretz Ahavati1990Hebrew
39Ahava Mealteret1991HebrewGold
40HaChita Zomachat Shuv1992Hebrew
41The Man I Love1992
42Margaritkalach1994Yiddish
43Derech Achat1995
44London beHofaah (Live)1995
45Yonat ha'Ahava1996Hebrew
46Adaber Itcha1997Hebrew
47The Collection (Box set)1998HebrewGold
48Crazy Flower1998Hebrew
49The Well – with The Klezmatics1998Yiddish
50Chava Alberstein – Yiddish Songs1999Yiddish
51Tekhef Ashuv1999Hebrew
52Children's Songs – The Collection2000Hebrew
53Foreign Letters2001
54The Early Years – The Box Set2003
55End of the Holiday2004Hebrew
56Coconut2005Hebrew
57Like a Wild Flower (New Version)
58Lemele2006
59The Milky Way – Songs for Children2007
60Human Nature2008
61From Alberstein's Live Concert2008
62Chava Alberstein – The Original Albums – four-CD set2008

References

  1. 1 2 Richard Nidel (2005). World music: The basics. Routledge. ISBN 9780415968003.
  2. 1 2 3 Chava Alberstein bio Archived 5 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Haaretz Archived 11 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 Dorůžka, Petr (October 2008). "Chava Aberstein má ráda izraelskou poušť". Harmonie (in Czech). No. 10. pp. 18–21.
  5. ↑ "Nadav Levitan". nli.org.il. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  6. ↑ "Chava Alberstein". Aviv Productions, Ltd. 11 December 2001. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  7. ↑ Zarek, Adam. "חד גדיא Chad Gadya". Chatrh.org. Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto. Archived from the original on 30 September 2003. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "Chava Alberstein – חַד גַדְיָא (Had Gadia) lyrics + English translation (Version #2)". lyricstranslate.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  9. ↑ "Israel: Chava Alberstein banned". Freemuse. Archived from the original on 19 January 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  10. ↑ "Chava Alberstein: Multilingual Folkie". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  11. ↑ Michael Guillen (27 July 2006). "2006 SFJFF (San Francisco Jewish Film Festival) — Interview With Amos Gitaï". twitchfilm.net. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Chava Alberstein". Aviv Productions, Ltd. 11 December 2001. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  13. ↑ Shahar, Nathan (March 2009). "Chava Alberstein". Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Jewish Women's Archive. The date of the Manger Prize is given in "Mendele: Yiddish literature and language". Retrieved 20 March 2019. Archive of the Mendele mailing list.
  14. ↑ "Dartmouth Jewish Sound Archive". Dartmouth.edu. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
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