Re: [Cz-L] Joseph Schmidt singing Donizetti

Miriam (Mimi) Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>

Thank you Ina for sending us this link.
There are numerous mistakes in what is written about Joseph Schmidt.
Clearly, the writer's English is poor and he or she did not bother
to check for omitted words and spelling.

The village of Davideni was called Davideni also during
the Austro-Hungarian period. It is now called Davidivka.
It is the birth place of my paternal grandfather Moshe Reifer
and I visited it in May of 2006.

In the link it states:

> Boekinova, Rumania. At the beginning of the Great War he moved with his
> parents and his two sisters to the village of Czernowitz, where he went
> through the local grammar school without much difficulty, showing a particular
> feeling for languages. At home they speak Rumanian, at school German and
> because they were Jewish he also learned Hebrew. He sang purely as a hobby in
> the synagogue choir and it was not until he was about twenty when it became
> clear that his future lay in music.

Not only was Czernowitz not a village, it is "Bukowina" or "Bucovina",
but certainly not "Boekinova".

My mother who lived at Karolinengasse #5, a building she described as "eine
Mietkaserne", was a neighbor of Joseph Schmidt, only 4 years younger than he
and sang in the quire of the "Tempel" when he sang as soloist. I believe she
also appeared in "Tuvia der milchidike" with him. She knew him pretty well
and talked about him often. Accordingly I believe that Joseph Schmidt spoke
Yiddish at home and learned German in School, at least until the end of WW1.

The list of recordings, on the other hand is impressive and valuable.
As a child, I became familiar with "Cavalaria Rusticana", "Martha" and
"Postillion", through the recordings of Joseph Schmidt. My mother's favorite
song was :
 Dein ist mein ganzes Herz,
 Wo du nich bist dort kan ich nicht sein. From Land des Laechelns.

Nostalgia, nstalgia.

Mimi

> Dear Czernowitzers,
> I just got this link http://www.dutchdivas.net/tenors/josephschmidt.html
> In the amusing bio note accompanying the video clip, Czernowitz is called a
> village.
> Enjoy the voice!
> Ina Lancman
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Received on 2007-11-12 16:00:59