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Yiddish Theater Romance for Valentine’s Day

This Valentine’s Day, forget roses and chocolates. Just tell your beloved that he or she “shines like the sun.” Or, for added romance, try it in Yiddish. Composer Ilia Trilling's Yiddish theater duet Du shaynst vi di zun (translation: You Shine Like the Sun) was one of the many musical numbers from the 1941 production, Leb un lakh (Live and Laugh)—an elaborate musical spectacle on Second Avenue that featured some of the most famous actors and singers of the day. The lyrics, which were written by Isidore Lillian, are better than any sappy greeting card and include verses like “Without you, my life is in peril / At the first sight of you, my heart jumps for joy.”

Grammy Awards Past

Since music fans are still feeling the shock and awe of Sunday night’s Grammy Awards ceremony, the Milken Archive decided it would be a great opportunity to reflect back to a 2005 interview with heralded music producer David Frost. Frost won five Grammy awards that year, including Producer of the Year, Classical, for his work on the following Milken Archive albums: Dave Brubeck, Bruce Adolphe, Genesis Suite, Jewish Operas Volume 1 and Yehudi Wyner. In the interview, Frost talks about his experiences producing these recordings and the importance of the Milken Archive. Read the piece and see photos of Frost at work. (Photo credit: Jeffrey Herman)

Looking Back: Musicologist John Baron on Frederick Kitziger

Milken Archive’s recently released Volume 01, Jewish Voices in the New World: The Song of Prayer in Colonial and 19th-Century America, offers a brief survey of the people who helped shape America's first Jewish music. An added bonus is an exclusive interview with New Orleans-based musicologist John Baron, who discusses the life and work of Frederick Emil Kitziger. Although apparently not Jewish himself, this late 19th-/early 20th-century composer and musician served as organist and musical director for multiple New Orleans-area synagogues in the late 19th century and contributed significantly to the musical life of the early American Reform movement. Watch the video.