Warsaw's Jewish Mermaid: Syrena Recordings from the Orvomaa Archive 1909-1933

Renair Records are unearthing rare sources of Jewish music from hidden archives. Chekhov's Band, the last album, reviewed in #114, was a treasure house of little-known Eastern European klezmer artists. This has similarly meticulous research and notes, reminding us that in 1939 Warsaw had the largest Jewish community in Europe, second only to New York in the world.

The symbol of Warsaw is the mermaid (syrena in Polish) and the recordings here come from the Syrena record label, founded in Warsaw in 1908 by Julius Feigunbaum. By 1912 it was the most successful record company operating in the region. The pieces are taken from the collection of Finnish collector Harry Orvomaa (1927-1990). But the repertoire is largely cabaret and theatre songs with a scattering of cantorial and klezmer, from Belf's Romanian Orchestra. If you like mannered, exaggerated kitschy theatrical pieces and cantorial singing with voluminous vibrato, then this is also a treasure trove. If, like me, you don't, it's a nightmare, with Gershon Sirota, chief cantor of the Great Warsaw Synagogue, being the worst. Still, the scholarship and research into this material is excellent.