Russian Cabaret Hits

scot

The "cabarets russes" in Paris came about after the Russian civil war, as Brandeoneon correctly states, by White Russians who fled Russia after losing the war. They went first to Istanbul. When that didn't work out, they went to Paris, where you then found Russian army generals cooking in bistrots (originally a cossack work meaning "quick"). The music at these cabarets russes was originally vocal music of tzigane origin, usually a soloist and a chorus, maybe a balalaika or two. This style of music was first heard in the famous restaurant Yar in Moscow, which is still operating and coincidentally is adjacent to the Romen gypsy theatre in Moscow today. I have a photograph of the Yar from the 1880s - it's been there a long time.

It was later on that the cabarets russes added instrumental music, probably as a result of the many musical influences in Paris.

"Two Guitars" is known to Russian gypsies as "Vengerka". I never heard it called "Dui Gitari". They play it much differently than we're used to hearing it. They also play the tune Matelot Ferret calls "Berusovie" and know it as "Ekhali tzigane" or "The Gypsies Were Travelling", "Dui-Dui" or "Two by Two" which is popular among western gypsies and was recorded by Koen de Kauter on his "Romani" CD. "Dark Eyes" they call "Oche Chornyo" and another favorite is the tune we call "Those Were the Days". It is known as "Darogai Dleennayoo" and was actually written by a Russian named Boris Fomin with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskeei.

The history of all this is spelled out in a book called "Cabarets Russes" by Konstantin Kazansky, in French, hard to find and long out of print. It's a good book, written in simple straighforward French understandable even to an autodidact like me. There is also an interesting description of the russian cabarets in Mezz Mezzrow's autobiography.

Boulou Ferre made a recording of Russian music with guitarist Serge Camps, Pali Gesztros on cymbalum and Valia Dmitrivitch on vocals, and there are plenty of recordings available by Alyosha Dmitrivitch which is similar music. Not to mention the rare recordings of Valia Belinsky and Challain Ferret.

There are still similar restaurants in Paris. The only one I ever went to was the now-closed "Les Yeux Noires" in the Mouff', it served Georgian food. I saw the Ferre brothers and Angelo Debarre there back in the 90s. The character of the modern place is generally touristic - a far cry from what they must have been like in the early 1930s, when most of the Russians in Paris were aristocrats who'd had to flee the bolsheviks after the war...

Fascinating stuff!

Best
Scot

sockeye

What an enlightening discussion!

thanks, guys.

Ken Bloom

There were still places somewhat like this in San Francisco in the early 70's. There was a small Russian restaurant who's name I can't remember but they employed a balalaika player named Stephan Shevchek who became my teacher. he was a little nuts but he played all of these tunes that Scott mentioned and more that I remembered from my childhood.
In his autobiography, Vasili Yemetz, the influential bandurist talks about giving concerts and recitals all over Europe, including Paris in that time between the wars before he settled in Los Angeles. He also was espcaping the civil war and in his programs are some of these same tunes, even though they are not, strictly speaking a part of the early bandura repertoire. He included them as part of his program because they were tunes his audience would recognize and relate to.
I also have a rare recording of Rudi Knabl, the concerrt zither virtuoso playing solo (no backing group). He includes many of the same tunes that Matelo Ferret recorded but with German titles instead of French. Communication and mdeia being what it was in that period between the wars, it seems that there developed a sort of pan-European repertoire that many players incorporated regardless of whether they were playing guitar, cymbalom, fiddle, accoridan etc. Fascinating for me having tunes I heard when I was eight pop up on recordings and in get togethers with new musicians. I guess that's why so much of what Vadim Kolpokov played was so instantly familiar to me.

MichaelHorowitz

[quote="Ken Bloom"]it seems that there developed a sort of pan-European repertoire that many players incorporated regardless of whether they were playing guitar, cymbalom, fiddle, accoridan etc. [/quote]


Yes....those same tunes show up everywhere. They seem to be the top 10 of their day. Dave Apollon, who was from the Ukraine, recorded many of them:

The Man with the Mandolin"
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Dave
Apollon (2CDS)

The
Man with the Mandolin

They recreate some of the Russian Cabaret vibe in these videos:

[url=http://www.djangobooks.com/archives/2005/02/02/dave_apollon_when_a_gypsy_makes_his_violin_cry.html#000210]http://www.djangobooks.com/archives/200 ... tml#000210[/url]

[url=http://www.djangobooks.com/archives/2005/02/02/dave_apollon_two_guitars.html#000212]http://www.djangobooks.com/archives/200 ... tml#000212[/url]

Ken Bloom

Hi Michael,

I'll see if I can't find that Rudi Knabl recording and send it to you. I think if you compare it to the Matelo Ferret recordings and some of the others that have been mentioned here you'll see exactly what I mean. I'd post some of it but I lack the computer skills to do this.

MichaelHorowitz

Love to hear that...if you send them to me I can post them.

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Elliot

There is (or was, not sure) a great place in Chicago called Moscow At Night. Ticket price included dinner, drinks, and a cabaret floor show. I used to go all the time when a friend was tending bar - everything brass and velvet, a real movie set. We always cracked up when the house band did their only English song - I'm Your Venus - "...and Venus vas herr name...", etc.

Cuimean

It's interesting that this topic should come up, as I just picked up a CD by Alexander Vertinsky, an old Russian cabaret singer. The repertoire you're discussing isn't represented on the 2 disc set I picked up, though; it's mostly songs that he wrote. Still, his bio backs up the post-revolution journey outlined earlier in this thread.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Vertinsky

clausci

wow interesting discussion!
i see that also in the Hansche Weiss Quintet recordings with Titi Winterstein,and of Shnukenak Reinhardt too,
they often use the original name of the tunes ,it was reminded to me by Scott with the tune Darogai Dleennayoo .
anyway i dont know maybe most of them are Hungarian and not properly Russian...wich can be Russian?

sockeye

Anyone familiar with this CD?

Zigeunertrio Kalinka
Jalousie



Zsolt Kallai: violin
Tcha Limberger: guitar, violin and viola
Sándor Ürmös: cimbalom
Frederik Caelen: accordion
Herman De Rycke: double bass and voice

The sound samples sound very good...

John