Halva – The Sweetest Klezmer Orchestra

Halva is the Belgian-German-Latvian ensemble with which Nicolaas Cottenie investigates the links between traditional klezmer music and the many cultures surrounding the Ashkenazim (the Yiddish-speaking Jews in Eastern-Europe): Greek, Hungarian, Turkish and even Western Classical Music. The result is music that breathes a deep energy that invites to dance, with a touch of seriousness and moments of spiritual introspection here and there. It is music that speaks to the mind and the heart. It is music that, despite the myriad of influences, is still very clearly klezmer music, and at the same time is exploring the boundaries of the genre, searching for a fusion between Western and modal concepts of consonance and dissonance. Read More

A nice return to the origin of the Ladino language speakers!