Thursday, April 21, 2011

Just One More Passover Parody, But It's Classical This Time


O sole mio is a globally known Neapolitan song written in 1898. It has been performed and covered by many artists, including such operatic singers as Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza, and Luciano Pavarotti. It also became popular when Tony Martin recorded it as There's No Tomorrow and Elvis Presley made it popular as It's Now or Never.

Now for our readers who are more partial to classical and operatic style singing, we're sharing one more Passover song, set to O sole mio. After all of the Pesach pop song parodies that we've posted over the past few weeks, this one, by Rabbi David Rubinfeld of Melbourne, Australia, should be a welcome change of pace.  

Chief Minister of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation since 2002, Rabbi Rubinfeld has actually been with the Congregation since 1989, when he assumed the position of Cantor, remaining in that position until his assumption of the chief Rabbinical role in 2002.

Born in Belgium, but raised and educated initially in the USA (New York City), with further studies in Israel, Rabbi Rubinfeld settled in Australia in 1973.

Renowned for both his wonderful operatic voice, as well as his irreverent sense of humour, Rabbi Rubinfeld still retains his Cantorial status while serving as Chief Minister, assisted by the team of the Chazan Sheni, Baal Koreh, and Choir. The Rabbi and his wife Miriam, while fixtures in Melbourne, frequently visit the USA where their children, and now some grandchildren, reside.

Enjoy!


(A tip of the kippah to Sheila Zucker for bringing this video to our attention)

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