November 11, 2004
Hazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo Celebrated 90th Birthday
(From Joods.nl, by Raya Lishansky, Translated by Irma Lopes Cardozo & Barry Mehler) http://www.joods.nl/archive/cultureel/muziek/JoodsNewsItem.2004-10-26.9494736971With the Uilenburger Synagogue [in Amsterdam, Netherlands] bursting at the seams, Hazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo celebrated his 90th Birthday in concert with Santo Servicio, the choir of the Esnoga. The 17 man strong Santo Servicio[1] opened the concert with Baruch Habba, under the driven leadership of their director-singer Barry Mehler resurrecting it like a Phoenix after 63 years of silence. ... Read about it....
Prior to the official opening of the concert, Hazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo received congratulations and best wishes from many members of the audience. Under the melody of Baruch Habba, Hazzan Cardozo walked from the back of the Shul and joined the choir in full force. This was one of the many impressive moments of the evening. Lopes Cardozo sang in this choir from 1922 until 1939; first as a boy soprano and later on as a young adult until he received an appointment as cantor in Suriname in 1939.
Lopes Cardozo embodies the living memory of the musical culture of the pre-war Portuguese Jewish community. Throughout the evening he drew from his rich memory of fragments of synagogue music sometimes ushered with amusement from the audience, as he would say: “I know it by heart!” People in the hall softly hummed some of the well-known melodies.
In a conversation with Barry Mehler, Lopes Cardozo tells about Santo Servicio from before the war, a choir of volunteers, consisting of about 25 men and about 20 boys. Even famous singers like tenor Giacomo Aletrino were members of the choir. It was a touching moment when Hazzan Lopes Cardozo produced a small black leather-bound book. “In this book you can find the complete Seder Hazzanut of the Esnoga.” I copied the 140 pages from the original Seder Hazzanut when I went to the synagogue everyday with my father. This is a guide for the Hazzan for all services during the Jewish year; a kind of users-manual. You can find everything in it and I have added all the melodies of our tradition, so that I would not forget them. I knew that there was only a small chance that I would be able to get a job as Hazzan in Amsterdam. This little book traveled with me over the whole world, and now I am returning it home. Hazzan Lopes Cardozo presented this little book to Bram Palache, Parnas-member of the P.I.G. and one of the singers in the new Santo Servicio.
The evening’s program was musically filled with Santo Servicio and a male quartet. The traditional settings of Hallìl for the 1st and 2nd day Passover were again and again sung with a clear and strong voice by the Hazzan. The vocal highpoint of the evening was when the four soloists sang, "Mizmor l'David" a composition by Victor Schlesinger. This music had not been heard in Amsterdam for more than 60 years and was now made possible thanks to the cooperation of composer’s granddaughter Anna Schlesinger, who personally attended the concert.
The concert came to a close with a composition of L.A. Benavente, Shir Hamagnalot l'David Samachti. Afterwards there was a reception where the large audience was given the opportunity to raise a (non-alcoholic) glass to the health of Abraham Lopes Cardozo.
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[1] It was assumed for a long period of time that the sheet music of the vocal cultural heritage of the Amsterdam Portuguese liturgy as it was sung by Santo Servicio before the war and was lost. A few years ago, boxes with scores from the unique music from the Esnoga were discovered. A part of the scores has been inventoried, catalogued and ready to be (re-) used for services in the Esnoga. Santo Servicio was re-established in 2002 and has already sung multiple times during services in the Esnoga under the direction of Barry J. Mehler. The choir took part in the great "Three Cantors" concert that took place in 2003 in the Esnoga.