Louis Danto
Encyclopedia
Louis Harry Danto was a lyric tenor
and cantor who has won acclaim across the world for his concert appearances and recordings of Italian, Russian, and French opera
repertoire, as well as in the Yiddish (Jewish) and cantorial music of which he is one of the world's leading exponents. He performed extensively throughout North America, Europe and Israel, and has recorded 24 solo albums for RCA
, DaCamera, Musical Heritage Society, and Cadenza. Numerous contemporary composers have written for, and dedicated their works to Louis Danto.
He became recognized for the "rare beauty and purity of his voice, its mastery, power and control, and for his breathtaking emotional expressivity." After a performance at Carnegie Hall
, Alan Rich
of the New York Times wrote, "a voice of great beauty, clear and true — breathtaking, radiant, as though from another world." George Jellinek
, broadcaster and music critic for Stereo Review magazine (USA), wrote of Louis Danto: "No other tenor under contract to a major U.S. opera company today can duplicate such technique and overall control."
He became cantor at Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda synagogue (Toronto
, Canada) in 1973 until his retirement in 1998. An avid collector and scholar, in 2005, he donated one of the world's largest and most important historical collections of Jewish music – rare sheet music, recordings, and books – to Beth Emeth synagogue.
in Suwałki, eastern Poland; he sang as an alto soloist in the choirs of such greats as Jacob Berman and David Moshe Steinberg. During the 1939 partition of Poland by Nazi Germany and the USSR, his family moved eastward into Belarus in the Soviet zone. Soon afterwards, Louis won first prize with a Hebrew song in a children's singing competition in Baranovich, Belarus. During the competition, the Nazis invaded his city and murdered his entire family. Louis was fortunate enough to escape to Minsk. There he studied voice and cello at the local conservatory from 1939-1941. When Germany invaded Russia, Danto was moved once more this time with a group of other talented children deep into Russia where he continued his musical studies.
and Tito Schipa
, who heralded him as a major discovery in the tradition of the great bel canto
tenors. Danto went on to New York to study with Dr. Puegell. By the time Louis Danto arrived in the United States in 1950 his voice had already thrilled audiences in Russia and Italy. In the following years his repertoire expanded to include Italian, French and Russian Opera, and Yiddish art and folk songs.
in attendance. Cantor Danto, in September 1984, sang before Queen Elizabeth II
and Prince Philip
in Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens
to an inter-faith audience of 16,000 and millions of television viewers.
He has recorded 24 solo albums for RCA, DaCamera, Musical Heritage Society, and Cadenza. The most recent recordings include Arias and Songs of Love, made during his 1995 concert tour of Europe, recorded with the State Opera of Prague and I Heard a Voice From Heaven recorded with violist Rivka Golani
, both released in the spring of 1996. In December 1997 he released a new CD, Music From The Soul of a People. Most of these recordings can be heard on a free online audio archive at Florida Atlantic University, and are also available from a family produced record label Cadenza Records distributed by Cantorial Art.
of Mirr where he studied from 1950 to 1954. He served at the Jewish Center of Atlantic Beach, New York, and at the Park Synagogue in Cleveland, Ohio, retiring in 1998 after over 30 years as cantor at Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda synagogue in Toronto. Cantor Danto has been honoured by the synagogue with the title Cantor Emeritas, and remains an important part of the synagogue.
In addition, he is a researcher and a champion of rare and unusual repertoire: during his 1989 East-European tour (of concerts in Moscow, Leningrad, Odessa, Kiev and Budapest) he discovered the manuscripts of many songs from the long-lost original classics of Jewish music, several of which he recorded for the first time on his Gems of the Jewish Operetta and Masters of the Jewish Art Song/The St. Petersburg School.
In February 1998, Cantor Louis Danto received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the Jewish Theological Seminary
in New York City.
Authentic music from more than 100 years ago can be found in the collection. Some of the many examples of rare Jewish music include: Yiddish Culture from Kiev, published in 1921; Songs from Leipzig, published in 1920; an original edition of Avram Goldfaden's operetta
King Ahasverus, published in 1899, and 500 Years of Yiddish Poetry, published in New York in 1917.
The categories include cantorial music, classified down to specific prayers, so if one wants many versions of, for example, L’Cha Dodi, one can easily find each version in one particular file. Similar files can be found for Yiddish folk songs, Yiddish pop songs, Yiddish operettas, Sephardic songs, serious compositions for cantor and choir, Chassidic music, and, among other categories, Jewish music written by such non-Jewish composers as Handel, Schubert, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Right now, some of the rare books can be seen in glass cases in the Beth Emeth Library. Most of them are still in organized files in a Beth Emeth storage room. But all of the collection can still be viewed by the general public upon supervised request. The music exists not only as sheet music but also as 78 and 33 rpm records, big reel-to-reel tapes, cassette tapes, and CDs.
The collection has been praised by a number of experts, including Professor Edwin Seroussi
, the Emmanuel Alexandre Professor of Musicology and Director of Jewish Music Research Centre of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
, and Dr Eliott Kahn, who has been the Music Archivist at the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary for over 12 years.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
and cantor who has won acclaim across the world for his concert appearances and recordings of Italian, Russian, and French opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
repertoire, as well as in the Yiddish (Jewish) and cantorial music of which he is one of the world's leading exponents. He performed extensively throughout North America, Europe and Israel, and has recorded 24 solo albums for RCA
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, DaCamera, Musical Heritage Society, and Cadenza. Numerous contemporary composers have written for, and dedicated their works to Louis Danto.
He became recognized for the "rare beauty and purity of his voice, its mastery, power and control, and for his breathtaking emotional expressivity." After a performance at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, Alan Rich
Alan Rich
Alan Rich was an American music critic who served on the staff of many newspapers and magazines on both coasts. Originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, he first studied medicine at Harvard University before turning to music...
of the New York Times wrote, "a voice of great beauty, clear and true — breathtaking, radiant, as though from another world." George Jellinek
George Jellinek
George Jellinek was the Hungarian-born host of The Vocal Scene, a weekly syndicated radio feature produced by WQXR radio of New York City...
, broadcaster and music critic for Stereo Review magazine (USA), wrote of Louis Danto: "No other tenor under contract to a major U.S. opera company today can duplicate such technique and overall control."
He became cantor at Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda synagogue (Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada) in 1973 until his retirement in 1998. An avid collector and scholar, in 2005, he donated one of the world's largest and most important historical collections of Jewish music – rare sheet music, recordings, and books – to Beth Emeth synagogue.
Childhood
As a child, Louis Danto sang at his synagogueSynagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in Suwałki, eastern Poland; he sang as an alto soloist in the choirs of such greats as Jacob Berman and David Moshe Steinberg. During the 1939 partition of Poland by Nazi Germany and the USSR, his family moved eastward into Belarus in the Soviet zone. Soon afterwards, Louis won first prize with a Hebrew song in a children's singing competition in Baranovich, Belarus. During the competition, the Nazis invaded his city and murdered his entire family. Louis was fortunate enough to escape to Minsk. There he studied voice and cello at the local conservatory from 1939-1941. When Germany invaded Russia, Danto was moved once more this time with a group of other talented children deep into Russia where he continued his musical studies.
After the war
Danto moved to Rome to study voice with L. Samoshi. It was here that he caught the attention of world renowned singers Beniamino GigliBeniamino Gigli
Beniamino Gigli was an Italian opera singer. The most famous tenor of his generation, he was renowned internationally for the great beauty of his voice and the soundness of his vocal technique. Music critics sometimes took him to task, however, for what was perceived to be the over-emotionalism...
and Tito Schipa
Tito Schipa
Tito Schipa was an Italian tenor. He is considered one of the finest tenori di grazia in operatic history...
, who heralded him as a major discovery in the tradition of the great bel canto
Bel Canto
Bel Canto may refer to:*Bel canto, an opera term that literally means "beautiful singing"*Bel Canto , a novel by Ann Patchett*Bel Canto , a Norwegian pop/electronica band*Bel Canto , 2006 Roberto Alagna album...
tenors. Danto went on to New York to study with Dr. Puegell. By the time Louis Danto arrived in the United States in 1950 his voice had already thrilled audiences in Russia and Italy. In the following years his repertoire expanded to include Italian, French and Russian Opera, and Yiddish art and folk songs.
International concert and recording artist
Louis Danto has performed throughout the world to critical and popular acclaim. In December 1965, he chanted a special prayer at Tito Schipa's funeral in New York at the request of the family with leading singers from the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in attendance. Cantor Danto, in September 1984, sang before Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
and Prince Philip
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
in Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
to an inter-faith audience of 16,000 and millions of television viewers.
He has recorded 24 solo albums for RCA, DaCamera, Musical Heritage Society, and Cadenza. The most recent recordings include Arias and Songs of Love, made during his 1995 concert tour of Europe, recorded with the State Opera of Prague and I Heard a Voice From Heaven recorded with violist Rivka Golani
Rivka Golani
Rivka Golani is an Israeli viola player.She has performed as soloist with orchestras including the Boston Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Hong Kong Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan,...
, both released in the spring of 1996. In December 1997 he released a new CD, Music From The Soul of a People. Most of these recordings can be heard on a free online audio archive at Florida Atlantic University, and are also available from a family produced record label Cadenza Records distributed by Cantorial Art.
Cantor and champion of Jewish music
Danto combined the best of his artistic background with his Jewish soul and made Hazzanut (leading the sung parts of the Jewish liturgy in synagogues) his chosen career. He studied Hazzanut with conductor Leo Low and composer Herman Zalis. He also expanded his knowledge of Jewish sources at the YeshivaYeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
of Mirr where he studied from 1950 to 1954. He served at the Jewish Center of Atlantic Beach, New York, and at the Park Synagogue in Cleveland, Ohio, retiring in 1998 after over 30 years as cantor at Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda synagogue in Toronto. Cantor Danto has been honoured by the synagogue with the title Cantor Emeritas, and remains an important part of the synagogue.
In addition, he is a researcher and a champion of rare and unusual repertoire: during his 1989 East-European tour (of concerts in Moscow, Leningrad, Odessa, Kiev and Budapest) he discovered the manuscripts of many songs from the long-lost original classics of Jewish music, several of which he recorded for the first time on his Gems of the Jewish Operetta and Masters of the Jewish Art Song/The St. Petersburg School.
In February 1998, Cantor Louis Danto received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the Jewish Theological Seminary
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...
in New York City.
The Cantor Louis Danto Musical Library
Upon retirement, Danto announced his desire to dedicate his entire collection to Beth Emeth. His wish was approved at a general meeting in September 2004. The proposal included renovation of the Beth Emeth library as well as the construction of a stage and theatre seating 200, to permit performances of the great variety of Jewish music in his collection.Authentic music from more than 100 years ago can be found in the collection. Some of the many examples of rare Jewish music include: Yiddish Culture from Kiev, published in 1921; Songs from Leipzig, published in 1920; an original edition of Avram Goldfaden's operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
King Ahasverus, published in 1899, and 500 Years of Yiddish Poetry, published in New York in 1917.
The categories include cantorial music, classified down to specific prayers, so if one wants many versions of, for example, L’Cha Dodi, one can easily find each version in one particular file. Similar files can be found for Yiddish folk songs, Yiddish pop songs, Yiddish operettas, Sephardic songs, serious compositions for cantor and choir, Chassidic music, and, among other categories, Jewish music written by such non-Jewish composers as Handel, Schubert, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Right now, some of the rare books can be seen in glass cases in the Beth Emeth Library. Most of them are still in organized files in a Beth Emeth storage room. But all of the collection can still be viewed by the general public upon supervised request. The music exists not only as sheet music but also as 78 and 33 rpm records, big reel-to-reel tapes, cassette tapes, and CDs.
The collection has been praised by a number of experts, including Professor Edwin Seroussi
Edwin Seroussi
Edwin Seroussi is a leading contemporary Israeli musicologist of Uruguayan origin.Seroussi settled in Israel in 1971. He is currently professor of musicology and director of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem...
, the Emmanuel Alexandre Professor of Musicology and Director of Jewish Music Research Centre of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
, and Dr Eliott Kahn, who has been the Music Archivist at the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary for over 12 years.
Discography
- Zing un Tanz (Yiddish) – RCA 1653/54 – LP
- Israeli Composers (Hebrew) – MHS 1653/54 – LP
- Psalms of Israel, Hallel Oratorios (Hebrew) – MHS 1709 – LP
- Song of My People (Yiddish) – Sound Path Records SP009 – LP
- Russian Romantic Songs (Russian) – MHS 1185 – LP
- Louis Danto Salutes Israel (Hebrew) – MHS 1781/Cadenza 113 – Cass/CD
- Russian Romantic Songs (Russian) Da Camera TSM 9001/Cadenza 100 – LP/Cass/CD
- Prayers of My People (Cantorial) – Cadenza 101 – LP/Cass/CD
- Come Back to Sorrento (Italian) – Cadenza 102 – LP/Cass
- Songs of Holocaust and Heroism (Yiddish) – Cadenza 103 – LP/Cass/CD
- Favourite Jewish Songs (Yiddish) Cadenza 104 – 1997 - Cass/CD
- None But The Lonely Heart (Fr, Ger, Russ) – MHS 3276/Cadenza 105 – Cass/CD
- The Art of Cantor Louis Danto (Cantorial) – Cadenza 106 – Cass
- Russian Art and Folk Songs (Russian) – Cadenza 107 – Cass/CD
- Gems of The Jewish Operetta (Yiddish) – Cadenza 108 – Cass/CD
- Masters of the Jewish Art Song/The St Petersburg School (Yiddish) – Cadenza 109 – Cass/CD
- I Heard a Voice From Heaven (Liturgical: Hebrew, Ladino), with Rivka GolaniRivka GolaniRivka Golani is an Israeli viola player.She has performed as soloist with orchestras including the Boston Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Hong Kong Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan,...
, viola – Cadenza 110 – Cass/CD
- Arias and Songs of Love (Fr, It, Rus, Eng, Sp, Ger) (with Prague State Orchestra, cond. Michel Philippe) – Cadenza 111, 1996 – Cass/CD
- Music from the Soul of a People (Liturgical) – Cadenza 112 – Cass/CD
- The Best of Louis Danto – Cadenza 114 – CD
- Louis Danto in Recital, Vienna and New York (1961–65) (It, Gre, Rus, Heb, Pol) – Cadenza 115 - 2001 - CD (2CDs)
- Musical Moments with Cantor Louis Danto: 50 years of musical treasures - LRCD120 (4CDs)
External links
- Image of Louis Danto, the cantor (Florida Atlantic University Libraries)
- Image of Louis Danto, the concert artist (Cantorial Art)
