A word of warning: it starts with a ‘bang’. If you are not prepared for that, you may get quite a shock. It almost knocked me out of my chair, but the landing afterwards was fortunately on the soft side. Let me put it this way: the ‘bang’ – I assume it is the ‘killul’ (the ‘curse”’) of the title – was a prelude to an interesting story. So you have been warned.

Chad Gadia (the little goat) for clarinet, violin, cello and piano is different. Let me put it this way: the title is an ept one. Delightful. It put a smile on my face.

The piano concerto is different again. I don’t know if I like it, but it is certainly worthwhile, mainly because of the excellent performance. The pianist Michael Kieran Harvey deserves a big compliment for his insanely good execution of the piece. You can hear it best in the very classicist- sounding third movement.

Israeli composer Yitzhak Yedid was born in Jerusalem in 1971; his parents were Jewish refugees from Syria. In his music, you can hear the influences of Arab and Jewish rhythms, all combined with free jazz. This is especially evident in the (for me the best and also the most interesting) title composition, Angels Revolt, a chaconne for piano.

But if I may be very honest: I found the introduction absolutely fascinating, but will I ever play the CD again, just for my own pleasure? My advice is: take your time, listen and … who knows?

YITZHAK YEDID
Angels Revolt
Kiddushim ve´killulim, Chad Gadya, Concerto for piano and strings, Angel´s Revolt
Rachael Shipard, Michael Kieran Harvey (piano)
Christian Lindberg, Graeme Jenkins (conductor)
Betweenthelines BTLCHR71246