What People Say About Fran Kleiner
About Fran
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What People Say About Fran Kleiner
“...The day’s events were a huge success and all those present for Fran’s performance were inspired by her knowledge of Yiddish and her desire to share it with the audience...She really made the weekend...”
Beth Rosenwasser
Arts and Culture Program Coordinator
(Celebrate Jewish Heritage Weekend)
Jewish Community Center of Houston (TX)
“...Listening to the recording made me feel that I was indeed sitting at one of those small gatherings and listening to some very pretty folk and theater songs that touch on many aspects of life. There are lullabies, children’s songs, love songs, work songs, wedding songs, songs of the Holocaust and some pure poetry. It is interesting to note that this collection includes several (‘Mariasha,’ ‘Michalke,’ ‘Yaninka,’ and ‘Un Du Akerst’ that are rarely recorded. That fact alone makes this an interesting CD. Fran Kleiner has a very pleasant voice and an obvious feeling for the music and the meaning of the songs. There is much warmth in the renditions. She accompanies herself on the guitar with simple, straightforward chords...‘A Fire Glows’ is an apt title for this recording because Fran Kleiner obviously has a fire burning within her for Yiddish song. This attractively presented CD is a welcome addition to the growing accumulation of Yiddish recorded music.”
Jewish Currents
March 2001
“...can she ever sing! A life-long lover of Yiddish culture and music, the youthful Kleiner can wrap herself around a song and bring its characters to life. She’ll sing you a lullaby and ease your worried mind. She’ll make you laugh; she’ll make you cry; she’ll make you homesick, reflective and proud to be alive...‘A Fire Glows’, a more apt title is hard to imagine, as Fran Kleiner has dedicated so much of her life to keeping the flame alight...she translates the key lyrics, puts the songs in context and lets her passion burn. And even though the audience might not understand Yiddish, they seem to laugh or choke up at the same identical point in the song...song after song after song (is) each full of insight and whimsy and homely Yiddish wisdom...”
Frank Quattrone
Ticket, supplement to Montgomery Newspapers
January 10-11, 2001
“...I played the introduction, ‘Der Yid Der Shmid,’ ‘Dai-Vi-Di-Gi,’
and ‘Yossl, Yossl’ on my show last night...
It’s a fantastic album. I love her voice; it rings so true, and you feel her love of the music, and the joy of sharing this love. I will feature her again in the future...”
Mike Sherman
Host of Rejuvenating Heritage Jewish Web Site
College Station, TX
June 29, 2000
formerly of KEOS 89.1FM.
Wrote on October 9, 2006:
“My web site supports Fran.
I have played Fran’s music on KAMU, 90.9FM, our NPR station here as well.”
“...Her voice and her explanations
of the songs are very refreshing, very genuine. I haven’t enjoyed folky
Yiddish singing this much since I last heard Gerry Tenney and Betty Albert
Schreck back in California. The album opens with the familiar ‘Der Yid
der Schmid’ and runs through familiar and unfamiliar songs, ranging from
the ‘Partisaner Lid’ to ‘Oyfn Pripetshik’ and even ‘Fisher
Lid’, which the Klezmatics do somewhat differently. I’ve been overwhelmed
with pretty Yiddish singing on CDs lately. This is pleasantly different,
and much easier to keep listening to. This is a real Yiddish family album,
but also a good album to listen to just at those moments when you wish your
family were around.”
“Yiddish-language folk songs are an important part of Jewish music. Fran Kleiner has been keeping the tradition alive...Full of energy and accompanied only by her guitar, Kleiner’s voice reveals little of the fact that she is in her seventies! The album’s liner notes include English explanations of all of the songs, in addition to her reparté between
songs to her audience.”
Paula Kirman
Producer and “Guide” of the best World Music site on the ’Net:
Music from cultures and languages around the
world, with weekly features and links from over 28 countries.
May 12, 2000
“Born in Brooklyn...Fran Kleiner learned to love two things: speaking Yiddish and singing...On the CD, Kleiner performs solo, playing guitar and singing with all the conviction of a true folk minstrel. Her selections are a mix of children’s songs, love songs, and work and protest songs. They cover the range of human experience and feeling, including homesickness, love and stories about fishermen and blacksmiths.”
Cynthia McGroarty
Philadelphia Inquirer Montgomery County Neighbors
April 16, 2000
“The CD was positively wonderful; especially, because I need to learn these songs, and Fran sang them so clearly that I was able to catch and understand every single word! She has really made a contribution to my level of Yiddish cultural literacy.”
Member of Yiddish speaking group
Houston, Texas
“Fran is a natural. When she sings, she lights up, and then the audience lights up.”
Tom Gala
Recording Producer
“Fran brings joy and vitality to the Yiddish repertoire. Her personal charisma delights audiences and she brings the same warmth of her own feelings to wherever she sings, as if she was singing at one of her family’s simchas.”
Ken Ulansey
Renowned Klezmer musician
“Fran Kleiner has, over the years, brought enlightenment and joy to CSJO by both her intelligence and her wonderful singing. We are overjoyed that she is one of ‘us.’”
Rifke Feinstein
Executive Director, Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations of North America
“Fran Kleiner’s rendition of Yiddish
songs is authentic. She knows the Yiddish language, its idioms and its colloquialisms.
She sings pure Mameloshen. Equally important is the fact that Fran’s voice
has a beautiful quality for singing Yiddish folksongs and art songs. Her renditions
are pure Yiddishkeit. She has made a unique contribution to our ‘Goldene
Pave’ (Golden Peacock) programs of poetry, prose, humor and song, and has
been a mainstay in our holiday observances.”
Jack Rosenfeld
Sholom Aleichem Club, Philadelphia
“Fran Kleiner is an important purveyor of Yiddish song. Her Yiddish is authentic, her voice a real pleasure to listen to, her repertoire boundless. Her programs give much joy to her audiences.”
Bess Katz
Sholom Aleichem Club, Philadelphia
“Fran Kleiner has been associated with the Jewish Childrens’ Folkshul for many years, and for the last several has been leading singing for the children and for the whole community at special events. Fran’s gifts are her beautiful voice and infectious warmth -- she so obviously loves her music! The kids and adults alike love her songs and can often be heard humming and singing the Yiddish melodies. Fran is one of our living
treasures!”
Art Miron
Music teacher, Jewish Childrens’ Folkshul of Philadelphia
About Fran
Bio/Resume