In 1925 they were invited to come to Palestine to join an opera company. Despite the great popularity of the company, the small and struggling community was unable to sustain it at the time, and the effort was abandoned in 1928. The Rudinows then emmigrated to the United States. After serving for a short period in the chorus of Temple Emanu El in New York, Moshe Rudinow was appointed as Cantor, a position he held from 1929 until his retirement in 1949.
From Moshe’s lectures, autobiographical:
In 1917, my wife, Ruth Leviash, and I were invited to participate in a concert of jewish Music in honor of Engel, organized by the Odessa Society for Jewish Music. new songs arrived in manuscript, and Engel was expected in person. a general strike of the railroads prevented Engel from coming, and the concert was cancelled. However, we had new Engel songs this time: the third volume of folk Songs, a group of Children's songs for my wife, and his magnificent harmonizations to "Tateniu," "Oso Boker" and "Kadish." Both of us then had a full program of Engel, which we gave in Kherson for the Hazomir society, and in the Conservatory Hall in Odessa (for students and teachers). It was later, in 1923-24, during our sojourn in Poland as "Yiddische Folk Songer" that we started corresponding with Engel, who was then the editor of "Juval" in Berlin. He had heard about our work in behalf of Jewish music and sent us material and his blessings. His letters to us were written in Yiddish and Russian.
We left Poland in 1925 for Palestine to join the opera there, and it was Engel who met us, took us to his house and welcomed us like a father. We were at his side all the time there and worked closely with him. His wife, Antonina Constantinov, a marvelous pianist, was the accompanist for our concert work.
About recordings:
Decca album set.
Recording apparently made in Poland, found on 1927 list titled “SPIS ANGLIELSCIKCH PLYT Pailophon” -- Kadisz and Rabojsaj, rabojsaj.
Various amateur recordings. Various programs and newspaper articles about concerts:
28 May 1939: Dedication of Jewish Palestine Pavilion at New York World’s Fair. Moshe sang El Moleh Rachaim and Hatikvah at opening ceremony, Chant (If I Forget Thee, O Jersalem ...) at dedication service.
6 Dec 1951: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Salinas, CA. From announcement in Salinas paper: “St. Teresa’s chapter of St. Paul’s Episcopal church will present Cantor Moshe Rudinow in a recital of Jewish liturgical music at 8:15 o’clock tomorrow night. Cantor Rudinow will be assisted by his wife and the choir of St. Paul’s church under the leadership of William T. Stone. This is the second event of the concert and lecture series to be presented monthly at St. Paulæs church. The concert is free and open to the public.
The program will consist of cantillations of scriptural passages based on ancient trational modes. Ruth Leviash Rudinow will sing several Yiddish and Yeminite folk songs, and Mr. Stone will play a group of Chassidic tunes arranged for organ. The program will conclude with cantor Rudinow singing several cantorial solos with responses by the choir of St. Paul’s church.
Cantor Rudinow earned a nationawide reputation as cantor for 25 years of Temple Emmanuel in New York City. He now is retired and a resident of Oakland where he has assisted for the past three years with the music for the high holydays at Temple Sinai. It was at Temple Sinai that he sang last January for the first time in America his own Sabbath evening service.
Moshe Rudinow spent his childhood and early youth in the Ukraine where at eight years of age he was a member of Hazan Gedalyah Weinhause’s fine boy choir. At 14 years he also was alto soloist in the Kiev synagogue, and when his voice changed, he became bass soloist in the choir of the Great White synagogue in Odessa. In 1915 he was drafted and fought in the First World War.
Upon his return to Odessa he became choir director of the hazomir and conducted in the synagogue where Cantor David Reitman was the hazan.
He was later engaged as choir director of the Shalasshne synagogue in Odessa and came in close contact with Novakovsky, the famous synagogue composer and choir leader. In 1917 he was graduated from the imperial conservatory in Odessa with the degrees of laureate, which is equivalent of the doctorial degree of music in this country. It was while in the conservatory that he met a young lade, a fellow student, who later became his wife and also a partner of the concert stage.
In 1921, following the Russian revolution, Cantor and Mrs. (... line of type displace by repeat of line below ...) and Roumania, where they introduced the new Jewish and Hebrew folk and art songs. In the city of Lodz, Poland, and industrial center with a large Jewish community, they had to give 14 concerts before they were allowed to leave. In 1925 they went to Palestine where Cantor Rudinow met the father of modern Hebrew music, Joel Engel. When in Palestine they were artists of the Palestine Opera copany, and remained a part of that world famous musical organization until 1928. It was this year that they left Palestine to come to the United States. [the article then goes on to list the program.]” 3 Apr 1925: Teatrul Central, Bucarest, a program of Engel (Moshe), Rubinstein (Fina), Mozart, Leoncavalo (Moshe), Mozart again (Fina), and Rosini (duets). 25 March 1930: Moshe as soloist and assistant cantor, along with choir of Temple Emanu El, at Seventh Annual Celebration of the Founding of Maryland and the Establishment of Religious Liberty in America, Metropolitan Opera House. From a January 1929 program, Moshe and Fina, concert of modern Hebrew and Yiddish folk songs (one of several farewell concerts when they returned for Jack and Naomi):
“What the Press had to say about the Two Artists, Moishe Rudinoff and Ruth Leviash:
Of the soloists, in the “Creation,” Haydn’s masterpiece, Mr. M. Rudinoff in the dual role of Raphel and Adam, proved a singer of talent and force. Although he had already achieved distinction in the Palestine Opera in various roles, he surpassed himself on this occasion. Mrs. Ruth Leviash, the “Nightingale of Palestine,” delighted the audience in the role of Gabriel and Eve.
In last night’s performance of Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” two new artists made their appearance, Ruth Leviash and Moishe Rudinoff. Mrs. Leviash was an excellent Gilda, her sweet voice negotiating the many difficult passages with perfect mastery. As to Mr. Rudinoff, he was excellent throughout, his silver voiced baritone adding to the beauty of the difficult role of Sparafucili.
The Palestine Bulletin” 6. Dec. 1938: Founders’ Dinner,Leon Blum Colony in Palestine, at Hotel Astor, in honor of Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and His Excellency Count René de Saint-Quentin, the French Ambassador. Among others on honorary committee of patrons: Hon. Fiorello H. La Guardia, Professor Albert Einstein, Professor Felix Frankfurter, m.fl. Moshe sang Hatikvah. National broadcast by courtesy of Columbia Broadcasting Systems. Metropolitan area broadcast by courtesy of station WFVD.
From a letter inviting sponsors and attendees for a concert, apparently shortly after Moshe and Fina’s arrival in New York:
“Dear .......,
The above committee of sponsors takes pleasure in bringing to your attention the concert of two outstanding singers, Mr. Moshe Rudinoff and Miss Ruth Leviash, who have recently come to this country from Palestine.
Mr. Rudinoff’s beautiful rich baritone voice and Miss Leviash’s exceptionally sweet coloratura soprano, have won for them the enthusiastic admiration of great audiences throughout Eastern Europe, Poland, Russia, Roumania, as well as Palestine. While they sing in several languages, they have given special attention to Yiddish folk songs and Hebrew melodies, many of which have been written for them by Jewish composers.
In Palestine they were members of the Hebrew opera organization, singing in many of the well-known Italian, French and German operas translated in Hebrew.
The concert on Saturday, January 26th at the Engineering Society’s Hall, 29 West 39th Street, will be a revelation of the variety, power and beauty of Hebrew and Yiddish modern music and is sure to bring pleasure and enjoyment to the musical public of New York, which has been fed on Italian and German music, by the sheer novelty of the music, apart from the beauty of the voices of the gifted Palestinian singers.
By lending your valued patronage to this concert you will not only aid in bringing to the attention of the music loving public of New York a new contribution to the musical store of this cosmopolitan city, but you will be sure to enjoy the rich musical feast which awaits you.”
From Moshe’s lectures, re Engel:
“For centuries, the Jewish people sang their melodies and tunes, voicing their sorrows and joys, and mirroring their deep emotions and great faith. Until the end of the 19th Century, however, the Jewish folk song had remained in its original stages without having had proper care or artistic development. We game many great composers to the world who played quite an important role in the enrichment of musical art of their native countries, such as Meyerbeer, Mendelsohn, Offenbach, Rubenstein, Goldmarck, Mahler and others. But they neglected the melodies and musical treasures of their own race. The revival of the Jewish national movement which came immediately after the haskalah (Enlightenment) period, brought with it also a revival of all our arts. Our bilingual literature (Hebrew and Yiddish) was the first to be affected by it. Music and the other arts (theater and painting) followed suit. Our cantilations, ancient chants, prayers, folk songs, melodies and dances lived in the mouth of our people and notwithstanding all the influences of our neighbors, remained truthful to our past and fought against complete assimilation.
The revolutionary and liberal movements in Russia and the Narodnichestwa (Russian people’s movement), in the second half of the 19th Century, served as examples to our own intelligentizia.
The first pioneer in the field of Jewish Music, who redeemed it from its dormant state and who studied our songs and brought them back to our people in an artistic form, was Joel Engel.
Joel Engel was born in 1868 in Berdiansk (Government of Tavria on the Crimean Peninsula, in Russia), a region out of the Pale. Of his early Jewish education we know nothing, not even whether he went to a Cheder. As a son of a well-to-do family he was a pupil of a local Gymnasium. He studied music in his spare moments not realizing, however, that music would later become his life occupation. After completing his course in the Gymnasium, Engel was accepted by the St. Vladimir University in Kiev, and from there he went to the Charkow University where he studied law. In both places, he continued to enrich his knowledge of music, studying piano and musical theory. During his student ears he was already composing small pieces, but most of his time was given to his University studies and preparation fo