“Baby It’s Cold Outside” in Yiddish! – קעצעלע, ס’ברענט דער פֿראָסט
Music and original English lyrics: Frank Loesser (1910-1969)
Yiddish lyrics: Binyumen Schaechter (2015)
Performed by Cantor Joshua Breitzer and Donna Breitzer
Piano accompaniment by Seth Weinstein
Filmed live in performance
June 5, 2016 • Symphony Space, NYC
as part of the choral concert
“To Life, To Laugh, L’Chaim!”
Jewish People’s Philharmonic Chorus / JPPC
דער ייִדישער פֿילהאַרמאָנישער פֿאָלקסכאָר
Binyumen Schaechter, conductor
בנימין שעכטער, דיריגענט
Yiddish lyrics written for Steven Blier and the New York Festival of Song
First premiered by Cantor Joshua Breitzer and Donna Breitzer 12/14/15
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejppc
Website: http://www.TheJPPC.org
Contact: information@TheJPPC.org
Videography by Asaf Blasberg: http://asafblasberg.com
Audio Recording by David Merrill
Post-Production by Sam Zerin, Avi Eisen, Leyzer Gillig, and Binyumen Schaechter
The concert “”To Life, To Laugh, L’Chaim!” (2016) was a celebration of the life and work of the great Yiddish author, Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916), who had passed away 100 years earlier. The title of the concert combined the opening lyrics “To life, to life! l’chaim!” of the song “To Life” from “Fiddler on the Roof” (which is based on “Tevye and His Daughters” and other tales by Sholem Aleichem), with arguably the most famous quote from Sholem Aleichem, “Lakhn iz gezunt; doktoyrim heysn lakhn” which translates as “Laughing is healthy; doctors prescribe that we laugh.”
In keeping with the latter, the song “Ketsele, s’brent der frost” was one of several numbers in the concert whose inclusion was to make the audience smile and/or laugh.
This video can be viewed with subtitles in English, transliterated Yiddish, and, for the first time, Yiddish in the Yiddish alphabet! English and transliterated Yiddish should appear by default. For the Yiddish alphabet, click on the Settings button in the lower right corner of the YouTube video player. Subtitles can also be turned off by clicking on “CC.”