Moishe Oysher

Moishe Oysher (March 8, 1906 – November 27, 1958) was an American cantor, recording artist, and film and Yiddish theatre actor. During the 1940s and 1950s he was one of the top Hazzans and his recordings continue to be appreciated due to his rich, powerful voice and creative arrangements.

Biography Early life Oysher was born in Lipcani, Bessarabia Governorate, Russian Empire on March 8, 1906. He was born to a Jewish family that traced six generations of . He named Steinberg as a profound influence on his life. He may have gone back and forth between Canada and the United States during this time. The pair left for Newark, New Jersey to work at the Lyric Theater. He married Florence Weiss in Newark in January 1929. being perhaps the first singer to step from "" (stage) to "" (pulpit). He thereafter worked around the world in both arenas.

Some say that Oysher's voice was like the "roaring of the lion." In regard to his popularity, he was considered "the darling of many Jews.."[museumoffamilyhistory.com] He liked the jazz style, popular at that time, and he used similar rhythmic melodies in his prayers, respecting always the traditional Bessarabian "doinas" and "" moods of the prayers.

Oysher starred in three Yiddish films. In 1943 Oysher signed a contract with Fortune Gallo to perform several roles with the Chicago Opera Company and a fine career was foreseen, but after a heart attack he had to abandon the idea; he continued to work in radio and as a and recording artist until, after other heart attacks, on the advice of his doctors, he entered semi-retirement.

Oysher died in New Rochelle from undisclosed causes in 1958 aged 52, although his age was misreported as 51.

Family

Oysher was survived by his second wife Theodora (a pianist who had often accompanied him in concert), their daughter Shoshana (Rozanna), his sister Fraydele (a Yiddish theater actress and singer) and her husband Harold Sternberg, a chorister in the Metropolitan opera; their daughter is recording artist Marilyn Michaels. Rozanna married Armond Lebowitz and they had two sons, David and Brad.

Oysher died in 1958, aged 52, and is interred in Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, New Jersey.

Filmography The Cantor's Son (Dem Khazn's Zindl) 1937, USA, B&W, 90 min, Yiddish with English subtitles. Directed by Ilya Motyleff and Sidney Goldin. Other actors: Judith Abarbanel and Florence Weiss. Based on Moishe Oysher's life. A very poor young immigrant lands a job as a custodian, where he is "discovered" and becomes famous immediately. However, his success seems meaningless as he yearns for home.

The Singing Blacksmith (Yankl der Shmid; the Yiddish title literally means "Yankel the Smith") 1938, USA, B&W, 95 min, Yiddish with English subtitles. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Also with Miriam Riselle and Florence Weiss. This is a classic story of a blacksmith who is a womanizer and almost an alcoholic. One day, he meets a beautiful lady called Tamara and his life changes.

Overture to Glory (Der Vilner Shtot Khazn; the Yiddish title literally means "The Vilnius City Cantor") 1940, USA, B&W, 85 min, Yiddish with English subtitles. Directed by Max Nosseck. Helen Beverly and Florence Weiss. Oysher is the "Vilner Balabesl" - a cantor in Vilnius - with a renowned voice. Two men come from the Warsaw Opera to hear him sing "Kol Nidre" on Yom Kippur and are so impressed that they introduce him to European classical music and to reading sheet music; they convince him, against the wishes of much of his family (and especially his father-in-law) to become an opera singer in Warsaw. He leaves his job as the Vilnius cantor, and seems at first to be on the path to fame and fortune as an opera star in Warsaw, when the news arrives that his son has died. Grief-stricken, he stumbles over the aria he is supposed to sing, starting instead into a lullaby he used to sing to his son. In disgrace, he also loses his voice; he tries to return to his life in Vilna; finally, his voice comes briefly back to him on Yom Kippur. He sings the first few lines of the "Kol Nidre", then dies of a heart attack.

In the 1944 movie Song of Russia, using the pseudonym Walter Lawrence, Moyshe Oysher sang "Rusland iz ir nomen" ("Russia is Her Name"), music by Jerome Kern. Singing in the Dark, 1956, USA, B&W, English. A motion picture about a Holocaust survivor suffering from total amnesia who comes to the United States and becomes a singer. Oysher sings in English and in Hebrew.