OFRA HAZA - Musical drama "OFRA" by Bezalel Aloni חדשות סוף השבוע09-10-10

[@rpvee]

It seems like a nice tribute, I like the fact that they have Liel playing Ofra (she did a nice version of Yerushalayim Shel Zahav, just like Ofra). However, the play being a war between Ofra's family and Aloni is something that Ofra would never, ever have wanted at all, and because of that, this play is also against her memory. Plus, this play should not exist at all, because Ofra should still be here with us. :( RIP Ofra!

[@MarysiaKosowski]

I would love to see this play, and while I understand her family's concerns, I have one major complaint no one touched on: Liel's voice, sad to say, just doesn't move me at all. She sounds so very different from Ofra and sings in that contemporary "shouty" American style. I'm sure she's talented and has many fans without me. Couldn't Bezalel have found ANYONE else who sounded a little bit closer to Ofra's unique voice? Or asked her to imitate Ofra a bit more? When Lisa Gerrard recorded the Gladiator soundtrack (Hans Zimmer had been planning to use Ofra's voice), she really captured the spirit of what Zimmer might have wanted out of a collaboration with Ofra. Many people can morph their style and voice to imitate someone else's singing style. Is Liel incapable of doing this? Seems like it. And to be clear, I wouldn't care if she recorded a tribute album of Ofra's songs in her own style; that's her prerogative. But she's singing in a musical and trying to sell the illusion that she's Ofra. It behooves her to try a little harder to actually sound like Ofra, or else, if her voice is fundamentally incapable of imitation, they should have found a different singer.

[@KNJGSY]

Looking forward to a translation, but my first thought is:- What a BIG task - to ask any singer to reproduce the sound of Ofra Haza. As they say in the sports world - "that is a big ASK "!!! Good luck to them.

[@KNJGSY]

Hearing other people singing Ofra's songs underlines what a fantastic singer Ofra was, because they can't hit the notes, drive, and sustain them like she did. Imitation may be "the sincerest form of flattery", not being able to imitate fully is kneeling down before the great.

[@MarysiaKosowski]

I agree. It actually kind of makes me cringe to hear this girl singing Ofra's songs because her style is so very different and the songs suffer by comparison.

[@tomeriko]

Closed captions added - sorry for my bad english, hope it will be understandable.

[@MarysiaKosowski]

Singers who sound closer to Ofra's vocal timbre do exist. I ask anyone who misses Ofra to look up Yosefa Dahari. Of Yemenite-Moroccan-Israeli heritage, she released two albums in the early 90s and then disappeared. :P But she sounds almost exactly like Ofra, maybe more of a soprano whereas Ofra was a mezzo-soprano; it's haunting to listen to! Give Yosefa a try. She's much better than this Liel. ^_^

[@tomeriko]

working on it!