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Bina Landau

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Bina Landau, 1960s

Bina Landau (Yiddish: בינה לאַנדאַו, 1925–1988) was a Polish-born American Soprano folk and art singer active from the 1950s to the 1970s.[1] She primarily performed in Yiddish and Hebrew, interpreting the work of such composers and poets as Itzik Manger, Hayim Nahman Bialik, and Mordechai Gebirtig.[2] She was a Holocaust survivor, having been imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen and other camps during the Second World War.

Biography

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She was born Bina Herszberg in Radom, Kielce Voivodeship, Poland on November 1, 1925.[3] She was Jewish; her parents were named Moses (Yichael Moshe) and Sarah (Surah Leah, née Migdajek).[4][5][3] She was influenced by her father's love of music, and her musical abilities were already noticed at age 4 by Dr. Milano, a prominent musician in Radom.[6] She joined the Beth-Yakov Temple choir in Radom at 8 years old.[6]

During World War II, following the German Invasion of Poland, she was initially imprisoned in the Kraków Ghetto.[7] She was then sent to four different concentration camps during the course of the war: Majdanek,[8] Auschwitz,[1] Kraków-Płaszów,[9] and Bergen-Belsen.[1][10][11] After the end of the war, she lived in the American Zone of Germany and met her future husband, Marion (Mariek-Fiszel) Landau in Garmisch-Partenkirchen; they were married in Stuttgart in January 1946.[1][2][4] Bina's parents also survived the Holocaust and she was reunited with them after the war.[2] She and Marion emigrated to the United States, sailing from Bremerhaven to New York City in May 1946; her husband later recalled that she had sung for the fellow Jewish emigrants aboard the ship during the voyage.[2][12][13] They soon settled in Philadelphia, where Marion founded a bridal headwear manufacturing company and later became an accountant.[14][15] Bina auditioned for the choir at the Settlement Music School in 1952, where she was accepted and soon started to receive instruction.[2] She also studied in New York with vocal instructors Arthur Wolf and William Hermann.[15] The Landaus became important figures in the Philadelphia Jewish community; Marion helped found the Jewish New Americans in Philadelphia group, an association of Holocaust survivors, and later created endowments for the Perelman Jewish Day School and the Jewish National Fund.[14] Bina became a well-known performer of Jewish music and would tour extensively in the United States, as well as perform on the radio in New York and Philadelphia for several decades.[6][16] She appeared at Carnegie Hall for the first time in the early 1950s.[6][17]

Landau's friendship with Mikhl Gelbart was an important influence on her musical career and her dedication to Yiddish- and Hebrew-language folk and art song. In 1959 she founded a Holocaust Survivor's choir in Philadelphia, and she was also soloist with the Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel choir for more than two decades.[2][18] She also had a regular radio program on WEVD in New York and one on WDAS in Philadelphia starting in the mid-1950s.[19] In the early 1960s she went on a month-long tour of Israel.[20]

She died on June 24, 1988, in Philadelphia.[5][21]

Discography

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  • Sing Along with Me! Yiddish and Hebrew Songs for Community singing (Famous Records, 1962, compiled by Joseph Mlotek, with choral direction by Vladimir Heifetz)[22]
  • Bina Landau sings The Golden Peacock and others (MBL Enterprises, 1971)
  • Bina Landau presents Poetry In Song: A Tribute to Michel Gelbart (Famous Records)
  • From Russia to Israel: Bina Landau sings (MBL Enterprises)[23]
  • El Hatsipor - To the Bird - Songs of Poems by Chaim Nachman Bialik (MBL Enterprises, 1975)[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Brown, Leon (7 May 1998). "As I See It: Fund Recalls a Soprano With a Perpetual Smile". Jewish Exponent. Philadelphia, PA. p. 22.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Myers, Tara (16 April 1998). "In Loving Memory: Holocaust survivor creates legacy for wife". Jewish Exponent. Philadelphia, PA. p. 10.
  3. ^ a b "Bina Landau Migration • Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965". FamilySearch. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Official Certificates (marriages and deaths), western zones, general". Arolsen Archives. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Bina Landau in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007". Ancestry. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d "At Poale-Pioneer Concert Next Month". The Daily Journal. Vineland, New Jersey. 24 February 1955. p. 4.
  7. ^ Benjamin and Vladka Meed registry of Jewish Holocaust survivors 2000 Volume IV. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in cooperation with the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. 2000. p. 360. ISBN 9780896047037.
  8. ^ Benjamin and Vladka Meed registry of Jewish Holocaust survivors 2000 Volume IV. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in cooperation with the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. 2000. p. 423. ISBN 9780896047037.
  9. ^ Benjamin and Vladka Meed registry of Jewish Holocaust survivors 2000 Volume IV. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in cooperation with the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. 2000. p. 525. ISBN 9780896047037.
  10. ^ Fowler, Robert W. (13 April 1975). "Survivors Recall the Death Camps". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. p. 8.
  11. ^ Benjamin and Vladka Meed registry of Jewish Holocaust survivors 2000 Volume IV. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in cooperation with the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. 2000. p. 99. ISBN 9780896047037.
  12. ^ "Bina Landau Migration • New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957". FamilySearch. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Bina Landau Migration • United States, New York, Index to Passengers Arriving at New York City, compiled 1944-1948". FamilySearch. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Marion Landau, 86". The News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. 3 December 2004. p. A8.
  15. ^ a b c Weiss, Motl (1975). El Hatsipor - To the Bird - Songs of Poems by Chaim Nachman Bialik (LP). Philadelphia: MBL Enterprises. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Pioneer Women Mark Anniversary with Gala Banquet". The Daily Journal. Vineland, New Jersey. 11 January 1952. p. 16.
  17. ^ "Will Celebrate Israel Birthday". Courier-Post. Camden, New Jersey. 21 June 1955. p. 6.
  18. ^ Peltz, Rakhmiel (2010). "2. 125 Years of Building Jewish Immigrant Communities in Philadelphia". In Takenaka, Ayumi; Johnson Osirim, Mary (eds.). Global Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 40. ISBN 9781439900147.
  19. ^ "Singer, Economist at Jewish Center". Nashville Banner. Nashville, Tennessee. 17 October 1957. p. 53.
  20. ^ "Music Program to Highlight Shalom Sisterhood Meeting". The Levittown Times. Levittown, PA. 20 February 1962. p. 10.
  21. ^ "Bina Landau Death • United States Social Security Death Index". FamilySearch. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  22. ^ "Sing Along with Me!". Recorded Sound Archive. Florida Atlantic University. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  23. ^ "From Russia to Israel". Recorded Sound Archive. Florida Atlantic University. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
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