Since 2014 Noah Bendix-Balgley has been 1st concertmaster of the Berliner Philharmoniker, but klezmer music has been part of his life since childhood, when his father taught Yiddish folk dancing at festivals and workshops. His Fidl-Fantazye: A Klezmer Concerto, orchestrated by the eminent Samuel Adler and heard here in its intimate chamber orchestra version, weaves khosidl, hora, freylekhs and plaintive doina improvisations into three continuous movements, with a musical motif spelling the name 'Samuel' and playful nods to Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Recorded at a Late Night concert in the Philharmonie in 2023, the programme continues with Bendix-Balgley's own arrangements of traditional tunes – including Der Gasn Nign and a riotous Odessa Bulgar with solos for clarinet, trumpet and piano – and closes with Yismekhu for solo violin, where the sobbing 'krechtz' ornament gives the klezmer fiddle its unmistakably human voice. This release is part of the series Soloists of the Berliner Philharmoniker.