German Goldenshteyn

Clarinetist German Goldenshteyn was a vital link to the klezmer traditions of a bygone world, documenting more than one thousand folk songs that together form the bedrock of Yiddish musical culture. Born September 2, 1934, in Otaci, Romania, Goldenshteyn was orphaned during World War II, and he and his brothers sold cigarettes and matches on the street to survive -- when the Soviet Union occupied their homeland in late 1944, they were sent to an orphanage in Odessa. There, a musical aptitude test singled out Goldenshteyn's promise and he was transferred to a military music sch...