“El Maleh Rachamim”: a Premiere Performance by Denis Sedov

Two new videos of the composition “El Maleh Rachamim,” this time performed by the renowned singer Denis Sedov, have appeared on Baruch Berliner’s YouTube channel.

The composition “El Maleh Rachamim” (Merciful Lord) was created by Baruch Berliner, Nachum Slutzker, and Sergey Krutsenko (RIP) for the film Address on the Wall, which recounts the World War II tragedy at Babi Yar. It is also part of the Holocaust memorial project www.elmalehrachamim.com, where various performers and orchestras have recorded their renditions to honor and preserve the memory of the victims.

Bass-baritone Denis Sedov is a distinguished opera singer who has excelled at the world’s most prestigious venues, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Paris Opera, and Covent Garden, while also performing in theaters and concert halls in San Francisco, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Tel Aviv, and cities across Japan and China. Mr. Sedov gained wide recognition for his performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the opening ceremony of the XVIII Winter Olympic Games in Nagano in 1998.

The recording of “El Maleh Rachamim” was completed in Moscow in the summer of 2024 at the studio of the Ippolitov-Ivanov State Musical and Pedagogical Institute, with the video filmed in December at the Jerusalem Great Synagogue in Israel. Mr. Sedov’s performance was filmed separately in each of the three languages: Russian, English, and Hebrew.

Today, we are presenting the English and Hebrew versions, with the Russian one currently in editing and set to be released soon.

We invite you to learn more about the project at www.elmalehrachamim.com and participate by performing your own rendition. Currently, the composition has been arranged for various instruments, including violin and orchestra, piano, cello, string orchestra, and guitar.