Rikordus di Mi Nona

Flory’s fourth CD, “Arvoliko,” was the last of four recordings she made between 1989 and 2005. The songs on the three earlier albums are, for the most part, full of the fun of holidays and Jewish customs, the trials and triumphs of love and marriage, celebrations and, at times, the tribulations of daily life. By contrast, “Arvoliko” brings us more contemplative, mournful, personal, and wistful songs, including “Rikordus di mi Nona,” “Saray de Oro,” “Raguza,” “Arvoles Yoran por Luvya,” and the title song itself. She rarely included such songs in her public performances, since her strong preference was to evoke happy pre-war memories of the lost world of her Nona and the Altarac family, the old traditions and customs that lasted for nearly five centuries after exile. “Rikordus di mi Nona” shows Flory’s great love for the gifts of her Nona and the deep longing she felt for the tranquility and stability of her early life. Such memories sustained her and remained strong even into her tenth decade. We placed this song at the heart of our show, “La Nona Kanta,” and we hear Flory’s voice saying, “I had that Sephardic Nona… She had the strength that was put to her by her Nona and her Biz-Nona (great-grandmother) to continue…”