Certainly, in the synagogue, you wouldn’t hear these chants with these orchestral accompaniments and chorus (uncredited arrangements) that make them sound like an adaptation for a Broadway kind of “Fiddler on the Roof” or a Jewish Wizzard of Oz made in 1930s Hollywood, when not to some Victorian Hymn (track 15, Mo’Os Tzur and Blessings for Chanukah), rather than like the authentic thing. And at times, those arrangements make the songs dangerously verge on the corny. Also, this Vanguard release stumbles on the absence of texts and translations, and sorry, but I’m not fluent in Yiddish, and that's a big detrimental to full enjoyment, I find. In that respect, Peerce's recital of Yiddish Folk Songs, Sings Yiddish Folk Songs, also on Vanguard, although it was accompanied by the same kind of arrangements, was better.

But… the jewishness certainly comes through, and nowhere better than in the lamenting songs, sung with agonized vehemence by Peerce (as in track 4 Retsei, 6 Ad Ana Adoshem, 7 Adoshem Adoshem). But no need to discriminate: almost all these songs are, more or less, lamenting.

The TT is 71:33 and there's certainly no complaint on that front, this CD (published in 1987) gathers the near complete contents of two Vanguard LPs, VSD 2134, "Cantorial Masterpieces" (with the choir and orchestra conducted by Abraham Ellstein - two songs have been left out), from 1962, and "The Art of the Cantor", with choir and orchestra now conducted by Gershon Kingsley, VRS 9237 (mono) / VSD 79237 (stereo) from 1966. The copyright years of 1974 and 1973 given by Vanguard on the back cover are of later reissues. At the time of writing, "Cantorial Masterpieces" is sold on eBay, with very legible cover photos (see my upload) which show that the original LP came with at least translations of the songs and way more information than the booklet of this CD reissue provides: the arrangements were by Ellstein, an important figure in New York Yiddish theatre and operetta. Further research shows that the arrangements of the program of "Art of the Cantor" were by Kinglsey. Born Götz Gustav Ksinski in 1922 in Bochum, Germany and able to get out of there in 1938, Kinglsey is still alive. You wouldn't expect it from his duties as a staff arranger for Vanguard and in Broadway, but he was a pionneer of electronic music and of the Moog synthesizer, and "writer of rock-inspired compositions for Jewish religious ceremonies". Too bad Peerce didn't record those.

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.3 (7 ratings)
Price	$12.97
Category	Middle East

The Art Of The Cantor