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RECORDED MUSIC
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| CD for "Open the Gates" by Robert Cohen. See: "In Defense of the Cantor in Judaism" |
Melinda Given Guttmann
In Defense of the
Cantor in Judaism
When music by the famed theater composer Elizabeth Swados appeared on
Robert Cohen's new CD, "Open the Gates," we sent the anthology
off to Melinda Guttmann for a theater critic's eye view. Ms. Guttman,
whose latest book is "The Enigma of Anna O.," is a frequent
contributor on Jewish subjects to the NYTW. "Open the Gates"
threorizes that the key to the new American Jewish heart may be found
in American Jewish composers who are more more reflective of Woody Guthrie
or Judy Collins than the synagogue choirs of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Guttmann disagrees, and avers that the most significant American addition
to Jewish spirituality is not found in popular music, but the voice of
the woman cantor. Here, she reviews three different CDs of modern sacred
Jewish music: "Open the Gates! New American-Jewish Music for Prayer,"
Robert Cohen Producer, 2002; "Sacred Chants of the Contemporary Synagogue,"
Cantor Rebecca Garfein, Bar Productions, 1998; and "Songs to the
Invisible God," Ruth Weider Magan, 2001, Sounds True.
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| Audra McDonald stars in original cast recording of Marie Christine. |
New Recordings
CD Roundup at the OK Music Corral
Stacks of CDs of operas & musicals—old & new, orchestras,
instrumentalists, soloists, and cabaret artists have been piling up over
the summer and into the autumn. Here are listings of some of the more
outstanding—or unusual—recordings. By Glenn Loney
Loney's Music Notes
CD and Video Reviews by Glenn Loney
Twenty-five new releases including: Opera Fanatic on Video/Broadway
Masterworks Remastered/Call Jennifer Larmore Mister/Chanticleer's Guadalupe
Virgin Matins/Salzburg Festival Documents/Thomas Adès' Powder Her Face.
Bert Wechsler
Literally hundreds of reviews
This collection of reviews is a major part of the cyberspace legacy of Bert Wechsler, who was editor of Music Journal for eight years, a music and dance critic for the New York Daily News and New York Concert Review, dance critic and associate editor for Attitude, video critic for video Review, music editor of High Performance Review, dance critic for Der Tanz der Dinge (Switzerland), recordings critic for High Fidelity, and a correspondent for the music magazine Rondo in Finland and newspapers in Norway (regular column) and Denmark as well as other free-lance activities. He was co-author of "Dear Rogue," the biography Lawrence Tibbett, published by Amadeus Press. He was also associate Editor of Computer Buyers' Guide. He was a member of the Music Critics Association, the Outer Critics Circle, The Bohemians, an honorary life member of the New York Mahlerites, and a founder of the Manhattan Festival Ballet and the Center for Contemporary Opera. Although officially retired from performing, he retained his membership in four theatrical unons. At the time of his death on November 30, 1997, he was critic-at-large for The New York Theatre Wire.
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