Kol Nidrei collection

[SamWeiss <SamWeiss...>]

I just finished listening to a very interesting CD called "The Kol Nidrei 
Prayer - In The Tradition Of The Communities Of Israel". The recording is 
published in Israel and not easily available here in the US.
I got my copy from Hatikvah Music
http://www.hatikvahmusic.com/cgi-bin/details.pl?key=1005

Listening to this collection is guaranteed to give you a fresh perspective 
on Nusakh.  It's seventeen different versions of Kol Nidrei, ranging from a 
58-second no-frills version all the way to a gorgeous 10 minute (from 'Or 
Zarua' through 'Salachti Kidvarecha') rendition by Asher Hainowitz, cantor 
at Jerusalem's Yeshurun Synagogue.  (This is the first recording I've ever 
come across of this wonderful Hazzan, though I've always admired him 
whenever I heard him in shul.)

The booklet includes all the variant versions of the text that the various 
rites employ. In addition to gaining an insight into the various musical 
approaches, the CD is also a compendium of various pronunciations of 
Hebrew.  (I was surprised to learn that many traditions pronounce the 
opening word as "Kal" rather than "Kol").  Except for the Ashkenazi version 
and a couple of the others, the renditions are unaccompanied.  Some of the 
tracks even include a small unison "chorus" so you get a flavor of the 
congregational environment that the prayer is sung in.

Here is the table of contents, from

1.   Sephardic Jerusalem Version (Ezra Barnea)
2.   Ashkenazi Version (Asher Hainowitz)
3.   Turkish Version ( Various)
4.   Babylonian Version (Moshe Mutsafi)
5.   Moroccan Version (Moshe Almakias)
6.   Yemen Version (Aharon Amram)
7.   Tunis Version (Michael Siotbon)
8.   Kurdistan Version (Mamadia Yosef Tchuna & Shabtai Nessim)
9.   Afghanistan Version (Yaakov Bezales)
10.   Cochin Version (Eliahu Moshe)
11.   Bukhara Version (Yigal Ben Haim & Moshe Halawa)
12.   Salonika Version
13.   Persia Version (Ovadia Nataneli)
14.   Aleppo Version (Avraham Eini)
15.   Italy (Florence) Version (Hezkia Ganazani)
16.   Haban Version (Avraham Ben Saliman)
17.   Constantine Version (Ilan Gadzo)



_____________________________________________________________
Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+