Product Description Renaissance in the Synagogue! The essence of Rossi’s bold gesture, achieving a sense of space and reverence both in phrasing and texture. 20 Hebrew hymns and psalms in stunning Renaissance polyphony, an exceptionally rare and refined recording. A careful blend of scholarship and singing of the highest order, Sydney Fixman – a leading authority on Jewish music – and early music specialists Pro Cantione Antiqua give these works their finest performance. Review Under the direction of Sydney Fixman, one of Jewish music’s leading executants, Pro Cantione Antiquas’s thoughtful performance exactly captures the essence of Rossi’s bold ges!ture, achieving a sense of space and reverence both in phrasing and texture. One can only imag!ine the impact of, for example, the beautiful expressive Psalm 137 Al Naharot Bavel (By the Rivers of Babylon) or the three part Barechu (Bless Ye) on those Jewish antiquarians whose age old diet of musical bread and water Rossi suddenly enriched with this generous serving of gateau foret noir.. The confident calm of Fixman’s forces, I sus!pect, is much nearer to the sound the composer would have heard. Barucho sh’mo – Let his name be praised. –Lucie Skeaping, Early Music today No one could ask for a better performance, It blends careful scholarship with singing by the Pro Cantione Antiqua of the highest order. But who could expect less. Fixman uses an all-male ensemble, has arranged the settings according to their key relationships, which are very comfortable to the ear, and avoids the use of cadences generally employed in synagogue chant. The recording is warm, the diction of the singers crystal clear and the performance stamped with all the affection that Fixman and his singers can muster. An outstanding CD and essential listening. (CD of the Month) –Jewish Chronicle