Superstar cantors could once be heard from the synagogue to Carnegie Hall. These legends, like Yosele Rosenblatt and Gershon Sirota, were famous for their performances of the distinctive musical art form known as khazones: a dramatic mix of opera, intense minor keys and emotional vocal techniques that mimicked crying and moaning in song.
Some younger cantors from across denominations are rediscovering this music and publicly performing it, giving appreciators of this Ashkenazi fine art renewed hope for its future.
Join Forward deputy Yiddish editor Zach Golden in conversation — and song — with Cantors Judith Berkson and David Childs about the revival of this deeply resonant tradition.
