13 January 2005

I haven't yet had time to fully evaluate this site, but below is my interim evaluation -- based on the few mp3 files to which I've listened so far.

The nusach (melodies) for the Friday night davening seems acceptable, albeit nothing special. (That in itself is a great accomplishment, in these days when nusach has become a vanishing species, like Yiddish).


The voice of the person who recorded the music on the Virtual Cantor (the "singer") is quite pleasant.

But the pronunciation is nothing less than atrocious. It is some kind of phony Sephardit, typical of assimilated Americans. The singer uses an American Oh (diphthong) instead of the authentic O as in "ROsh HaShOnah," and an American R instead of the trilled or guttural R sound which is used in Hebrew and Yiddish.


Moreover, the Torah reading on this website is of little value. (Even the spelling "Laining" is wrong -- it should be Leyening. See http://mysite.verizon.net/jialpert/Yiddish/Transliteration.htm.)

I just listened to the Torah reading for Rosh HaShanah at http://www.virtualcantor.com/L005%20RH1%20-%20Cohen.mp3.

It is unacceptable, even though the singer's voice is excellent, and the melody is quite good as well.

This is because (again) the pronunciation is atrocious. It is full of English R's. (I just HATE to hear English R's used in Hebrew!)

Also, there are numerous instances of mispronounced words, for example:

The word shem-b'no (with a segol) is mispronounced sheym-b'no (with a tseyre). Yal'dah (with a shva-na under the lamed) is mispronounced Yaldah (with a shva-nach). Ben-Sh'monat is mispronounced Beyn-Shmonat.

At least the singer got the VaYaMOL right! Most stupid Americans will mispronounce it VaYamal.

Although the Rosh HaShanah reading left much to be desired, still -- the reading of the Megillah for Purim at http://www.virtualcantor.com/purim.htm is masterful. Both the grammar (dikduk) and the Sephardit pronunciation are flawless. I lack the words to praise it sufficiently.

Hopefully, the aforesaid deficiencies will be corrected in time, and then one could whole-heartedly, and without any caveats, recommend the Virtual Cantor website. Certainly the layout of the site is very professional, and its purpose is noble.