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"The great American soprano Regina Resnik is the narrator, producer, and occasional performer in this exhaustive compendium of the Jewish experience in song... The American program ["American Jewish Composers in Classical Song"]...has some significant first performances and first recordings, including...first recordings of Simon Sargon's 'Cantare' [from the cycle "Shema"]...Much of the first program speaks (or sings) of a Jewish experience riddled with sadness, loss, and injustice; and the performances are filled with emotional intensity... This video would be very useful to enhance any high school or university course that involves the Jewish experience...I'm also very pleased that this set celebrates living composers like Pasatieri, Barab, Corigliano, Sargon, Senator and Schiff, who continue to write music that reflects the emotionally expressive nature of European and American Jewish culture."
American Record Guide/ January- February 2012
"The CD features the choir of Temple Emanu-El of Dallas under the superb direction of its conductor, Simon Sargon, very ably assisted at the organ by Ms. Kathryn Johnson...This is precisely the kind of grass roots participation in a quality enterprise that infuses our worship service with beauty as well as reverence through the performance of Jewish music of quality...This is a truly excellent CD, one that not only does credit to Mr. Sargon, conductor and composer, to the singers of the choir, but ultimately to the temple where this superb music making regularly takes place. This disc is very highly recommended."
National Jewish Post/July 2001
"Mr. Sargon arranged or composed much of the music here, and most of it is in Hebrew. The expression ranges from the tenderness of 'K'rachem Av'...to the intensity of 'B'rosh Hashana,' a sobering meditation on human mortality. [Sargon's] Uv'chen pulses with assurance that the day is coming when 'evil will vanish like smoke' and God alone will have dominion...Given the prominence of Mr. Sargon's music, you have to figure that the performances bear an authenticity that only this choir and this director could give them. 'Renew Unto Us' makes a fine souvenir of Mr. Sargon's distinguished tenure as a liturgical composer and musician."
Dallas Morning News/September 2001
"The music for the High Holidays moves from solemnity to majesty to hope...reverent, dramatic, always heartfelt, fervent, and deeply moving...Excellent as the soloists are, it is the choir that is the outstanding entity at all times, singing with fervor and with a rich, warm tone and commendable control as well as clarity."
American Record Guide/Sept.-Oct. 2001
" ...Sargon and his choir of 27 years have combined many familiar melodies and many beautiful new ones into a musical and spiritual journey through the moods and feelings of the holy days. Also included are traditional pieces wonderfully arranged for this 100-voice choir by Sargon, and many of his own compositions which are written true to the melodic prescriptions of the high holy day 'nusach.' In a commanding yet understated way, [Sargon] conveys the beauty and passion of a piece with clarity, bringing the heart of the piece and the heart of the performer together... "
The Living Church/April 2002
"['Shema']... is sung evocatively by soprano Lila Deis...Elsewhere, Mr. Sargon explores Eastern European and Yiddish folk traditions."
Dallas Morning News/September 1996
"The 19-minute song cycle 'Shema', which gives this disc its title, ranks as one of the most impressive works in Dallas-based composer Simon Sargon's impressive canon...Soprano Lila Deis does justice to the intense vocal and emotional demands of the set. Four instrumental works and two brief song cycles (one in Yiddish, one in Ladino)... explore various aspects and levels of the Jewish heritage, ranging from an exuberantly urbane, klezmer-inspired KlezMuzik for clarinet and piano to a Schubertian 'Meditation' for cello and piano. 4 1/2 stars."
Star Time/Aug.-Sept. 1996
" ...a varied program of Sargon's music in excellent renditions...His music carries a high sense of drama, good knowledge of voices and instruments, and a thorough professionalism. This is a very attractive disc, well worth its price ... 'Shema'...is most evocative, including some quotation of Jewish chant and word-painting in addition to some gorgeous writing for soprano Lila Deis. 'At Grandmother's Knee' is a setting of five Yiddish songs for tenor and piano, sung well by Stephen Dubov. 'At Grandfather's Knee' is based on five Sephardic melodies with texts in Ladino. They are the highlight of the disc, especially 'Los arvoles llorosos', sung with great power by Deis. Sargon plays the piano and is an ideal partner for the vocalists...The excellent instrumentalists are mostly members of the Dallas Symphony. This is a delightful disc that I enjoyed from start to finish."
American Record Guide/Mar.-Apr. 1997
"One of the problems with new music is that there generally are few opportunities to hear it repeatedly-- and thereby confirm or reject first impressions. This premiere recording of 'Shema' presents that opportunity. If anything, the work makes a stronger impression upon repeated hearings... A superb group of musicians...The album is an impressive survey of the art of Mr. Sargon, who is a master of atmospheric music with a strong melodic impulse. The Dallas Opera should consider commissioning a work from him."
Dallas Morning News/June 1996
"Once again, soprano Janeanne Houston and pianist Robert Jorgensen have collaborated on an exemplary collection of modern art songs, featuring the work of some of our finest current composers... these are approachable, accessible songs that are highly expressive and largely tonal. And yet this does not feel like a safe or especially conservative collection.... "
Journal of Singing/ November-December 2006
"The themes of darkness, inner loneliness, with brief moments of rest and reconciliation, permeate all the songs. In sensibility, the songs reflect much of Brahms, though their syntax is more wayward harmonically, a legacy of Hugo Wolf. The piano is the lead singer, the voice often doubling the instrumental tissue... All 14 songs are lovingly rendered by Ms. Dupuy...She is what Rorem calls a smart singer of smart music. Intellectually, she might be a successor to Jennie Tourel. Mr. Sargon seems acutely aware of harmony's relation to rhythmic movement. The sound is quite close and resonant."
Audiophile Audition/ June 1999
"In summary, these Lieder are fascinating examples of their era, challenging, expressive, reflecting both the new techniques and concerns of the turn-of-the-century as well as a link with the past, both in poetry and music. Virginia Dupuy's rich mezzo-soprano is ideally suited to these Lieder... Her sense of line, even with the challenge of angular leaps, is highly musical, and her pitch is consistently exactly in the middle-- secure and accurate. Her accompanist, Simon Sargon, is an experienced conductor and composer as well as pianist/accompanist. His understanding of the style, sense of unity with the singer, and his fine technique provide outstanding piano partnership. From a purely musical standpoint as well as representations of a fascinating stylistic period and 'women's work,' this disc deserves a wide audience."
Pan Pipes/Spring 1999
"Mezzo Virgina Dupuy of Southern Methodist University...has recorded all the published songs of Alma Schindler, written before she married Mahler in 1902. Rich and luscious, as is Dupuy's voice, they are notable for the breadth of the poets she set...Pianist Simon Sargon partners her beautifully, and these accompaniments are not easy."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"The two wind band works are well-known...and are given wonderfully suave and idiomatic performances...While the ensemble playing cannot be faulted, Delaney allows the individual musicians freedom of expression, and this pays dividends, giving a maturity to the interpretation rarely found in College ensembles...With the limpid acoustic quality, well-matched choice of music and fine playing, this CD is hugely enjoyable."
British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles, Wind Magazine/ 2003
"The Meadows Wind Ensemble and Symphony...do themselves and their school proud..."
American Record Guide/ Sept.-Oct. 2003
"No complaints from me about the repertoire essayed by the Meadows forces- both wind and symphonic. The mix is potent...The performances are enthusiastic and accomplished and the recording attractive."
MusicWeb (UK)/ November 2003