[Suzanne] Haïk-Vantoura found a new way to read the Bible's [te`amim]. In a similar manner and atmosphere she composed this heart-breaking lament based upon her extraordinary sense of melodic, modal patterns.

I personally think Prof. Zakai's rendition of this same text on Visages antiques d'Israël is somewhat better -- perhaps due to more experience with the text by the time that recording was made. All the same, it is heartening that the melody of the Elegy is more than worthy to stand alongside thirteen other tracks containing traditional and modern Jewish melodies of different, expressive styles. Prof. Zakai's classically trained, dead-in-tune and very flexible voice gives an effective modern update (as it were) of many old styles (including, of course, that of the biblical chant).

The recording's excellent liner notes are given in both English and Hebrew. (Evidently the Hebrew is in most cases the original text; certainly in the case of the text given for the Elegy, the Hebrew notes contain more information.) The numbering of the tracks may be confusing, as fourteen tracks are listed on the CD itself and twenty-two are listed within and on the back of the liner notes and on the back of the jewel box. The reason for this is because two tracks contain two song cycles, each with several songs. The track listing below gives fourteen tracks.

One outstanding historical feature of this recording (among others, of course) is the very first track, a sung text by "Obadia Hager" (that is, Ovadiah ha-Ger or "Obadiah the Proselyte" [literally "the Stranger"], whom Mme. Haïk-Vantoura calls "Obadias the Norman" in her book). This proselyte to Judaism transcribed a number of biblical and other texts current in his day (12th century), using a Christian musical notation. His work is therefore very important for understanding the state of synagogue chant at the very time some of the most important "reader's manuals" concerning the te`amim were being written for use in the synagogues. Prof. Zakai writes:  "This text and melody, by Obadiah the proselyte was found in the G'nizah manuscripts in Cairo, written in Lombardic neumes" [sic].