My father O”H was a chazzan, and it was of the utmost importance to him to follwo the nussach. He was very much against the trend to sing i.e., kedusha, to popular niggunim of the day, and regularly extolled the virtues of traditional chazzonus. His greatest disappointment was in seeing the traditional nussach being traded in by baalei tefila. I believe there is a place for both. Not everyone likes and appreciates a good chazzan, but those same people can enjoy a good baal tefila if he has a pleasant voice. Along with nussach the ivra must also be correct, and that, too, was a sore point with my father, who was very precise in his enunciation.
Menu