Lesley Garrett - A North Country Lass (2020)
Lesley Garrett - A North Country Lass (2020)
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 335 MB | Tracks: 16 | 64:03 min
Style: Classical | Label: Music Infinity
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 335 MB | Tracks: 16 | 64:03 min
Style: Classical | Label: Music Infinity
Lesley Garrett's A North Country Lass, released for St George's Day, celebrates our folk song tradition from as far back as Pastime With Good Company, by Henry VIII, to relatively recent fare such as the Welsh tune Suo Gan, dating from the early 1800s. “This album,” to quote the star adorning its sleeve, “is intensely individual and very personal and it will surprise you.” And Garrett’s words are worth keeping in mind as you read on.
The South Yorkshire singer’s soprano voice has changed little since she won the Kathleen Ferrier Award in 1979. Her sure technique is at the root of it, and that guarantees her exemplary tuning and extraordinary ability to produce a myriad of hues. Her voice sounds young and her attention to words is a great asset in these songs. Her operatic lineage is manifest as at the beginning of He Moved Through the Fair, but the abiding impression is of a voice where the purity of tone is always at the service of the line of the song.
More questionable, to this mind, is the concept of this CD, on which one too many overblown arrangements compete for attention. The sophisticated orchestration is sometimes a deterrent to enjoyment. Bloe the Wind Southerly has a surge halfway through in the accompaniment suggesting a film soundtrack. Fine Knacks for Ladies, written for lute accompaniment by John Dowland, might have been better as he left it. Other titles, like Suo Gan with its multi-tracked choral backing and Dance to Your Daddy with a newly composed middle section à la Riverdance, are along the same lines. He Moved Through the Fair and the song that gives the album its title show how it can be done. All Around My Hat, with an accordion introduction and the enthusiastic Crouch End Festival Chorus, goes with a swing – as does Pastime With Good Company, in a fun contemporary arrangement yet still evoking the Tudor spirit. The finale, On Ilkley Moor, arranged as an operatic spoof, is very entertaining, likewise Garrett's Gracie Fields take on The Collier Lad.
Lesley Garrett is such a charismatic singer that the thought crossed this writer’s mind that maybe this album should have been released with a DVD, too, for the full experience.
Tracklist:
01. The Bold Grenadier
02. All Around My Hat
03. Once I Had a Sweetheart
04. Blow the Wind Southerly
05. He Moved Through the Fair
06. Pastime With Good Company
07. Suo Gan
08. The Raggle Taggle Gypsies
09. The Cuckoo
10. The Collier Lad
11. My Love Is Like a Red Red Rose
12. Fine Knacks for Ladies
13. A North Country Lass
14. Dance to Your Daddy
15. Over the Hills and Far Away
16. On Ilkley Moor Baht'at
FILE: 01. The Bold Grenadier.flac
Size: 20164684 Hash: 9D1295F5DD76D02AC984E99CA495AA13 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 93EF63BB2B849D63E0321436B8F17985256FC3DC
FILE: 02. All Around My Hat.flac
Size: 18264341 Hash: 33B19F820631CB3E60AA9965581A2307 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 642202D515FF28FEA4BB0F707CC6247F5B1ECEFF
FILE: 03. Once I Had a Sweetheart.flac
Size: 26158703 Hash: 2CDC6470660826CE4381C608E629087F Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: D84DFA98DC1B572D39ACFEDF39B9DD530630FA44
FILE: 04. Blow the Wind Southerly.flac
Size: 26596711 Hash: 3823A8D6603C4212D5D3B17FE440F8E7 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 014BA87D50DF72EB2E6B639A40E5C659B9FB242C
FILE: 05. He Moved Through the Fair.flac
Size: 20052264 Hash: F8BE663D40E6D0B8E2D3B77DB2528894 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 09F5CCAF7B2EBEA0275E7F0CE3A493A3F1658D54
FILE: 06. Pastime With Good Company.flac
Size: 26439297 Hash: 2321E96A4C64C05186F963FAE34E1C81 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 882F37FD2745F8C77EC495D2A2131A2AB3143772
FILE: 07. Suo Gan.flac
Size: 22251631 Hash: 070031A7DD0F369FF64F8EC42BDE685B Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 836E6A4E085BB263AEB95F00DFB9A37765D9ED0A
FILE: 08. The Raggle Taggle Gypsies.flac
Size: 27938494 Hash: ACD333503A01FFD129EC9F31FAF83D9A Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 146BB2A1681F1B63E2F1978FF465BE1CE3025209
FILE: 09. The Cuckoo.flac
Size: 23006933 Hash: D7D25417EDED8C30D0574E99D4820A4B Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: BAD786A373A4D390A2A4CE697FF08D25DB4867D6
FILE: 10. The Collier Lad.flac
Size: 12550550 Hash: BD2692E3E8265E4ADBD644D6E7DA916A Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: FEAE8A52B4DF08FCE27A4884F7A53D7B571B255C
FILE: 11. My Love Is Like a Red Red Rose.flac
Size: 19136192 Hash: 67536D7F853E3F03C0F785C68238DC6B Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 0330EC3E0C2A34543F6B978DA9D117076A03CFC5
FILE: 12. Fine Knacks for Ladies.flac
Size: 18747470 Hash: BE38C1776520CA156E1E0F9F033ECD81 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 99%
Signature: 07443B79349B263249DF833A6DEFC5A658F0F73C
FILE: 13. A North Country Lass.flac
Size: 16920243 Hash: 47145457FFB85E69E760F4CDA9EB3412 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: E0807DC8114D114B3E0333D83817FF16019FE52E
FILE: 14. Dance to Your Daddy.flac
Size: 22827193 Hash: 8F5B2B09F97B627C89AC26167143F0C9 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 6A1D5B4C9928B93C2148092CB790D6F2DA08C184
FILE: 15. Over the Hills and Far Away.flac
Size: 19474114 Hash: 2EFB83C4FC8C3436D7E636D8A5ECCAC9 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 0C45620F472115D9C288EDD4CF1A9D138F1EA5EC
FILE: 16. On Ilkley Moor Baht'at.flac
Size: 30632112 Hash: 6EDFCE932F580293A1BD9170197AAF86 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 9900D380CB971B9CAD84075E48CB14271388FAFC