ANGUS REID, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MARIA DUARTE review On The Sea, A Useful Ghost, Brunello: The Gracious Visionary, and Pinocchio Unstrung
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Album reviews with BEN LUNN
New releases from Stuart MacRae, Ailis Ni Riain and Explore Ensemble
RON JACOBS enjoys a great tale, told by a US communist, of the lives of working-class New Yorkers
BRENT CUTLER searches a new history of contemporary Iran for an understanding of the Islamic Republic, finding both interesting detail and glaring omissions
MARIA DUARTE recommends the true story of the remarkable woman who sued Donald Trump for sexual assault not once, but twice
KENNY MacASKILL is disappointed by a polemical, rather than factual, account of the Lone Star State and its political path since the civil war
PAUL DONOVAN is fascinated by the lives of Charles and Mary Bagot, and the insight this biography shines on the morals of pre-Victorian society
GORDON PARSONS appreciates fine performances and a feel for ambiguity, but misses the music of the dialogue
Stuart MacRae
Earth, Thy Cold is Keen
(Delphian)
★★★★★
THIS new release of works by Stuart MacRae is in short, a striking collection. The use of a wide variety of texts from Rossetti, Bronte, Alwynne Pritchard, the Poetic Edda, Gaelic and Middle English demonstrates his love and skill with text.
Similarly, the use of varying forces among the gathered quartet makes every work stand out and makes the album a wonderful journey.
What strikes me is the comparable qualities the album has with Holst’s songs for violin, where the modal inflections make some of the works seem like ancient, rediscovered relics.
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