We'll Keep a Welcome

Bryn Terfel is the most recent in a long line of great Welsh singers (and certainly one of the greatest)--a people who proverbially are "born with music in the blood and poetry in the soul." Here, he sings the songs of his native Wales: hymns, folksongs, art songs, tender lullabies, yearning songs of love and homesickness, and heroic, defiant patriotic songs--including the Welsh National Anthem, which opens and closes the program. Terfel's voice, flowing out effortlessly like a golden stream, is phenomenal for its incomparable beauty, its range of dynamics, its inflection, and its intensity; his expressiveness is simpler and more natural than usual, and seems really to come straight from his soul. In honor of another great Welsh tradition, two splendid male choirs accompany him; in the fine orchestra, the English horn and harp soloists are particularly striking. The only false note on this heartwarming disc is the lush, garish orchestration, which runs counter to the ingenuous spirit of the songs and often almost resembles a soundtrack. The prime example is the lovely lullaby that's popular in English as "All Through the Night." Terfel sings it with wonderful simplicity; the orchestration is out of a grade-B movie. No wonder, therefore, that the more magical moments are those in which Terfel sings alone with a cappella chorus, harps, or piano; especially in the quiet, inward songs. The accompanying booklet is done beautifully, with stunning photographs of the Welsh countryside, a brief account of Welsh history and music, and texts in both Welsh and English. --Edith Eisler