On the Banks of Helicon

There are no more proficient or imaginative practitioners of early music than the members of the Baltimore Consort. Their programs are invariably intelligent and involving, and the performances--well, you just have to hear them. Faultless musicianship and a real sense of style characterize every interpretation and arrangement. This disc features music of Renaissance Scotland--songs, dances, airs--both lively and lyrical, serious and humorous, performed by a colorful variety of period instruments and, often, the beautiful soprano of Custer LaRue. The nice thing is, you don't have to know anything about this music to thoroughly enjoy it. And considering its origins as folk music, that's just as it should be. --David Vernier