Product Description

In 1994, Irish soprano Mav N Mhaolchatha (pronounced Mev Nee Wail-cot-ha) became a featured soloist with Anna, Michael McGlynn's Dublin-based choral ensemble. Her star rose after the group toured with the troupe and quickly achieved international renown. Then, in 2005, an extravaganza called debuted, and its five female singers---Mav plus Chlo, Lisa, rla, and Mirad---followed its massive success with a torrent of solo albums: Mavs eponymous release (2002) and (2004) are only two examples thereof. These offered still more Enya-esque, mostly ethereal ballads from Irish and other sources: all very effective in their way but pure mass-market show-biz and best avoided by die-hard traditional music fans. But the material on the current reissue dates back to the era and is another matter entirely. It showcases thirteen tracks recorded by Anna during the original sessions, the vast majority with Mav singing lead. The stately and elegiac program harbors recollections of composers Edward MacDowell and more recently, Patrick Cassidy, or even Ralph Vaughn-Williams, who so often incorporated British folk and early music sources into his works. --