Bryn Terfel - We'll Keep a Welcome
Bryn Terfelis 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