Elisabeth von Trapp

What I am going to write here may sound a trifle cranky, but I have said the same thing to Elisabeth herself, and she seemed not terribly vexed by it. As the title suggests, this is an album with more emphasis on serious, high-quality texts than one usually finds in folk/pop albums. The diversity of her settings takes a little getting used-to, but honestly, after a perfect setting of Marlowe's "Passionate pilgrim" (Track 2) I can forgive her anything, and if it is a little startling to find Robert Frost's words set to back-beat tunes, then just re-play her version of "A Whiter shade of pale". That is truly a transcendant performance, and it says many good things about her sensitivity that she could make so much out of what many of us might otherwise regard as Sixties' silliness. In my review of Elisabeth's LOVE NEVER ENDS, I have mentioned my inability to program my CD-player so as to avoid certain tunes on certain albums. Sadly, that problem arises here in Track 11, Stings "Fragile", and Track 13 "Haiku". Still, a fascinating album, and a nice example for other singers who understand that singing is more than just a funky beat and words to wallpaper your mind. Last but not least, special praise to 'cellis Erich Korey.… (mehr)

An unusual album, in conception and execution, and at its best, a great delight. Sadly for me, like many many albums, this one reminds me how technologically inept I am -- with unfortunate aesthetic consequences. Like mainly, I still don't know how to program my CD-player so as to skip some things. So, you ask, is there something here THAT bad? It's not quite that extreme, but after the sheer rapture and delight of Tracks 1 and 2, some of the remainder (esp. Tracks 4, 13 and 15) are really anti-climactic. Still, Elisabeth sings with the purity of someone one-third her age, and her good spirit is right up-front, no matter what the music.… (mehr)