Róisín Reimagined – Muireann Acclaimed

While many album reviewers often highlight a stand-out track for the attention of their readers, the quality throughout the album is so high that it is difficult to elevate one above all the others. The limited airplay that has followed the project to date has tended to focus on the opening track, Róisín Dúbh, referenced in the title, which is, of course, also the key motif of Ó Ríada’s Mise Éire, which was in its time hugely influential in persuading many that Irish music deserved to be treated with the same artistic respect as European classical music. So it is appropriate given these associations that the same beautiful air should lead off a project that once again over sixty years later seeks to consider the interplay between classical and traditional music.

 

Nevertheless, having set the bar at the highest level with the opening track, the album maintains that standard throughout with a succession of wonderful performances – executed with exquisite technique and wonderful feeling by a remarkable singer at the height of her powers, exemplified by her stunning rendition of An Chuilfhionn.

 

As the pandemic restrictions begin to ease, perhaps we may now look forward to more live performances of the programme, when the logistics of assembling singer, orchestra and, of course, audience should not be so problematic. It deserves to be heard as widely as possible in person. This year’s edition of the Kilkenny Arts Festival in August – which should the return of full live audiences  – is expected to provide the first such opportunity. In the meantime, this fine recording will suffice. The album us available for pre-order at: https://www.muireann.ie/store/roisn-reimagined.