Customer Reviews

Andreas Scholl: Wayfaring Stranger

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, I have not always been the greatest admirer of Scholl. As a classical singer (a countertenor myself) with a VERY American sound, I had trouble swallowing the purity and glassiness that I sometimes hear in his tone. I was a MAJOR David Daniels and Bejun Mehta fan, and wasn't enamoured of the gentler side of the CT sound. HOWEVER, I have since given Scholl a second listen (and third and fourth) and decided that his artistry and control of the instrument are superb even if I would choose other timbres for my own vocal style. When I listen to Scholl, it is like an alto Flute, whereas Daniels or myself are more like some doublereed instrument.
The other reviews for this album insist on bashing the sometimes overly sentimental or "produced" quality of the music. What they ignore is the beauty of the songs, the treatment of the arrangements (which are a bit more lush than tradition might dictate, but the effect is none the less true to the meaning of the songs!) and the naturalness of the "fit" into Scholl's voice. I have zero complaints about this CD. Even his occasional less than perfect English diction is really more of an affect of the CT range than poor knowledge of the dialect. (English is my first language, and I occasionally have enunciation issues with the English song repertory, the vowels are simply murderous in some words!)

BUY THE CD... you won't regret it, even if it isn't Vivaldi and Handel on Theoboros and Viols, it IS good music and a damn fine recording.

I had never heard of Andreas Scholl until he was the guest artist at one of the Orpheus concerts (at Carnegie Hall) to which I subscribe, and I was bowled over. The singing, phrasing, and arrangements are so haunting, so true to the overwhelming melancholy of most of the songs and the piratical jollity of a few. I'm a big fan of modern Celtic folk music by such groups as Altan, Silly Wizard, the Tannahill Weavers and the like, so I do know what it's like to hear, for example, songs of Robert Burns in more earthy arrangements, but Scholl's rendition of "My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose" is glorious by any standard.

5 stars is a lot, I wouldn't award it indiscriminately, and it represents value to me, not my perception of worth to everyone else. In other words, I'm not saying this is a "must have" disc for everyone, but it's one I wouldn't want to be without.

Is this a crossover CD? No. Is it borderline to crossing over? Yes. A fine line is tred on Andreas Scholl's new CD, between a pop sound and a traditional folk song setting. Craig Leon's accompaniment does stay faithful to the genre, no need to worry about a rock beat being added, and is quite beautiful, though it occasionally sounds more New-Age than some traditionalists may be comfortable with. Also, there are some inconsistancies of quality on the CD. Firstly, the sound engineering was not done very faithfully, on one of the tracks Andreas' mic is turned on after he starts singing. Secondly, there are times throughout the CD where the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra seems to be in danger of letting the tempo slip away from them, and other moments when they seem to ignore Andreas' use of rubato, perhaps because they are a conductorless group. All that aside, the singing is beautiful, even for the high standards of Scholl fans. Scholl works hard to bring a storytelling element to his singing, and does so successfully, using a wide range of vocal timbre, including some switches to his baritone chest-voice. Whether or not you buy this CD depends on if you can handle Leon's Neo-Orchestral treatments of traditional folk songs. If you are a fan of Andreas Scholl who is devoted to his Baroque works, this CD may not be the right one for you.

I purchased this CD by chance. I was looking for something totlally different. I typically listen to rock and hip hop, but have always studied to classical. I was searching for something different and this was what I happened upon. I did not know what to expect, and was more then pleasantly surprised. This CD did exactly what I had hoped it would do. It helped me focus and concentrate on my work, and relax when I just needed to cool down a bit. If I hadn't seen his picture, I would have thought he was a child or woman. He has a marvelous voice, and these songs are a good match for it. From the sounds of it, this is not his typical album, and so some of the reviewers do not love it. But all of them do like it nonetheless. If this is your first purchase of his, you will not be dissapointed. If you already own some of his work, I think you will appreciate this nonetheless. Either way, you will not go wrong.

This is one of the most beautiful CDs I know: so pure in tone, so haunting in its harmonies. The reservations of some other listeners seem to make this quality a sort of fault, and perhaps it is if you like your ballads gritty; but I find the selections, the arrangements, and Scholl's singing so ravishing that I felt I had to write this review just to urge everyone to try it. Listen to "I Will Give My Love ..." You might feel your heart stop.

Putting this wonderful voice together with an easy-listening style of ochestration was simply a brilliant idea.

This compilation will surely bring this wondrous voice to the attention of a wholly different public to the one which presently adores Andreas, and secondly, it will introduce these folk treasures to an audience at present virtually ignorant of them.

Add this one to your Scholl collection

This is the perfect CD to listen to one a cold winter's afternoon with a warm cup of tea and a good book. Scholl's voice is so pure and smoothing. The orchestral arrangements are very creative and lush - sort of an English version of Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne. The one down note I would have is eventhough Scholl's voice is very expressive his phrasing can be a little square. I would have liked him to take a bit more liberties with the sentences. The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra musical fluidity more than makes up for any of Scholl's rigidity however.
A recommended buy.

At first I was suspicious due to the album's sleek marketing and desing. But right from the start I was delighted to hear the lush arrangements of these peculiar songs.

Granted, we do hear quite a lot of strings and even some sound effects that make the music sound dangerously "romantic", or worse, "exotic"...

And yes, the arrangements become very similar to those used by Sarah Brightman, Bocelli and other musical aberrations.... but Scholl's scholarly perfection of voice and delivery save the day. Not only that, but his (limited) potential to characterize the music is in full capacity... especially in the songs where he actually sings in his baritone in a self-contained duet.

Yes, the strings are too warm. And yes, there are parts that could even fit as background music for Disneyworld rides... And yes, it can at times sound cheap and "postcard-ish".........

But, truth be told, sometimes a Coke tastes better than Bordeaux, and sometimes a "Little Debbie" cake hits the spot better than the Sachertorte.

So, if you want to listen to songs that are warm and glowing -albeit effectist-, sung by a first class musician... this album will do the trick.

For those who are new to Scholl, I strongly reccomend his earlier CD's --namely those containing the Handel Arias, the English Lute Songs, and the German Baroque lieder.

As for "Wayfaring Stranger", play close attention to "My Love is a Red Red Rose"... If you've ever felt true love, this is the song to make you cry.

This is a fantastic CD. The countertenor voice of Andreas Scholl gives an entirley new
meaning to traditional folk music. The orchestration is just enough to give a haunting sound to each selection. ' Wayfaring stranger' and 'Wild mountain thyme' are two selections that make the purchasing of the CD worth the pice.

This recording is certainly among my very favorites of Andreas Scholl's many discs, possibly because it does seem so personal, and there is nothing else like it, that I am aware of. The unknown composers of these songs could not have imagined a voice more capable of expressing the human realities of longing and suffering they describe, and the lush arrangements seem a fitting complement to the dark, austere, otherworldly voice. Plus it is just interesting to hear what he can do with a somewhat different type of music, which is of course quite a lot! Folksongs, especially the old ballads, can be very beautiful, but the voices that generally sing them -- usually not. If there would be an opportunity for Andreas Scholl to record another album of English (or German) folksongs, especially very sad melancholy ones with many verses, that would be a very good thing indeed.