Audio CD review:
Anonymous, Peter Maxwell Davies, Mauro Giuliani, Nathaniel Gow, Hamish Johnston, Ron Moore, Arthur S. Robertson, James Scott Skinner, Fernando Sor, Irish Traditional - Message of the Sea: Celtic Music for Guitar

Anonymous, Peter Maxwell Davies, Mauro Giuliani, Nathaniel Gow, Hamish Johnston, Ron Moore, Arthur S. Robertson, James Scott Skinner, Fernando Sor, Irish Traditional - Message of the Sea: Celtic Music for Guitar

Band: Anonymous, Peter Maxwell Davies, Mauro Giuliani, Nathaniel Gow, Hamish Johnston, Ron Moore, Arthur S. Robertson, James Scott Skinner, Fernando Sor, Irish Traditional Title: Message of the Sea: Celtic Music for Guitar Rating: Release Date: 27 October, 1998 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: The Bucks Of Oranmore 2: Spatter The Dew 3: My Gentle Harp 4: Garryowen 5: My Lodging Is On The Cold Ground 6: Miss Bailly 7: Neil Gow's Lament For The Death Of His Second Wife 8: Fantasy On A Scottish Air 9: Cherish The Ladies 10: Morag 11: The Pipe On The Hob 12: Whiskey, You're The Devil 13: Kildare Fancy 14: Isle Of Bute 15: Isle Of Cumbrae 16: Isle Of Arran 17: Little Cumbrae 18: The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks Of Loch Lomond 19: Roslin Castle 20: The Bride's Reel 21: Miss Mary Walker Of Peterhead 22: The Rose Bud Of Allenvale 23: Farewell To Stromness 24: The Deil Amang The Tailors 25: The Fair Haired Boy - Three Little Drummers 26: Sanas Cuain (Message Of The Sea) 27: Strathspey Forever 28: Loch Leven Castle 29: Spey In Spate 30: Skye Boat Song

Customer Reviews Great Music, Poor Sound It sounds like the microphone was covered with a thick blanket. The choice of pieces is exceptional but the sound quality of the recording is pretty awful. The guitar Russell plays is a Dammann but the quality of recording is so poor it might as well be a cigar box. Shame, and you know what, it's just as bad on the other CD I have of his: "Baroque Guitar. " I like your playing and taste but David, please get a better engineer. Something for everyone here. What really blows my mind is the quality of musicianship found here. This is a great CD. . . it was my first introduction to David Russell, and he has come to be recognized as one of the modern guitar greats (thank goodness - had it been just another guy I'd have been forced to burn my guitars!) There are certain tunes on here that I don't particularly care for, but there are others that you just don't hear performed on classical guitar very often, if ever. I tend to prefer uptempo stuff since I don't feel that classical guitar carries the weight to "fill the space" well enough on slower numbers (just my opinion. . . some composers can use the empty space for dramatic purposes very well, but I probably judge more harshly than most in this regard: there are only a handful of slow tunes in the entire classical guitar repertoire that I really enjoy). With that said, there are too many slow tunes here for my liking, which is why I give it 4 rather than 5 stars. It's not a huge complaint, otherwise I'd dock it even more, and it's not all slow, either. . . when Russell uncorks something like "Cherish the Ladies," it really is a thing of beauty, and there are several others that are particularly exciting and fresh compared to the almost entirely romantic or baroque collection we all already have sitting around. Get it: you won't regret it. . Superb Musicianship Some tunes are familiar, others not, but every note sounds "just right. These are traditional Irish and Celtic tunes, played on the guitar by one of the great guitarists of our generation. " A very enjoyable listen from the first. Repeated listenings reveal many subtleties in the music. You really can't go wrong with this recording. Highly recommended. . . You can see a complete list of all Anonymous, Peter Maxwell Davies, Mauro Giuliani, Nathaniel Gow, Hamish Johnston, Ron Moore, Arthur S. Robertson, James Scott Skinner, Fernando Sor, Irish Traditional discography, or go back to the Anonymous, Peter Maxwell Davies, Mauro Giuliani, Nathaniel Gow, Hamish Johnston, Ron Moore, Arthur S. Robertson, James Scott Skinner, Fernando Sor, Irish Traditional tabs