| Wayfaring Stranger: Folksongs | 
 enlarge | Creators: Anonymous, John Ireland, American Traditional, British Isles Traditional, English Traditional, Irish Traditional, Scottish Traditional, Andreas Scholl, Stacey Shames, Edin Karamazov, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Label: Decca
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98 (€13.41)
Buy New: $8.91 (€7.04)
You Save: $8.07 (€6.38) (48%)
Buy New/Used from $5.30 (€4.19)
Avg. Customer Rating:   (13 reviews)
Sales Rank: 161444
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 468499
UPC: 028946849927
EAN: 0028946849927
ASIN: B00005OC0C
Release Date: November 13, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Wayfaring stranger | | • | Down by the Salley Gardens | | • | My love is like a red red rose | | • | Wild mountain thyme | | • | Henry Martin | | • | Charming beauty bright | | • | I will give my love an apple | | • | She moved through the fair | | • | Blow the wind southerly | | • | Wife of Usher's well | | • | I loved a lass | | • | Pretty Saro | | • | Down in yon forest | | • | Barbara Allen | | • | Raggle taggle gypsies o | | • | Annie Laurie | | • | Black is the color of my true love's hair |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The German countertenor Andreas Scholl takes risks on his latest CD, Wayfaring Stranger, and not all of them pay off. It is a recording of 17 English-language folksongs, some of them very well known, such as "Down by the Salley Gardens" and "My love is like a red, red rose." This is not usually a repertory tackled by classically trained singers, who can sound prissy, but Scholl's clear, plaintive alto, with its rich low notes and gentle top range, is a quite plausible vehicle. "Wild Mountain Thyme" evokes real sadness, while "Barbara Allen" aches with unhappy love. A surprise awaits in the ballad "Henry Martin," as Scholl uses his rough, nondescript baritone to identify the hero. It is rather a jolt. At least, it is good to know his voice has actually broken. In this song, too-feminine endings in the lyric fall clumsily on stressed beats. Scholl does nothing to counter the infelicity; English, of course, is not his mother tongue. In the beautiful title track, which opens the disc, he sings endearingly of a "why-farring straincher." The accompaniments for various combinations of chamber orchestra, lute, dulcimer, and harp tend to be slushy, sentimental, and over-fussy. The bass uncomfortably parallels the tune in "Salley Gardens" and would have won a big red line through it in old-fashioned harmony classes. Still, on the whole, this is a worthwhile disc. Scholl clearly loves the songs he sings with great tenderness, and he deserves credit for his courage even where the experiment fails. --Rick Jones
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 He must have listened to someone's old Joan Baez records... September 8, 2008
Many of these songs were performed by Joan Baez in the early 1960s, back when she still had "...an achingly pure choir boy soprano..." and accompanied only by her own acoustic guitar. I thought it would be interesting to hear new versions of these old chestnuts. My, my...wasn't I suprised to hear that they are, in fact, virtual covers of Joan's own vocal arrangements.
My suggestion is to give her versions a hearing instead, specifically her first two studio albums, the 2 concert albums, and Joan Baez 5.
 Beautiful voice June 21, 2008
This is a collection of folk songs. Mr Scholls has a gorgeous classical voice and, at times, the classical doesn't quite gel with simple folk songs; but, as a whole, they are a pleasure to listen to.
Beauty May 12, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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.
Wonderful. March 14, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
Wayfaring Stranger: Folksongs October 26, 2005
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.
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