Whispers

Carisma – Anne Stoddart, flute, alto flute and tin whistle; Janice Preece, harp; Louise King, cello

ABC Classics 476 3164

TPT: 57’48”

Reviewed by Alice Woode

A considerable amount of musical rubbish masquerading under vague catchall titles like ‘world music’ has flooded the CD market in recent years. So I listened with some initial scepticism to a collection entitled Whispers, described on the rear cover of the CD container as “sublime ambient music” and “an album of healing and celebration….a unique and charismatic musical experience that can touch your soul, release you from the stresses of daily life and transport you to a world of love and beauty”. More often than not, collections of this sort consist of over-hyped, self-indulgent musical fluff. Would this CD fall into the same category, I wondered?

But after listening - and re-listening - to this beautifully compiled selection of mostly arrangements of standards from the repertoire, I’m happy to say that as far as selections of soothing, stress-release music go, Whispers is a winner.

I don’t normally incorporate the views of third parties into my reviews but I feel it would be ungracious not to do so in the case of a colleague who’d had a torrid time of things in the workplace. He was initially sceptical about my recommendation to give this CD a trial listening. Days later, he told me how very useful he’d found the recording. Whilst his workplace problems, of course, were not resolved as a result of listening to this CD, he felt his stress levels had been reduced. This was so much the case that he’d purchased his own copy of Whispers and had asked me to draw his attention to other recordings along these lines.

Listen to Autumn Leaves; it makes for achingly poignant listening. So, too, does Romance from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers. And an arrangement of Danny Boy would surely melt the heart of the most curmudgeonly of listeners. Cellist Louise King coaxes a stream of refulgent tone from her instrument in Tournier’s Promenade.

This compilation of 19 tracks is a compendium of musical delights.

Copyright Alice Woode 2007

Click Here for CD Review Index

Home Positive Relaxation