”For anyone interested in getting a more intimate portrait of Boyle’s musical imagination, this CD is an absolute must.”
The Ina Boyle Society are delighted that the most recent CD of Ina’s songs has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and has enjoyed repeat broadcasts on BBC Northern Ireland, Lyric FM and Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ programme.
Amid the 2020 pandemic, Iain Burnside gathered three superb Irish singers; Paula Murrihy, Robin Tritschler and Ben McAteer, at London’s Wigmore Hall. Recorded in less than five hours, the resulting 80 minutes of music unveil a composer who is one of Ireland’s ‘invisible heroines’.
Paula Murrihy (Top Right)
Robin Tritschler (Top Right)
Ben McAteer (Bottom Left)
Iain Burnside (Bottom Right)
Read through the reviews below and find out more about the making the CD with the director and founder of the IBSL, Katie Rowan. To learn about the work done to recover Ina’s music, without which projects such as the song CD would not be possible, click here.
BBC Music Magazine
“Numerous songs, deceptively simple and brief in length, have a surprisingly wide emotional reach, while the setting of Kipling’s famous poem ‘Have You News of My Boy Jack?’ pointedly leaves quiet sorrow far behind in the final stanza. Among the consciously Irish fare, ‘Sleep Song’ is particularly effective.”
Review by Michael Beek
Gramophone Magazine
“Performances throughout are exemplary, Paula Murrihy’s enchanting delivery of ‘Sleep Song’ (in Patrick Henry Pearse’s translation from the original Irish) being especially delectable – as, for that matter, is Robin Tritschler’s exquisitely deft way with the memorable setting of WB Yeats’s ‘The Stolen Child’. Vividly realistic sound, too.”
Review by Andrew Achenbach
Presto Classical News
“this is a real box of delights – the Irish composer emerges as a hugely versatile voice and a natural melodist.”
Review by Katherine Cooper
BBC Radio 3
“This is a fascinating introduction to an unfamiliar musical figure.”
BBC Sounds (excerpt found between 2.01.30 to 2.09.43)
MusicWeb International
“Here is a composer of art songs of genuine worth.”
“Ina Boyle could scarcely have wished for better advocacy than her songs receive here. I suspect that Iain Burnside was the driving force behind the project, as he has been so often in the past. He has joined forces here with a fine trio of singers – fittingly, all three of them are Irish. The singing is first rate throughout, as is Burnside’s pianism; all four musicians demonstrate complete commitment to the cause.”
Review by John Quinn
Journal of Music
“This recording of Ina Boyle’s songs is the latest step in the on-going reappraisal of one of Ireland’s most significant composers of the twentieth century. […] While Boyle may have been the first Irish woman to compose in several major genres (ballet, symphony, concerto), her importance lies as much in the quality of her work as in her status as a pioneer.
All three singers approach these songs with a deep sense of care and Burnside’s beautifully weighted accompaniments ensure that every ounce of expression is extracted from these settings. For anyone interested in getting a more intimate portrait of Boyle’s musical imagination, this CD is an absolute must.”
Review by Adrian Smith
Irish Times
“Twenty-first-century interest in her music, set in motion by the research of Ita Beausang and fuelled by Catherine Leonard’s 2010 premiere of her violin concerto, has led to multiple recordings. This new album of 33 of her songs comes from a team of leading Irish singers and Scottish pianist Iain Burnside.”
Review by Michael Dervan
RECORDING OF THE CD
Discover the behind-the-scenes work that goes in to bringing Ina Boyle's wonderful music to life with interviews by musicians, researchers and the IBSL's founder, Katie Rowan.