Latest review: Ysgol Glanaethwy

Ysgol Glanaethwy
O Fortuna
Genre: Vocal
Highlight: Adiemus

WHEN A Welsh comedy legend pronounces your choir as star of his own show, you know you're onto a winning formula. That's exactly what Max Boyce did on his latest tour, and anyone who saw Ysgol Glanaethwy at his Llandudno gig last month will already know how electrifying they are live.

O Fortuna is actually the third album from the Bangor-based choir but it's only since starring in BBC series Last Choir Standing that the mainstream media have really taken notice of this performing arts school. Given the talent which so obviously ripples through this choir's ranks, maybe the world's cottoned a little late.

As an album it exhibits an appeal reflective of Glanaethwy itself; ever so Welsh and yet multi-lingual and international in its reach. Whether singing in English (Circle of Life), Welsh (Dyrchefir Fi) or just plain jibberish (Adiemus), the many singers involved won't fail to keep you entertained and enlightened.

Anyone expecting an album in the traditional, narrative sense is going to be disappointed, but it would be wrong to expect that. This instead is an assortment of songs which have kept their loyal live audiences stunned throughout 2008, and thankfully any instrumentation is kept to a minimum. It lets the voices - quite literally - do the talking.

Perhaps its only failing is that its many covers will inevitably invite comparisons, but after hearing the Welsh version of You Raise Me Up any doubts are blown away.

It won't be everyone's bag but to dismiss O Fortuna is to miss out on a gorgeous album which revels in this choir's velvety vocal talent.

CD provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction