Finzi - James Gilchrist - MusicalPointers.co.uk

A lovely disc of 24 songs, which brings together A young Man's Exhortation, the first of his Hardy sets for voice and piano to be published with two posthumous compilations of Finzi's fastidious song settings, which should be heard far more often. They often stayed in his 'bottom drawer' for years before reaching the light. Gerald Finzi was less concerned to add to the poems he loved than to share them with other music lovers; he believed that fine poems were complete in themselves, and his approach is 'only to gild the lily'. Diction and piano/voice balance is superb, and Linn supplies all the words in their elegant booklet, with a sympathetic and well informed introduction by Philip Lancaster.