ROSEMARY STANDLEY - SONGS FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY

As great lovers of traditional music, Rosemary Standley and Francois Lazarevitch were bound to meet one day. The founding leader of Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien proposed to the iconic singer of the legendary rock band Moriarty - who has already recorded two equally iconic albums for Alpha Classic, Love I Obey (Alpha 538) and Schubert in Love (Alpha 418) - that they collaborate on a programme of English ballads: 'This repertoire suits her singing style and vocal timbre perfectly; she brings her experience of folk and song. The old ballads collected by Child and Sharp at the end of the 19th century are classics of the genre.' Rosemary continues: 'This repertoire is magnificent; The essence of American folk music lies in these English, Scottish and Irish ballads - it's a genre that resonates with me very naturally. ' With a carefully chosen array of instruments - baroque harp, viola da gamba, pandora, Scottish bodhran drum and, of course, the flutes and bagpipes so dear to Lazarevitch - and a sumptuous group of singers and musicians, Rosemary and Francois set sail for the North in the wake of Alfred Deller, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone and Simon and Garfunkel, who too had fallen in love with these tales of sailors, fairs, tailors and mouse, murder, betrayal and revenge.

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