Bryn Terfel's overdue sequel to his highly successful The Vagabond (1995) dips deeper yet into the barrel of English song, hauling up a number of unfamiliar composers and songs, and interspersing them with favorites by
Roger Quilter,
Ralph Vaughan Williams, and
Benjamin Britten. It's a far more diverse collection than The Vagabond, lavishing attention especially on the turn-of-the-century (twentieth, that is) students of
C.V. Stanford and
Hubert Parry. For that reason it will be of great interest to fans of that era in particular. But, though it showcases
Terfel's charisma and vocal flexibility (often in the extreme -- more on that later), and is certainly worth hearing, it doesn't live up to the baritone's previous achievements in pure musical enjoyment and interpretive consistency.