You always can count on the Baltimore Consort to provide a solid hour of engaging, lively, musical fun and enlightenment with each new recording. The group’s latest, a program of “ancient music of Ireland,” was inspired by a song anthology published in Dublin in 1724–A Collection of the Most Celebrated Irish Tunes–and draws much of its material from the work of early-19th century collector/publisher Edward Bunting, who spent more than 40 years codifying what until then was largely an oral tradition. The members of the Baltimore Consort treat us to a well-chosen selection of mostly unfamiliar tunes, many in the original Gaelic, performed by soprano Custer LaRue and a colorful roster of instruments, from viols, rebec, cittern, and bandora, to flutes, lute, whistles, and bagpipe. The Mad Buckgoat is more laid-back than the Baltimore Consort’s other albums of British Isles music; the usual earthy atmosphere of sophisticated revelry seems more refined here. As usual, however, the instrumental playing is first rate, especially Chris Norman’s tastefully virtuosic flute and Ronn McFarlane’s refreshingly articulate lute. The arrangements perfectly fit the tunes, and–another consistency–the sound is exemplary.
