On track: Some soaring songs and sad strings

By WILLIAM DART

The name may be familiar: Arianna Savall is the daughter of viol-player Jordi Savall and soprano Montserrat Figueras, and a regular presence, as vocalist and harpist, on many of their ventures.

Her new album, Bella Terra, is a solo outing, released through the same label that records her parents' Hesperion ensemble.

Basically it's a classy singer-songwriter affair, with a nod to the worlds of Early Music and World Music and featuring a dozen of Arianna Savall's own settings, which range from the Catalan poetry of Miguel Marti i Pol to the words of the 12th- century Persian poet Omar Khayyam.

There are moments when the project trembles on the brink of kitsch, especially when a percussion section sets up a samba.

But Savall's personality and fervent, soaring vocals are the perfect corrective, with unexpected shivers of dissonance in the accompaniment; the gentle insistence of The Sailor, a traditional Catalan song, echoes the medieval Estampie dances that you might hear on a Hesperion album.

The packaging is up to Alia Vox's impeccable standards, with a handsome booklet that includes all texts in five languages, and charming artwork from Mar Aguilera.

British harpist Julia Thornton will be in town over the weekend, playing with Bryan Ferry.

Her Harpistry CD is a collection of bonbons, many arranged by Craig Leon, who has worked with artists as diverse as Blondie, Andreas Scholl and our own Martin Phillipps.

A press release with references to chilling-out and various cinematic connections (including one to a mysterious film called Barry Lundon, sic) didn't exactly whet my appetite.

Would this album really bring a breath of fresh air to an instrument usually associated with angelic choirs and chamber orchestras and performed mainly to predominantly middle-aged, middle-class audiences?

Alas, it didn't. With a tempo range that, with a few exceptions, runs the gamut from Adagio to Largo, Harpistry is a sad, wilted affair that can be recommended only as a drug-free treatment for insomnia.

All in all, it's enough to make this bourgeois fiftysomething dust off his disco singles. Or, better still, revisit the life-enhancing music of Bella Terra.

* Arianna Savall, Bella Terra (Alia Vox AV 9833, through Elite Imports)

Julia Thornton, Harpistry (EMI 90145)