The Alchemist is every poet's dream.
The beautiful voice of Sean O'Leary singing with heart and soul
(the heart and soul of Gerard Manley Hopkins) could not be better.
With loving faithfulness to Hopkins' dream, passion and his priest's
calling, Liverpool born singer-songwriter O'Leary leads us directly
into the poet's world in this wonderful, delightful and amazing
recording. We hear Hopkins' sprung rhythm, intricate word runs,
unusual inscape and instress images. The joy, exhuberance and fun
as well as the deeper thoughts of Hopkins come alive in The Alchemist.
Along with Belinda Evan's beautiful accompanying voice, the album
is a definitive masterpiece. One cannot tire of it, but can only
learn from it. To die for -- really, and that's putting it mildly.
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