W. B. Yeats--Poems

How appropriate that Nobel winner William Butler Yeats, who helped found the Abbey Theater, should receive this rendering by Abbey Theater actor T.P. McKenna. Appropriate, too, because Yeats's charming, virile and dramatic Irish cadences reveal their true beauty best when read aloud. McKenna does ample justice to this selection of the poet's verses. He has obviously studied them, for his performance communicates all of the subtleties and resonances, the lyricism and humor, the heartbreak and passion with an economy of means, which, in a lesser artist, would soon grow monotonous. The publishers, in calling this "a stirring collection," do not exaggerate. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

These 52 pieces span the poet's entire career but predominately invoke the image of a man looking back with resolve at circumstances altered by time's passage. The overriding mood is a stoic, mild melancholy. One notable exception is "The Fiddler of Dooney." T.P. McKenna matches its energy with a brighter, less formal character voice than any he employs for the other selections. The remainder he delivers in variations of a refined yet unadorned straightforward style that reflects the inner voice of Yeats quite well. McKenna's dulcet tones are authentically Irish, entirely intelligible to American ears, and absolutely worthy to this task. D.J. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine