Poems written by Leonard Cohen and set to music by Philip Glass; performed by an ensemble including Glass himself..."Book of Longing" promised much, but didn't quite work, the 'Cohen' elements not cohering especially well with the 'Glass' ones. The instrumental aspects were more successful than the vocal - distinctively Glassian but with hints and shades of the songwriter's style - but the singers, while fine (one of the male singers in particular had a beautiful voice), were much in the mould of past vocalists who have recorded with the composer, and their voices weren't of the kind that lends itself to Cohen's murky, often overtly sensual verse. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't all I'd hoped for.
(w/ Ruth)
