GEVECHT MET DE ENGEL [AKA: THE LADY'S BACK]

The first album of Flairck was unique in its own way and quite succesful, receiveing three music awards, among them an Edison one.For their second work the Visser brothers recruited new female violininst Sylvia Houtzager, while they also changed the recording home, heading for the Dureco Studio in Weesp.The second album carried the title ''Gevecht met de engel'' (''Battle with the angel''), although its English version was named ''The lady's back''.Both versions were released in 1980 on Polydor.

Another impressive amalgam of Folk and Chamber Music, resulting a charming acoustic Fusion album, was the proposal of the band, although this time the symphonic references are more pronounced, making Flairck something of a European equivalent to MANEIGE, despite the different traditional references.Flairck sound more romantic and sensitive, performing four mini-suites on the opening side and a 22-min/three-part epic composition on the flipside.The album is a storm of flute/violin interplays with references to Classical and Medieval periods, characterized by nice breaks from dramatic segments to soft soundscapes and sweet melodies.The long title-track sounds like a Classical suite performed on acoustic guitars, flute and violin with absence of drums and focusing on stretched individual executions, sometimes lasting a bit too long.However the instrumental depth and superb, melancholic atmosphere are definitely surprising.The opening side actually sounds more progressive, as most of the pieces contain extended instrumental interactions and plenty of shifting climates with some fantastic executions, while the epic piece is more romantic in nature with a more mellow mood.

This acoustic ensemble was pretty original and ''Gevecht met de engel'' is a beautiful work of Folk/Fusion with dramatic instrumental textures and attractive interplays.Strongly recommended, even if you are not a fan of totally acoustic music...3.5 stars.