CLEOPHAS AND HIS OWN

The painter and writer Marsden Hartley, living with the family of a Nova Scotia fisherman, created this work after the drowning of the family’s two sons and their cousin. It’s a short minor piece, marred by graceless foreshadowing and a self-conscious emphasis on its tragedy. The story’s brevity forces Hartley to show little and tell nearly everything, including how we should feel. Still, there’s interest in the verbal portraits he creates and a reminder that great stories lie in humble lives. Maglaras’s husky voice fits the material well; he matches its swells of emotionality, though at times too theatrically. The package includes a small reproduction of Hartley's painting of “Adelard,” one of the drowned. W.M. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 05]