Part show-tunes, part classical, and part folk music, Ronan Hardiman's score to Lord of the Dance, the musical starring dancer Michael Flatley, successfully avoids all the inherent pitfalls of such an enterprise. Hardiman has emerged as Ireland's finest interpreter of traditional music for films, TV, and the theatre, and under his guidance the 19 lush orchestral tunes, augmented with many traditional instruments, are rife with the spirit of the Emerald Isle. Two of the tracks feature the taps of Flatley and Co, while the rest highlight the score as composed by Hardiman with all its subtle textures intact and not masked by the live sound of tap dancing. Lord of the Dance is a perfect and very listenable fusion of Broadway and the indigenous heritage of Irish music making. --Derek Rath