EDWARD McGUIRE's Celtic opera, The Loving of Etain, had its premiere

in those hazy capital days of 1990. Then it was fully staged. Last night

it was revived in a semi-staged version. Some who saw it first time

round claimed that the new version was clearer, offering more

involvement in the music, less theatrical baggage.

What could have been clearer was the cast's enunciation of Marianne

Carey's text. Honestly, from the back of the hall, with the exception of

the impeccable Henry Herford (in the role of the Celtic king) a mere

fraction of the text was distinguishable. Partly the sound of the band

(the admirable Paragon Ensemble conducted by David Davies) overwhelmed,

whether by volume or texture. But even when the group was at its most

delicate I was fighting to hear the words. They were simply not being

articulated.

I wouldn't bother spending time on it had the singing voices not been

(in the main) impressive and the music so first-rate. This is a

tremendous composition; instantly attractive, packed with subtleties,

and brilliantly sustained -- to construct an entire scene basically on a

folk melody is quite an achievement. The opera moves from ripplingly

evocative music of the ''other world'' to the more banal world of

mortals whose music is propelled by more ''earthly'' syncopated rhythm,

and back again.

The music for Etain herself (ecstatically sung by Sally-Ann

Sheperdson) is among McGuire's most ravishing. Other roles were sung by

Lousie Nicholson, Christopher Hobkirk, and Mark Oldfield.