Category: Celtic New Age - Celtic Pop - Celtic/Irish - Contemporary Celtic - Int'l & World Music
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DVD Celtic Woman
Gorgeous to listen to and gorgeous to look at, Celtic Woman is perfect PBS fare, sort of a Riverdance without the dancing. Drawing on the same New Age-y sound and propulsive energy as that show's solo-voice and choral numbers, the live concert features four attractive young women in strapless evening gowns with soaring voices backed by an orchestra, an Anuna-like chorus, and a large percussion section. The more traditional fare includes Méav Ni Mhaolchatha's "Danny Boy" and "She Moved Through the Fair," and Chloë Agnew's "Ave Maria" (the Bach-Gounod version). Movie and TV selections range from Agnew's "Walking in the Air" (The Snowman) and "Someday" (Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame) to Lisa Kelly's "May It Be" (the Enya song from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the King) and Órla Fallon's voice and harp rendition of "Harry's Game." A fifth woman, Máiréad Nesbitt, adds some variety by fiddling "The Butterfly" and "Ashokan Farewell" (best known as the theme from Ken Burns's The Civil War). Occasionally the singers join together, as in Enya's "Orinoco Flow," an a cappella rendition of West Side Story's "Somewhere," music director David Downes's composition "One World," and a stately version of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." Celtic Woman was created by Downes (like many of the other performers, a Riverdance veteran) along with Sharon Browne and Dave Kavanagh of the Celtic Collections record label. --David Horiuchi
My Mother was talking this show up so big, she made me come over and watch it. I didn't have the heart to tell it was a total sham. She went on and on about how great their voices were. Well, no doubt. It was blaringly obvious to me from the first few seconds.
Though I've never been a professional musician/singer, I've performed in an amateur capacity for decades. I can almost always spot lip sync-ers. I'm always shocked that others can't tell. Here, the Celtic folks aren't even very good at it either. I didn't catch the violin piece that was mentioned here on a different review, but it wouldn't shock me to learn that was faked, too. I begged off and played with my nephew after a token viewing.
I certainly think this sort of stuff is fine for people like my Mother. She's always been easily entertained (and easily fooled). No way I'd enjoy this sort of entertainment. There's far too many gifted LIVE performers out there.
EXAMPLE: I remember seeing Anne Murray a few years back (Clearwater, FL) Her voice wasn't quite what it used to be, but that did not stop her from singing live in front of thousands. I respected her all the more for the effort and the courage, and I enjoyed her show very much. I didn't hear a single complaint after the show (in the lounge or outside).
Absolutely enchanting
This type of music, this type of performance, is not usually my cup of tea, and I only chanced upon it while channel-surfing through a spate of commericals during a college football game. All I can say is thank God for remote controls. I was smitten in minutes and have watched the repeat of this performance four times in the last four days. Yes, I am newly in love, crushed as goofily, giddily and gratefully as I was back in my schoolboy days, but I profer this with no sexist agenda at all: First, these ladies are sinfully gorgeous --each looks like she may just have stepped off the pages of a fairy tale (most appropriate, given the backlit castle set looming up behind them); Secondly, they move with the willowy grace of the wind through an Irish meadow. Third, and most importantly, collectively and individually, they sound precisely like what I expect (what I hope)to hear when the Pearly Gates swing open for me, a sound majestic, angelic, soaring and soothing. Some things are achingly beautiful: "Danny Boy" (moved me to tears), "Somewhere," "Beyond the Sea", but I found everything to be enthralling and enchanting, hypnotic and mesmerizing, delivered with seamless grace and charm, touching elegance and class.
I've read some negative reviews here. I find that somewhat discouraging. In a world in which "femininity," so-called Girl Power, is cynically and crudely represented by the rephrehensible likes of The Pussycat Dolls, Brittney (sp?) Spears, Madonna, Gwen Stefani (sp?), and those of similarly sleazy ilk, these women, their voices, their performance, is like a lilting breath of proverbial fresh air. I don't know how hard-hearted or headed one has to be the regard this aural and visual splendor with anything other than an adoring eye, but I'm glad I'm not there yet. One of the best, nicest things I've seen anywhere in ages. Bravo. Bravo! BRAVO!!
Pretty girls with nice voices, but this DVD is Dullsville...
I've just watched this on PBS (through my fingers, shaking my head in frustration. The "Celtic Woman" gals' obviously canned voices are clear (if miserably overproduced), sweet, and pleasant; several of them apparently have already had successful careers as musicians, so I don't doubt that the voices one hears on the DVD actually belong to them.
But that being said (and I'm trying to be balanced and diplomatic here), the producers of the show have done them a major disservice by dubbing previous performance recordings over this video footage -- what an insult to their musicianship to insinuate that they can't handle a live performance! Think of how much better this would have been with these five beauties simply singing, without all the Vegas/Cirque-du-Soleil/Chorus Line business going on in the background!
I also have to ask -- in what universe is "You Raise Me Up" a Celtic song? People, Celtic music has a long, rich history -- surely they didn't have to record this cheeseball popera hit to pander to the masses...
The girls that sing in this dvd are not really good, I was somewhat bored while watching some of the songs but mairead nesbitt is a very talented artist and her performance kept me glued to the tv, lisa kelly is also very good, the participation of these two artists is the only reason i bought the dvd and cd.
Hayley Westenra is not widely known in the U.S. yet, but just wait! If she has some good management that will allow her to follow her obviously excellent instincts rather than push her toward commercial pop, she will excel at anything that strikes her fancy. Since she was a young teen, she has mastered many styles of music, and she has only begun to show us what she can do. I can envision her making many top-rated albums, of course, but her instincts need some freedom to roam. Jazz? Of course. The classics? She's already demonstrated her capabilities and interests. Broadway? I sit and think of roles she could re-invent. I would love to hear her sing some of the great big band songs of the '40's. She brings perfect pitch, crystal clear tones, beautiful diction, emotion, life and... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Hayley Westenra DVD Release Date: Released the 03 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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