Post by Richard on Apr 30, 2007 7:50:58 GMT
Hello everybody! 
Here is a review of Celtic Woman's performance at Baton Rouge, from The Advocate and WBRZ News 2 Louisiana. Hayley was not in this concert.
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Advocate music critic
Published: Apr 29, 2007 - Page: 4C
When “Celtic Woman,” a production that’s more a concept than a group of singers and musicians, performed Saturday at the Baton Rouge River Center, the atmosphere in the venue was more akin to a symphony concert hall than an arena that typically presents rock and country music.
“Celtic Woman,” popularized by two often-seen PBS specials, nimbly blends pop, classical and Irish traditional music into a lush production that follows the successful example of two earlier Celtic spectacles, “Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance.”
“Celtic Woman” contains modest dancing and theatrical flair, but the show’s emphasis is evocative music performed by a quartet of Irish ladies, an eight-member chorus, a diminutive, scampering fiddler and a small yet resourceful band. A boatload of beautifully sung melodies plus sprinklings of Irish melancholy and mysticism meet Las Vegas.
Singers Chloe Agnew, Orla Fallon, Lisa Kelly, Meav Ni Mhaolchatha and fiddling sprite Mairead Nesbit are the show’s principals. The vocalists wore richly colored gowns, while the running, high-kicking Nesbit required lighter, less cumbersome costumes.
The fiddler’s athletic performances were among the show’s more superficial elements. While “Celtic Woman” is a show-business enterprise, Nesbit’s dashing about belied the talent she revealed time and time again, especially during her warmly played instrumental performance of “Danny Boy.”
The show’s principals performed lush ensemble pieces as well as solos. Big production numbers included the high-spirited “Mo Chile Mear.”
Sung in English and Gaelic, the piece included dueling drums from the band’s two percussionists, both of whom were strategically placed for maximum visual impact.
Among the other large ensemble pieces were a faithful rendition of Enya’s windswept pop hit, “Orinoco Flow,” and “At the Ceili,” a story song that was among the more heavily choreographed pieces. With everyone ending up unconvincingly happy in the end, “Ceili” was one of the evening’s shallower selections.
Some of the evening’s least showy performances were among its most persuasive. An a cappella quartet rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” for instance, featuring Agnew in the lead backed by exquisite harmony, was transporting.
Entertainment that it is, the “Celtic Woman” show doesn’t venture far beyond the musical shallows. But in a pop-music era in which melody and beautiful voices are not valued, “Celtic Woman” is a pleasant musical confection.[/size][/quote]
Richard
Here is a review of Celtic Woman's performance at Baton Rouge, from The Advocate and WBRZ News 2 Louisiana. Hayley was not in this concert.
'Celtic Woman' delivers rich entertainment
By JOHN WIRT
By JOHN WIRT
Advocate music critic
Published: Apr 29, 2007 - Page: 4C
When “Celtic Woman,” a production that’s more a concept than a group of singers and musicians, performed Saturday at the Baton Rouge River Center, the atmosphere in the venue was more akin to a symphony concert hall than an arena that typically presents rock and country music.
“Celtic Woman,” popularized by two often-seen PBS specials, nimbly blends pop, classical and Irish traditional music into a lush production that follows the successful example of two earlier Celtic spectacles, “Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance.”
“Celtic Woman” contains modest dancing and theatrical flair, but the show’s emphasis is evocative music performed by a quartet of Irish ladies, an eight-member chorus, a diminutive, scampering fiddler and a small yet resourceful band. A boatload of beautifully sung melodies plus sprinklings of Irish melancholy and mysticism meet Las Vegas.
Singers Chloe Agnew, Orla Fallon, Lisa Kelly, Meav Ni Mhaolchatha and fiddling sprite Mairead Nesbit are the show’s principals. The vocalists wore richly colored gowns, while the running, high-kicking Nesbit required lighter, less cumbersome costumes.
The fiddler’s athletic performances were among the show’s more superficial elements. While “Celtic Woman” is a show-business enterprise, Nesbit’s dashing about belied the talent she revealed time and time again, especially during her warmly played instrumental performance of “Danny Boy.”
The show’s principals performed lush ensemble pieces as well as solos. Big production numbers included the high-spirited “Mo Chile Mear.”
Sung in English and Gaelic, the piece included dueling drums from the band’s two percussionists, both of whom were strategically placed for maximum visual impact.
Among the other large ensemble pieces were a faithful rendition of Enya’s windswept pop hit, “Orinoco Flow,” and “At the Ceili,” a story song that was among the more heavily choreographed pieces. With everyone ending up unconvincingly happy in the end, “Ceili” was one of the evening’s shallower selections.
Some of the evening’s least showy performances were among its most persuasive. An a cappella quartet rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” for instance, featuring Agnew in the lead backed by exquisite harmony, was transporting.
Entertainment that it is, the “Celtic Woman” show doesn’t venture far beyond the musical shallows. But in a pop-music era in which melody and beautiful voices are not valued, “Celtic Woman” is a pleasant musical confection.[/size][/quote]
Richard
