A Christmas Celebration (2007)

Celtic Woman Christmas DVD

This DVD by CW is a must for any CW fan. And, if you've never purchased any CW DVD's, it's a lovely place to start. This DVD really showcases, perhaps even better than either of their other DVD's, each woman's vocal gifts.
Downes has outdone himself with the selections and his arrangements accent the harmony among the women. For soloists, their blend of voices is superb.
I totally love the duet between Meav and Chloe as one takes the high soprano and then the other. Having Orla on the harp, David on piano and Mairead on violin makes this selection haunting. Lisa is as warm and engaging as ever, especially in "Green the Whole Year Round".
A Christmas Celebration can be celebrated... the whole year round. Enjoy! October 4, 2008

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas

This is a great concert!! Not as wonderful as the previous two, but because its Christmas, its different. The energy is different with the women, though. Knowing it was the last time Maev performed with the group was sad, but if you are a fan of Celtic Woman, this is worth it to have in the collection, as the music is WONDERFUL, any time of year.....!! July 10, 2008

Christmas songs like never before.

I used to believe that anything different from previous christmas music performings could be heard. After seeing this DVD I realized how wrong I was. I have some other Celtic Women's releases, so I noticed immediately that Hayley was missing, and that's the only thing I didn't like in the Christmas Celebration DVD. My favorite singers are in decreasing order: Chloe, Lisa and Hayley. May 29, 2008

Top group - top quality

In Australia, we have had a "Carols by Candlelight" concert in Melbourne for over 50 years and it has been enjoyable. Unfortunately,it has become too commercialised and young perfomers are putting terrible interpretations on classic christmas carols and songs. Along comes Celtic Woman with this Christmas celebration singing the numbers as they should be sung. The quality of the picture is superb (as with all Celtic Woman productions) and from now on this DVD will be played each Christmas eve instead of watching our local concert.
The singers, choir and musicians are just superb. This DVD is a must for Christmas. May 26, 2008

A Fine Take on Some Christmas Classics

With the success of their CDs, DVDs, and concert tours, the ensemble group Celtic Woman was sure to release a Christmas DVD and this effort is wonderful. Produced by David Downes, this DVD features Christmas Carols and Christmas songs performed both as solos by the members of the group and as ensemble arrangements. I found the performances to be polished, the arrangements generally well suited to the talent, and the recording is excellent. The DVD features additional tracks not found on the CD.

Highlights include Orla on "Away in the Manger," an ensemble performance of "Oh Holy Night," and "The Little Drummer Boy" performed by Chloe and Orla. Lisa Kelly also puts her experience in musical theater to good use in a fine rendition of Mel Torme's classic, "The Christmas Song."

My disappointments are few. The rendition of "Carol of the Bells" was arranged as a feature for fiddle player Mairead Nesbitt. While her performance is excellent, I cannot think of a Christmas song better suited to the a cappella vocal talents of Celtic Woman. I found "Green the Whole Year Round" to be forgetable as a Christmas song and even the vocal talents of Lisa Kelly could not save it. The DVD did help me make sense of the uncharactericly jazzy arrangement of "Let It Snow." The intro, which is not on the CD, helps make the reason for the number clear and it is much more enjoyable to see it then to only hear it.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable Christmas video with perfromances by some extremely talented ladies. I highly recommend it. Merry Christmas and God bless corset dresses! April 28, 2008

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