Celtic Dreams

Pay with

About Celtic Dreams

Amazon.com In 1994, Irish soprano Mèav Nì Mhaolchatha (pronounced Mäev Nee Wail-cot-ha) became a featured soloist with Anùna, Michael McGlynn's Dublin-based choral ensemble. Her star rose after the group toured with the Riverdance troupe and quickly achieved international renown. Then, in 2005, an extravaganza called Celtic Woman debuted, and its five female singers---Méav plus Chloë, Lisa, Órla, and Máiréad---followed its massive success with a torrent of solo albums: Méav’s eponymous release (2002) and Silver Sea (2004) are only two examples thereof. These offered still more Enya-esque, mostly ethereal ballads from Irish and other sources: all very effective in their way but pure mass-market show-biz and best avoided by die-hard traditional music fans. But the material on the current reissue dates back to the Riverdance era and is another matter entirely. It showcases thirteen tracks recorded by Anùna during the original Riverdance sessions, the vast majority with Méav singing lead. The stately and elegiac program harbors recollections of composers Edward MacDowell and more recently, Patrick Cassidy, or even Ralph Vaughn-Williams, who so often incorporated British folk and early music sources into his works. --Christina Roden Product description One of the most highly praised and musically important groups, Anna has established a history of combining Irish classical, Celtic and historical sacred music into some of the most beautiful CDs ever recorded. Anna was formed by Dublin-based composer Michael McGlynn in 1987. Although more than 150 singers have performed with the group to date, Anuna usually features only ten to seventeen young Irish singers in live performance at any one time. In 1995, a young Irish soprano named Mav N Mhaolchatha (pronounced Mave Nee Wail-coh-ha) joined Anna and became one of the groups principal soloists. The choir recorded and released the single 'Riverdance' which spent 18 weeks at the top of the Irish music charts and became a top ten hit in the UK. The group was featured on four tracks of 'Riverdance' which eventually sold over a million copies and received a Grammy award in 1997. Mav N Mhaolchatha went on to record two highly successful and critically acclaimed solo CD's, 2002's self-titled release and 2004's Silver Sea. Recently she has been a featured vocalist on the PBS special Celtic Women and international tour of the same name. Many of the tracks are unavailable elsewhere. These traditional Celtic and classical pieces showcase her pure voice and effortless interpretation and present the best of her early career with the group which helped to launch her to international acclaim.