Home For Christmas: Live From Dublin [Blu-ray]

Probably their best show. You won't regret buying this.

Similarly to what another reviewer or two have said, the show was good but could have been better. It's not the fault of the ladies in the show; it was the editing and technical crews who are mostly to blame. I've followed Celtic Woman from the very beginning so I can't help but interject a somewhat more in-depth evaluation than my peers.There is an incessant compulsion (by Celtic Woman's video editor) to chop the performances into bits, in order to show the people in the audience `singing along', bobbing theirs heads, swaying to the music, clapping, holding sleeping children, smiling, or simply gazing out catatonically, none of which adds anything to the event and seriously impedes the continuity of the show. Over time I have become a little desensitized to this video editing chaos, but it still annoys me because it's so obvious, and the girls in the show deserve better. In this show, which is less than an hour long, there are (by my count) 121 edits taking us to these interjected shots of the audience. That's NOT a typo; it was one hundred and twenty one times in less than an hour! Let me make a point right here. I have been to several of their concerts and NEVER ONCE have I looked around at the people sitting next to me, to watch them singing along or bobbing their heads in tempo with the music. Why should I be forced to, when watching them on TV!There are also (by my count) 45 shots of director David Downs where he is unquestionably, yet pointlessly, being made the focus of a camera shot. To his credit there are also opportunities when he is fittingly given deserved camera coverage, at points where the piano accompaniment is worthy of being the focal point. But what gives? Why do we need an additional 45 superfluous close-ups?I'm pleased, (in fact ecstatic!) that they finally moved into the 21st century and produced this show in Blu-ray but why have they gone back to the last century with the hand-held microphones? They did the hand microphone thing in the last show and it really gave the show that `reality TV atmosphere'. This isn't some low budget TV show with people trying to break into the business, these are trained professionals! Stop hiding them behind a microphone!Well at least this time they didn't splice video from 2 performances (like they did in the Believe DVD). That was a BIG mistake! Even then, they should have known (and probably did) that you can't use audio from one performance and layer in video from another performance if you care about maintaining audio-video continuity. [Well actually you can, but you need the right equipment and sound team, and it's pretty obvious that 'they didn't' when they threw the last DVD together.] The good news on this front is that the audio and video are synchronized properly in this performance.Also on the plus side ... the audio recording quality was done much better this time around. On their last DVD the ladies were almost being drowned out by the orchestra, backup singers, bagpipes and such. This time we actually get to hear the ladies sing! Furthermore ... for the most part, the song selections, the orchestra, the musical direction, the stage set, the costumes, and even the backup choir were all very acceptable this time around. I reiterate that this show is less than an hour long and as such, there are limitations in the range of material, as to what can be achieved for a show. For this reason there will never be complete agreement on which songs would best represent the endeavor so let's just say they walked the tightrope fairly well. (with one exception. See the note below.*)Moving on to briefly discuss the changes in the cast, I (personally) think they made an excellent choice picking up Susan McFadden. There have been too many changes to the cast too quickly, and dropping down to 3 singers was a big mistake. The show will never be the same. And ... although all of the ladies through the years have had fantastic voices, as well as each having their own unique persona, Lisa Kelly was the stand out. With Lisa Kelly retired, they lost the best voice they ever had, and when Alex Sharpe left they lost a sparkling stage presence which I've missed until now. Susan has brought the sparkle back.A special thank you goes out to Meav. Meav was gracious to come back for this Christmas show and she was as enjoyable as always. I wish Meav would stick around (but of course that's not going to happen). Her voice has changed (just a bit) over the years but I like the change.Now we come to the tough part of my review. You want to know why only three stars, even though I liked it better than their last DVD release. Here is the problem. My DVD player shows it at about 58 minutes. Were the producers afraid the audience couldn't handle a 90 minute show or why did they make the show so short? And remember ... this is a very limited performance, so the added time would not require months and months of added performing stage time.Okay ... I know others of you are saying it is way more than an hour with the bonus material, and if you think the bonus material is on the same level of entertainment you would be right. But as I see it, all they did was pad out the total playing time by adding some so-called bonus material. The bonus material is somewhat entertaining but not up to the level of the main show and certainly cheaper to produce. Call me suspicious but I wonder if the reason for calling it bonus material is to con PBS viewers (during fund raising time) into thinking they have missed a big chunk of the show and that they therefore need to order the DVD to see the rest, where in fact they really haven't missed much of anything.I will end (as neutrally as I can) by simply saying, It was a nice 'little show' with many positive changes, but it was over before it should have been. Where's my other 30 minutes?* Qualifying what I said at one point above ... I did not care for the rendition of `It Came Upon a Midnight Clear'. It was like jamming a square peg in a round hole. It was neither Celtic nor traditional, so why was it forced into the program? I will take one star off for that alone.[Please feel free to post comments.]

It was great to see Celtic Woman's first release on blu ray. The high def. picture was absolutely flawless.. The concert itself the usual pleasure to watch. It was great to see Meav back again with Celtic Woman (for this concert only.) I always felt she had the purest and most beautiful voice of any of the girls, I was very sorry to see her go. Lisa Lambe is becoming one of my all-time favorites, she moves beautifully on stage and is a pleasure to watch. The only Celtic Woman with a better command of the stage was my all-time favorite, the great Lisa Kelly. Susan McFadden is beautiful to look at, sings well with a beautiful smile. She seems almost to glow on stage. Mairead, the last remaining original member, is great as usual: the heart and soul of the group.The blu-ray covers much of the material from the groups "Home for Christmas" CD last year (except that Chloe was on the CD rather than Meav.) The blu-ray also features a bonus feature with the girls standing around David Downes on the piano talking about and singing their favorite Christmas songs. (it is interesting to watch Susan McFadden respectfully watching as Meav sings her song, you can just tell how much she admires Meav's beautiful voice.) This bonus extra is very enjoyable: it is nice to hear the girls talk about their childhoods.In conclusion, the girls look stunning (especially in their red dresses,) sound great as usual and the concert is very enjoyable to watch. It also looks so good on hi-def blu-ray that I wish they would re-release the other Celtic Woman concerts as well. I have literally watched their other DVDs probably hundreds of times, it would be great to see these lovely and talented women on blu-ray.

This album is a rare Celtic Woman album which does not warrant 5 stars. It has to do a difficult balancing act of including familiar Christmas songs, including older and less familiar songs, as well as not overlap too much with the 2007 Celtic Woman Christmas album. What I didn’t like was that it included too many of the cliché and simplistic modern songs (We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas). These songs are so simple to sing that they are often sung by children in the elementary school Christmas pageants. Having the women of Celtic Woman sing these songs is wasting their talent. But this is obviously not the fault of the singers, but rather of the producers. I really appreciate when the producers get it right and include songs such as the classic version of Auld Lang Syne. That’s something different that Celtic Woman is known for bringing to the table. Overall, still a great Christmas Album, but not quite up to the high standards they have set before.

クリスマスライブの2作目は待望のブルーレイで登場です夜空にきらめく星の様に精細な照明に彩られた舞台とその光を鏡のように映し出す磨きこまれた舞台フロアがブルーレイならではの画像再現で、より立体的にしかもその場の空気感まで映し出します音質も繊細さと迫力の双方を見事に再現させています。その音質の良さはメニュー画面からすでに感じられると思います。今回はオリジナルメンバーのリサとクロエが脱退したため新しいメンバーのスーザンが加わり、しかも長い間ソロ活動をしていたメーヴが帰ってきました前回のクリスマスコンサートはアットホームな雰囲気でしたが今回は例えるなら大人のクリスマスでしょうか。中東風パーカッションやゴスペルアレンジとセクシーな衣装はパターンにはまりそうなクリスマス規格モノに新鮮さを与えて正味1時間ほどのコンサートもあっという間に見終わってしまいました。その後はすぐにボーナストラックを観ることをおすすめします。これは観客のいない照明を落としたステージで、スポットライトが当たるデビッド・ダウンズのピアノをメンバーが囲み、4曲ほど唄います。これは今回のコンサートのエピローグのような演出で、饗宴の結びの心地よさを憶えました。最後に新しいメンバーのスーザンは容姿の美しさと歌唱力に加え表現力にも長けた素晴らしいゴールデンルーキーだと思いました。このような進化できるメンバーチェンジを行えるグループには出来る限り長く続けてもらいたく、より美しく楽しい作品を創り続けてもらえたら大変ありがたく思います

クリスマスシーズンには毎晩観たり聴いたりしたい。ケルティックが冬に日本公演してくれないかなあ。

ケルティック・ウーマン2枚目のクリスマスブルーレイです。前回のクリスマスDVDと同じ場所ダブリンで撮影されたブルーレイで、遂にケルティック・ウーマンからもブルーレイが発表されましたね。今回のポイントはやはりなんといってもフルHDということとDTS-MASTER-AUDIO（ブルーレイオーディオ）で収録されていることでしょうか。映像美と高音質な内容なので何度観ても感動しますね。クリスマス・イルミネーションが本当に綺麗ですし、かなり豪華なショーでこれだけでお腹いっぱいです。　今回は新メンバーのスーザンとソロ活動から復帰したメイヴ、途中から加入したリサ・ラム、それに古参のマレード・ネズビットです。残念ながらクロエは脱退してしまっています。ケルティック・ウーマンもこの数年でだいぶメンバーチェンジが行われましたが最初の時の感動はそのままのような気がします。アイルランド的なフィドルやオーケストラに合わせて楽しく歌う彼女たちの姿には本当に励まされます。今回もこのブルーレイで元気をもらいました。　今回はメイヴの参加ということで特に嬉しかったです。彼女の歌う荘厳なクリスマスソングは若干ポップよりなスーザン、ポップとトラディションの中間のリサ・ラムの歌を完全にトラディションの方向にしてくれてああケルティック・ウーマンらしいなと感じさせてくれるそんな歌声です。トラディションを好む自分としては彼女のトラディショナルを歌い上げる技術は本当に恐縮します。さすがはアヌーナでリードヴォーカルを務めていただけあるなあと集中して魅入っていました。でも新メンバーのスーザンもリサ・ラムも本当にプロだなあと感じる歌唱力で初代メンバーの時の感動だけでは物足りない自分にとってはうれしいスパイスです。スーザンの歌う”サンタが町にやってくる”は本当に楽しいクリスマスという感じですし、リサ・ラムの歌う”蛍の光”も哀愁たっぷりで全体的に観てぜひ生で観てみたいなあと思えるショーでした。ブルーレイですのでそれに近い感動を味わえた自分はリリースを待ったかいがあったなと思いました。次回も楽しみにしています。

スタジオライブだと思われます。シャープなピントが歌を盛り上げます。音質も素晴らしくクリアーで、CDがいくら頑張ってもこの音質には勝てません。しかし、ハイビジョンカメラ（おそらく日本製）の画ってソフトによりなぜこうも違いが出るでしょうか。このソフトは一見一聴の価値ありです。

ケルティックウーマンのビデオは全部持ってますが、今回のBDは映像がシャープでいいですね。過去の作品もBDで発売されないかな・・・