Loreena McKennitt: No Journey's End
by Brian J. Hay
Note: This item is no longer available. It is worth it to track a used copy down though.
The high point of this production is a breathtaking performance of "The Lady of Shalott". The performance is a stripped down rendition but that doesn't hurt the song. The extra production layers that featured Loreena's voice on harmony as well as the lead vocals are gone. The song is shorter as well, probably due to the time restrictions of the original broadcast. What comes out is four minutes of absolutely stunning ethereal beauty! McKennitt is an exceptional vocalist at the worst of times. At her best she combines the best elements of expression and restraint to form an almost otherworldly presence. The arrangement is strong and rich but never overwhelms her vocals and never becomes submerged by them either. The cello line is played by Ofra Harnoy in this rendition and is much stronger in the mix than on the original recording. This is wonderful addition for anyone who sees and hears the performance because Harnoy is as expressive with the cello as McKennitt is with her voice. They've worked together since this was recorded and hopefully will do so again. All that can be said about this is that's it's pure magic, enchantment guaranteed to leave the viewer begging for more.
The remainder of the content is a mixture of the same strengths and faults inherent in almost all of the documentary profiles that come from Public Broadcasting (PBS). The subject matter is interesting, and, as is the norm with the network, treated with great respect. There's plenty of commentary and most of it is well worth the time to needed to absorb it. They keep things sanitized (which means anyone looking for ribald tales of orgies and infighting needs to look somewhere else) but (to their credit) they manage to steer clear of the vacuous sorts of sound bytes that occur when Network people interview politicians or athletes. McKennitt comes across as soft spoken, and extremely thoughtful. The things she says do give the viewer and added insight into the workings behind her work. The commentary is (for the most) nicely interspersed with bits of music. The only complaint is that it cuts into the music too often. This is especially true when she discusses the creation of "The Dark Night of the Soul" (which I personally feel is one of her very best works). If this video is missing anything it's a complete performance of that work.
The DVD is uneven from a technical standpoint. The most important points, the quality of the sound and the video itself, are exemplary. There are also a couple of nice extra features added; the DVD includes the original videos of the Bonny Swans and the Mummer's Dance. The menus are another matter. They're easy enough to navigate but they have a couple of quirks. The opening menu won't let anyone advance to the next stage until after they select a set of subtitles. Those can be turned of once the program is running but that should have been an option in the first place. The choice between audio tracks (PCM Stereo or 5.1) has to be made before the program starts. And it can't be changed once the feature starts, at least not without going back to the main menu. What were they thinking?
These are minor complaints though. Though the content ranges between good, great and magnificent and (as stated earlier) the sound quality is exceptional. The 5.1 track is the better of the two (even on conventional stereo) as it seems to have more information on it. Right now this DVD is added as a bonus to any of the remastered albums if they're purchased directly from Loreena's site. The sound quality of the original releases was very good (considerably better than almost anything else that was issued during the same time period in fact) the remastered audio is a huge improvement over the originals. For anyone interested in McKennitt's work this is worth considering.
Overall this is a wonderful introduction for people unfamiliar with McKennitt and an excellent addition for those already entranced. For lovers of great music her performance of "The Lady of Shalott" makes it a "must have".
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Loreena McKennitt
… A Beautifully Expressive Singer …
Loreena McKennitt:
Official Site (Quinlan Road)
The Harp Connection:
Information about the Different Types of Harps
