Songs from the Heart is the fifth studio album and fourth on-stage production by all-female Irish musical ensemble Celtic Woman, released on 16 January 2010.
Performers in Songs from the Heart are vocalists Chloë Agnew, Lynn Hilary, Lisa Kelly, Alex Sharpe and fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt. The German deluxe edition, released in January 2011, also features newer member (at the time) Lisa Lambe, as well as former members Órla Fallon and Méav Ní Mhaolchatha.
PBS special and DVD release background
Songs from the Heart was originally filmed as a TV special for American broadcaster PBS, as well as a DVD release, at Powerscourt House and Gardens near Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, in July 2009. The concert was filmed by Alex Coletti Productions and Brennus Productions with editing by the Windmill Lane Post Production studios in Dublin.
Like its predecessor A New Journey, the show was delayed by rain days before taking place; it also rained the day before, 'washing out' the rehearsals and forcing the performers to rehearse inside the main hall in the Powerscourt House. The concert was further delayed when the electrical generator powering the lights, cameras, and other electrical equipment failed during the song "Goodnight My Angel," requiring the show to stop while a second generator was sent for. The first generator was later fixed, allowing the show to continue with a restart of said song.
The DVD release and PBS special do not reprise the full concert, which composer and director David Downes mentioned was over two hours long. As the group did not have the rights to show all of the tracks performed during the recording of the PBS special and DVD release, the actual concert as shown was over one hour in length. Omitted songs that were performed included "Carolina Rua" and "You'll Be in My Heart".
The DVD also includes a 20-minute 'making-of' featurette showing the lead-up to the first show, starting three days before, where former CEO of the group Scott Porter mentions that Powerscourt was 'one of the most beautiful and challenging locations we've ever performed in'.
Track listing
Notes
All songs arranged by David Downes. Downes also wrote and composed "The New Ground" from track 6 and track 13. Track 14 was written and composed especially for Celtic Woman by Brendan Graham and William Joseph. Track 5 was released as a single on iTunes in November 2009, around the same period of the broadcast of the PBS special.
Personnel
Celtic Woman
Chloë Agnew – vocals
Lynn Hilary – vocals
Lisa Kelly – vocals
Máiréad Nesbitt – fiddle
Alex Sharpe – vocals
Band
David Downes – grand piano, keyboards, whistles, percussion, backing vocals
Des Moore – guitar, bouzouki
Eoghan O'Neill – bass guitar
Tommy Martin – uilleann pipes, whistles
Ray Fean – drums, percussion
Nicky Bailey – percussion
Anthony Byrne – bagpipes
Andrew Boland – pièna-flörten
Irish Film Orchestra
John Page – conductor
Alan Smale – concertmaster
Martin Johnston – solo cello
Aontas Choral Ensemble
Rosemary Collier – choral director
Black Raven Pipe Band
Paul Russell – pipe major
Production
David Downes – producer, arranger, orchestrator, additional engineering
Andrew Boland – engineering, mixing
Caroline Nesbitt – sleeve design
Lili Forberg, Laurel Fisher, Joe Kelly – photography
Recorded at Windmill Lane Studios 1 & 2, StudioTWO and RTÉ Studio 1, Dublin, Ireland Mixed in StudioTWO, Dublin, Ireland Mastered by Mazen Murad at Metropolis Studios, London