Official Press - "Road signs to Rome, a turnoff to Munich, a traffic jam en route to Hamburg, a fuelling station on the highway out of Barcelona, Easter in Brussels, buses and trucks making their way through the night. Flights to Montreal, New York or Los Angeles, the lights of airports, highways, run-ways... the exotic and eclectic blend of expericnces, from the sublime to the ridiculous, from the touching to the infuriating, the invigorating to the exhausting..."Captured live in April and May of 1998 in the Salle Pleyel in Paris and Massey Hall in Toronto, this two-CD set is, says Loreena McKennitt, simply "the sound of us doing what we did." Featuring performances of all of the songs from "The Book Of Secrets" as well as a generous selection of favourites from previous recordings, "Live In Paris And Toronto" comes in a dcluxe, custom-made, "book"-bound package.
Currently available exdusively via mail-order from Quinlan Road, "Live In Paris And Toronto" is not only the artist's first ever full-length live recording, but is also a charitable effort in support of The Cook-Rees Memorial Fund For Water Search And Safety, to which net proceeds from sales will be donated. The fund's aims are to fund research, education and general programs to promote water safety, and it contributes to the purchase of equipment which is essential to water-related rescue and recovery exercises. If you would like more information about the fund, its aims, or how to make a direct charitable contribution, please contact:
The Cook-Rees Memorial Fund For Water Search And Safety PO Box 21030, Stratford, Ontario N5A 7V4 Tcl 1 519 273 5522
"Loreena McKennitt comments on the album in her own words"
"Although I consider my studio recordings to be a more thorough portrait of where I am creatively, the sonic snapshot that is a live recording can show that picture in a different, if perhaps more conventional, way.
Music playcd for an audience always has its own dynamic personality, which flows trom the chemistry of'the day, the location, and the performers' interaction with those who were there. And, of course, live music also has its share of spontancity. Just ask anyone who attended the París concert during our spring tour last year. As we began performing All Souls Night', I headed oft in my own direction, while the band stayed stubbornly to the agreed-upon musical arrangement, and the ensuing musical trainwreck had both us and the audience rolling in the aisles. A few weeks earlier in Rome, on our first performance of the tour, we were greeted with a power cut ten minutes into the show, thereby inserting an unscheduled intermission a little closer to the beginning of the concert than is usually considered advisable. All manner of surprises can greet you on the road, and after attempting to eliminate as many of the pitfalls as you can before setting out, you must decide to roll with them as they come.
On the road, the touring company - which runs from the featured musicians through to the caterers who feed them anci the bus and truck drivers who ensure they arrive - becomes your surrogate family. I was particularly blessed, once again, with a stellar team who brought a high level of expertise to their work and great integrity to their personal conduct, which, in the end, is what allows the music to happen in the best possible circumstances.
It's not uncommon, then, that the live rendering of the music, compared to its studio version, is different, as you will hear on this recording. Sometimes, those differences are the result of practical matters, such as the number of instruments you have brought on the road, or the number of musicians you have to play them, but it's also that, as you play a piece repeatedly, you learn more about it than you did in the studio. Some things you learn strengthen the work; other things simply change its hue.
If there's any regret I have about this gypsy side of an artist's life, it is that we have not been able to extencl our tours to all the wonderful locations to which we have been invited. I do hope that somewhere down the line, and maybe in the not-too-distant future, we will be able to launch our little musical village on the road again. Until such time, however, I hope this live recording will give you an aural taste of the event as it was."
Track List
SET ONE
Prologue 5.00 The Mummers' Dance 3.54 Skellig 5.24 Marco Polo 4.35 The Highwayman 9.19 La Serenissima 5.55 Night Ride Across The Caucasus 6.22 Dante's Prayer 5.25
SET TWO
The Mystic's Dream 6.29 Santiago 5.32 Bonny Portmore 3.50 Bctween The Shadows 4.18 The LadyOfShalott 9.05 The Bonny Swans 6.33 The Oíd Ways 5.03 All Souls Night 4.13 Cymbeline 6.27
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