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December 18, 2007
Barras keep kinship in Christmas
Tim Arsenault, Halifax Herald
IF YOU BELIEVE the holidays are
all about families, Bravo is wrapping up something with you
in mind.
Christmas Together with the
Barra MacNeils premieres Saturday at 10 p.m. on the
specialty channel and it’s another opportunity for the
musical Sydney Mines clan to shine.
An earlier holiday show by the
Celtic-pop group has aired for a few years, but this one is
a complement to the plainly titled Christmas Album II CD
release from 2006.
The production cycle of
Christmas shows and albums usually means that the artist,
crew and audience have to pretend to be in the mood in the
middle of summer.
Christmas with the Barra
MacNeils was no different and was taped last summer before
an audience at the cozy Alderney Landing Theatre along the
Dartmouth waterfront. It probably took a little effort to
suspend reality but the setting and the music seem to have
quickly worked magic. The spare design of the program lets
the trees, festive lights and candles punctuate the
atmosphere.
The Barras get things underway
with a spirited rendition of I Saw Three Ships but it’s just
an appetizer for the generous musical banquet to follow.
Singer and
multi-instrumentalist Kyle MacNeil mentions that this is the
first special that includes the whole family, which
acknowledges the group’s current six-sibling lineup.
Fittingly, the special takes
its name from a song composed by Ryan for Christmas Album
II. That all-too-pertinent number about focusing on kinship
at Christmas is performed on the show with the group’s
guests, Gaelic singer and Celtic harpist Maggie MacInnes and
the Acadian vocal trio of Monique Poirier, Isabelle
Theriault and Patricia Richard.(An earlier performance of
Stan Rogers’ At Last I’m Ready for Christmas makes a similar
point in a more humorous way.)
The family bond is maintained
with the robust On The Very First Christmas, a song written
by the MacNeils’ uncle, Hector MacKenzie. Of course, it’s
impossible for every member of every clan to be together
over the holidays.
A penetrating Gaelic number by
MacInnes is described as being about an immigrant man
wishing he was home for Christmas. (Another piece she does
while accompanying herself on the harp will give listeners
the sort of ethereal vibe Enya is famous for.)
Other treats waiting to be
discovered include a centrepiece performance of Ave Maria
with a beautifully restrained vocal by Lucy, delightful
French songs by the Acadian ladies and a harp duet by Lucy
and MacInnes that sounds like the world’s biggest music box.
The show officially concludes
with a version of Joy to the World that’s so joyful it leads
to two-thirds of the MacNeils doing some step-dancing.
The special was made by
Halifax’s New Scotland Pictures with Charlie Cahill
producing and Jim Spitler directing. Musical direction was
by Declan O’Doherty.
As difficult as it is to
believe, 2007 makes the 20th anniversary of the Barra
MacNeils as a recording and touring act.
A nicely packaged compilation
is in the shops and the same weekend their new special
premieres sees the Barra MacNeils performing their series of
popular Christmas concerts. The band does two shows at the
Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay on Saturday and two more at the
Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax on Sunday.
Depending on when you’re
reading this, finding a Nintendo Wii might be easier than
snagging a pair of tickets to see the Barras in person so
out-of-luck fans should make a point of enjoying some
Christmas cheer in front of the television.
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