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Author Topic: Celtic Heart: PBS Special and DVD (writeup)  (Read 7612 times)
CWazyTom
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« on: June 23, 2019, 11:36:39 PM »

"Tim Janis: Celtic Heart" PBS Special Writeup

Tonight, I finally got to watch Celtic Heart on Detroit PBS!

I don't get that station in my area, so I had to have someone record it and traveled over the weekend to watch the recording.

The show ran for 90 minutes with the pledge breaks.

The show opened with a brief narration. It might have been Lynn doing it. I enjoyed it. Those were the only spoken words during the show. There weren't any song introductions or context for the songs. I thought they could have shown the song titles somewhere on the screen, but perhaps that's not Tim's style. I haven't seen his other DVDs yet.


Set List

1. Fairy Glen (Lynn + Mairead)
2. Isle of Sky (Lynn)
3. White Forest (Lynn + Mairead)
4. Winter's Gate (Lynn)
5. Fall of the Great Forest (Lynn + Mairead)

-- Pledge Break #1 --

6. The Ancient Woods (Lynn)
7. Through the Mountains (Lynn)
8. Hidden Forest (Lynn + Mairead)
9. Mountain at the River (Lynn)

-- Pledge Break #2 --

10. Shadow Glass (Lynn)
11. Kid ar an Sliabh (Mairead)
12. The Light of Highland Meadow (Lynn + Mairead)
13. Western Realms (Lynn + Mairead)

-- Pledge Break #3 --

14. Beyond the Evening Star (Lynn + Mairead)
15. Spirit Lake (Lynn + Mairead)
16. Celtic Heart (Lynn + Mairead)

-- Pledge Break #4 --


According to the interviews during the PBS special, the DVD will have 3 additional songs that were not in the PBS special.

The extra songs weren't mentioned in the PBS special, but comparing the album to the PBS special set list, the 3 extra songs are probably:

- Spirit of the Trees
- Light on the Sea
- The Ring of Brodgar



The Look:

The lighting was ok. They achieved some interesting contrast in shots using bright lighting behind the performers. There were a few instances were I thought the performers were being over-saturated with light (the type of thing that happens to a picture taken from a phone when it overcompensates for dark surroundings and overexposes parts of a scene). Overall though, she scenes from the concert, particularly the closeups, turned out great!


Crowd Shots:

As some of you know, I was in the audience at the York Community Auditorium in York for the two shows where this PBS special was actually recorded. I was sitting far to stage right for the first concert and closer to center in the second row for the second show. I wasn't really expecting to be on the special, but I was really surprised the first time they showed the audience. For one thing, the theater where the audience was located wasn't the same venue where the show was actually recorded.

EDIT: I had watched this a bunch of times and didn't notice anyone I recognized. However, today I had a closer look after someone told me I was on the DVD. Uh...what? So I paused a few of the closeup crowd shots and found myself. So they used long shots of a different venue and closeups from the venue in Maine.


Scenery:

Tim is known for his combination of music with natural footage in his DVDs and YouTube videos. Throughout the concert, they faded back and forth between the live performance on stage and pre-recorded segments with the performers on a rock near the ocean. There were also lots of stunning scenes of Irish landscapes (there may have been some scenes in there from other locations, but I think least most were from Ireland). The Cliffs of Moher made several appearances. I had seen some of the same scenes in his YouTube videos promoting Celtic Heart. While they were certainly lovely scenes, I found it a bit amusing that the scenery sometimes didn't match the song. "The Hidden Forest," for example, featured seaside cliffs. I guess technically it was a really well-hidden forest, because it didn't actually appear during the track. In my opinion, it was a minor but odd inconsistency.


The Sound:

The sound quality was excellent, in my opinion. The ethereal humming of the singers was both intriguing and soothing. Lynn sounded incredibly beautiful. Although she had the vocal spotlight for most of the show, she wasn't the only singer on stage. The backup singers were good. Australian singer Ella Roberts was particularly impressive. When I heard "The White Forest" on the album, I thought that was Lynn singing because it was so spectacular. But in that song, it was actually Ella! She has quite a voice!

Mairead sounded great as well. She moved around a bit, though not quite as much as in the Celtic Woman DVDs. While she had a few fun, energetic songs, it was her breathtaking performance in "The Hidden Forest" that stole the show for me. That is one of the most gorgeous things I've ever heard.


Pledge Breaks:

During each pledge break, there were 2 interview segments: the first with Tim Janis and the second with Tim accompanied by Mairead Nesbitt. The interviews were done live in the PBS studio. It was mentioned during the broadcast that the DVD has additional interviews with the performers. At least some of those interviews were recorded at the venue in York, Maine.

Tim talked about how he had seen Mairead on PBS (with Celtic Woman) and just had to have her incredible talent in Celtic Heart. He also mentioned that he liked listening to Mairead speak. That was pretty cute. She does have an adorable accent and tone.

Tim mentioned that he had seen Lynn in multiple PBS specials. Hmm, she was only a featured singer in one Celtic Woman special. Was a cameo from The Greatest Journey's documentary "The Journey So Far" shown on PBS (not just on the DVD)? Was she with Anuna on PBS? Was "Roots of Ireland" shown on PBS? Did she do pledge breaks for a Celtic Woman special in which she didn't actually appear? Am I missing something or has she been on PBS only once prior to this?

Mairead was really adorable in the interview segments. Mairead also talked about how talented Eimear McGeown (flutes and whistles) is. Mairead also talked about how the audience gives her the energy to perform the way she does. The PBS rep said Mairead had played a big role in making Celtic music popular across the US. Celtic Woman was never mentioned during the pledge breaks though.

The following pledge gifts were offered:

$60: Celtic Heart CD
$72: Celtic Heart DVD
$96: Celtic Heart CD + DVD bundle (with Tim's CD "Waters Edge," which is excellent but I already have, as a bonus gift)
$150: Pair of tickets to Tim Janis's show in Detroit in December
$250: Pair of tickets with Meet and Greet to Tim Janis's show in Detroit in December

To my surprise, the date for the show in Detroit (technically Royal Oak, Michigan, which is a suburb of Detroit) was not the same as the date promoted when I got the Meet and Greet tickets from PBS the day before they aired the show. My pledge confirmation email indicated (as originally shown) that the show was on Sunday, December 8th (a date that was in conflict with the Celtic Woman: Best of Christmas show in Denver). On the PBS special, they advertised the show was on Tuesday, December 10th. The show isn't yet posted on the venue site but PBS has since updated the date on the tickets offered through their website to December 10th, so I suspect that's the correct date. I suppose I'll find out when I get my ticket.  ::)


Overall

This was a nice concert special. The music was immensely soothing and along with the spliced in footage, it was visually stunning as well. It had a few quirks (the lighting was too strong in some cases, the scenes sometimes didn't match the songs, the lack of song titles, and the uh ... shots of the audience from some different venue). But in spite of those unusual choices, I thought it turned out very well and I definitely recommend watching it! I hope some of you get to see it later this year or next year on PBS. The DVD will hopefully be available soon as well for those that can't see it on PBS, or for those like me who want to treasure Mairead and Lynn's performances forever in our hearts.
« Last Edit: September 22, 2019, 04:01:04 PM by CWazyTom » Logged
Tracie
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« Reply #1 on: June 24, 2019, 08:43:43 AM »

Thanks for the write-up Tom! I hope I get to see this one soon. It's not listed on my local PBS yet. I really love the album, it's so beautiful and soothing. I've been listening to it quite frequently while working. That's so weird that they used all crowd shots of a different crowd though!
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« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2019, 05:42:27 PM »

Still waiting   Local PBS station hasn't replied to my inquiries,,,,,,,,
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VegasDavid
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« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2019, 06:11:09 PM »

Oh, I'm glad this date change means you are more likely to join us in Detroit, Tom!

That is weird that they didn't show the actual audience.  I also found it weird that I could not hear the harp twins at all in the Kid ar an Sliabh video you posted, though maybe they are just supposed to blend in with the orchestra.
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CWazyTom
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« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2019, 09:21:37 PM »

-- SPOILERS BELOW --
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"Tim Janis: Celtic Heart" DVD Writeup

I received my Celtic Heart DVD from PBS today!

Packaging and Contents

The front DVD cover is really pretty. It's almost the same as the album cover, but the graphics are spread across more vertical space on the DVD cover. The backdrop of the album cover consists of a dark green hillside with majestic rocky peaks and a lake beneath a warm sunset or sunrise. Over top of the background is the title and the and the images of the principal performers: Eimear McGeown, Mairead Nesbitt, Lynn Hilary, Camille and Kennerly Kitt (The Harp Twins) and Tim Janis.

The back DVD cover has some photos from the concert of the principal performers, including singer Ella Roberts, who has a fantastic voice! There's also an image of nice green hillside. The back cover also has a little description of the PBS special and the track list. The colour of the text is very similar to the hillside background though, so it's challenging to read.

The DVD didn't come with a booklet inside.

I was actually a bit concerned when I first took out the DVD. The shiny side of the DVD looked like it had been mauled by a tiger or something. I can't imagine I caused that many scratches taking it out of the case. Fortunately, it didn't seem to affect the playback quality at all.

DVD Contents

The video on the DVD looks fantastic! A few of the Celtic Woman DVDs had some pretty significant differences in quality between the PBS special / Blu-ray (full HD) and the DVD. The scenery and performers looked great on this DVD! There weren't a lot of long-range shots of the performers. But even the mid-range shots of the whole stage and the scenes of the performers on a rocky shore in Maine looked better than I was expecting from a DVD. Not nearly as pixelated or blotchy as the Songs from the Heart or Ancient Land DVDs.

The DVD includes all 16 songs from the PBS special in the same order.

But it also includes a satisfying assortment of bonus material!

As suspected, there are 3 extra songs on the DVD in the bonus material:
- The Ring of Brodgar (Lynn + Mairead)
- Light on the Sea (neither Lynn or Mairead)
- Spirit of the Trees (Lynn + Mairead)

The songs are on the CD as well and they're really pretty. My favourite of the three bonus tracks is Spirit of the Trees, which features the hauntingly beautiful humming of Lynn Hilary.

But there are also interviews with the lead performers, including:
- Eimear McGeown
- The Harp Twins
- Tim Janis and Mairead Nesbitt together, and
- TWO interviews with Lynn Hilary!

The interviews were all done at the venue in Maine. They were originally recorded for PBS rather than specifically for the DVD. They include portions where Jim Masters, one of the personalities for Connecticut Public Television (CPTV), urges the viewers to visit their website or pick up the phone and call their local PBS station to pledge their support. It wasn't the same interviews I saw on Detroit PBS (those were done in the PBS studio and only featured Tim and Mairead). But I suspect the interviews from the DVD were the ones that aired on the CPTV PBS special.

The information in the interviews was good, although not necessarily earth shattering, but there was more to the interview segments than the questions and answers. The interview segments had the soothing music from the PBS special playing in the background and had some scenes from concert inserted. The best part though, was the super-adorable way Mairead and Lynn came across in those segments. Mairead projected a lot of joy and enthusiasm. I loved Lynn's warmth and her charming hint of shyness.

P.S. No, the actual audience at the DVD recording wasn't one of the special features.  ::) ;D

Overall Impression

This is a really good DVD! The music is soothing and absolutely gorgeous. The scenery is also very pretty and relaxing. The special features on the DVD were quite satisfying too. If you get any DVDs beyond the Celtic Woman group DVDs, this one needs to be near or at the top of your list (along with Chloë's DVD, Orla's two DVDs, and Feet of Flames). This DVD, its tranquil music, and its lovely landscapes.reminded me most of Chloë's DVD, my favourite of the solo DVDs. I hope you all have a chance to enjoy this fantastic DVD!


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-- SPOILERS ABOVE --
« Last Edit: August 24, 2019, 06:36:17 PM by CWazyTom » Logged
Maloney
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« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2019, 01:23:16 PM »

Southern Oregon PBS is slated to air the show next weekend !
Maybe we'll be able to pick up the dvd through them    hoping for a live show too    lol
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CWazyTom
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« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2019, 04:11:18 PM »

So I found out from someone today that I was on the DVD.  :o

I thought I had a pretty good look several times I watched the PBS special and the DVD and didn't see anyone I recognized much less myself.

So I ran the DVD again today and this time paused the crowd shots at various points during the closeups and sure enough found some shots with me in them. There was one in between Isle of Skye and The White Forest and another in between Kid ar an Sliabh and The Light of Highland Meadow. I can be seen in a super-bright Mairead Nesbitt T-shirt.

Interesting.

The shots where you can see the "balconies" are obviously not from the same venue because there were no balconies at the venue in Maine, but it seems they did use some closeup shots from the actual show in Maine.
« Last Edit: September 22, 2019, 07:38:04 PM by CWazyTom » Logged
arielm0
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« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2020, 08:25:10 AM »

Hi to all!
Anybody knows a site where I could get a streaming version of this concert? Impossible to buy it in my country.  :(
Thanks!
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« Reply #8 on: July 20, 2020, 01:09:20 PM »

Hi to all!
Anybody knows a site where I could get a streaming version of this concert? Impossible to buy it in my country.  :(
Thanks!

Welcome to the Forum yes you can watch it on Youtube Tim has the whole dvd there it's at this link enjoy the dvd and the Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=o_ySJ-SueCI&feature=emb_logo
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CWazyTom
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« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2020, 08:40:32 PM »

Hi to all!
Anybody knows a site where I could get a streaming version of this concert? Impossible to buy it in my country.  :(
Thanks!

Welcome to the Forum yes you can watch it on Youtube Tim has the whole dvd there it's at this link enjoy the dvd and the Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=o_ySJ-SueCI&feature=emb_logo

That has some clips from the DVD but it's mostly random stock footage backed by Tim's music. I have the actual DVD which I had to get from a PBS pledge. I haven't seen a full version of the DVD anywhere online yet.
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GlenS
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« Reply #10 on: July 21, 2020, 04:23:20 PM »

ok here is the CD Enjoy

https://soundcloud.com/glen-swiggum/tim-janis-celtic-hearts-cd

https://vimeo.com/440509124

listen fast no telling how long it will be here Youtube blocked it before it was done uploading
« Last Edit: July 21, 2020, 10:45:43 PM by GlenS » Logged
CWazyTom
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« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2021, 08:18:42 PM »

I thought I posted this months ago, but I guess not.

Essentially, the "Time of the Trees" DVD has 6 new tracks in the form of music videos (shot separately from the content on the original DVD) at the cost of 6 of the tracks on some of the original DVD and with some slightly different ordering.

Regular "Celtic Heart" DVD:

1. Fairy Glen
2. Isle of Skye
3. The White Forest
4. Winter's Gate
5. Fall of the Great Forest
6. The Ancient Woods
7. Through the Mountains*
8. Hidden Forest*
9. Mountain at the River*
10. Shadow Glass*
11. Kid ar an Sliabh
12. The Light of the Highland Meadow*
13. Western Realms
14. Beyond the Evening Star
15. Spirit Lake*
16. Celtic Heart
Bonus:
- The Ring of Brodgar
- Spirit of the Trees
- Light on the Sea
- Cast interviews with Jim Masters

Time of the Trees DVD

1. The Parting Glass (Lynn and Máiréad Nesbitt)*
2. Merrily Kiss the Quaker / Denis Murphy's Slide (Mairead Nesbitt)*
3. Isle of Skye
4. Fall of the Great Forest
5. Kid ar an Sliabh
6. Danny Boy (Máiréad Nesbitt)*
7. The Butterfly (Máiréad Nesbitt)*
8. Winter's Gate
9. Beyond the Evening Star
10. The White Forest
11. Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile / The Miller of Glanmire (Máiréad Nesbitt)*
12. She Moved Through the Fair (Lynn + Máiréad Nesbitt)*
13. Fairy Glen
14. Western Realms
15. The Ancient Woods
16. Celtic Heart
Bonus:
- The Ring of Brodgar
- Spirit of the Trees
- Light on the Sea
- Cast interviews with Jim Masters

Tracks on Celtic Heart but not Time of the Trees DVD:
- Through the Mountains
- Hidden Forest (that's a bit of a travesty it was removed from Time of the Trees ... it was my favourite)
- Mountain at the River
- Shadow Glass
- The Light of the Highland Meadow
- Spirit Lake

Tracks added on Time of the Trees DVD:
- The Parting Glass
- Merrily Kiss the Quaker / Denis Murphy's Slide
- Danny Boy
- The Butterfly (my new favourite version)
- Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile / The Miller of Glanmire
- She Moved Through the Fair
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CWazyTom
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« Reply #12 on: October 22, 2022, 07:59:20 PM »

Just when I thought I'd seen it all, the version of Celtic Heart currently available on PBS passport (I think this is the variant that aired on PBS in 2020), has different content than the other two DVDs.

The two new tracks are music videos show at the same location as the music video tracks that were added in Time of the Trees:

May It Be (Lynn + Máiréad Nesbitt)
Raglan Road (Lynn + Máiréad Nesbitt)

They're both REALLY pretty!

There's not much left of the original show at this point though. Only 6 out of 14 tracks in the 2020 revision of the PBS special were from the original DVD or PBS special. I guess the original format didn't go over that well, even though I loved it. I'm not really sure what the reason for leaving Hidden Forest off the revised PBS special was though. It was my favourite  track, with a gorgeous sweeping melody, a lovely, moving violin performance by Máiréad, and mesmerizing humming by Lynn. Maybe it didn't fit the vibe of the rest of the special? Not sure.

Notes:
- The Butcher's March was part of the "Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile" tune set, although it wasn't listed on the 2 previous DVDs.
- In the credits for the PBS special, they only show the track list up to the Oró tune set. They don't list any of the tracks that came after that. Weird...

Below is the track list for the 2020 variation (2nd version?) of the Celtic Heart PBS special. I've noted the:
- Newest tracks with an "n"
- Time of the Trees additions with a "t"
- The original tracks (from the first PBS special and DVD) with an "o"

The Parting Glass (t)
Merrily Kiss the Quaker / Denis Murphy's Slide (t)
May It Be (n)
Fall of the Great Forest (o)
Kid ar an Sliabh (o)
Danny Boy (t)
The Butterfly (t)
Winter's Gate (o)
Beyond the Evening Star (o)
Raglan Road (n)
Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile / The Miller of Glanmire / The Butcher's March (t)
She Moved Through the Fair (t)
The Ancient Woods (o)
Celtic Heart (o)

There's a stark difference between the quality of the live concert shots from the original DVD and the subsequently filmed music video add-on tracks. The music video tracks look much better than the live concert shots.

If you have PBS Passport, I'd definitely recommend you watch this. It's really soothing and I loved the two newest tracks. I'm not sure if the video versions available elsewhere (maybe it's still on iTunes) are the same or are yet another variant to add to the list:
- Celtic Heart (original PBS special)
- Celtic Heart DVD (some extra tracks)
- Time of the Trees (some new music videos and less of the original tracks)
- Celtic Lands (a mix of Celtic Heart, Time of the Trees, and Tim Janis' other songs)
- Celtic Heart 2020 PBS special revision (2 additional music videos and even less of the original tracks)


I do recommend the ORIGINAL version too (I'm actually briefly on that one) if you can still get the ORIGINAL version from 2019 through PBS pledge (the one with the yellow-ish front cover with the performers on it, not Time of the Trees cover or the Celtic Lands cover, which has a tree and a butterfly on it). Be careful though, I doubt PBS has any idea how many revisions of this there are or what they're actually offering. Lol.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2022, 08:05:20 PM by CWazyTom » Logged
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