Loreena McKennitt at Alhambra

My wife and I are big fans of Loreena McKennitt and her electic mix of Celtic/New Age/Middle Eastern/wherever she's been last music. This evening, PBS was playing "Great Performances: Loreena McKennitt at Alhambra," and wow! Even watching it on television was a powerfully moving experience! I can't imagine what it was like to be there at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

Loreena McKennitt's voice is so powerful, she could be reading the periodic table of the elements off, with atomic weights and electron shell configurations, and it would still be magical. There was a drop dead gorgeous blonde cellist who was making that instrument grab you viscerally as she played. What an emotionally powerful instrument that cello was in her hands!

There was this bald fiddler whose passion and energy was overwhelming. On "Night Ride Across the Caucasus," he looked like he was about to have smoke start pouring out of ears, followed next by broken gears!

There are musical pieces that you hear and say, "What is that instrument?" Watching this performance, we could see the instruments and we still had to ask the question. One string and bow device looked so simple and ancient that I would be tempted to guess, "Celtic Bronze Age." Another instrument with keys and a crank that the musician kept turning made me think "Martian Bronze Age."

My wife noticed that she abbreviated a number of her longer pieces, such as "Lady of Shalott," probably to get more pieces into one concert. All the more reason to buy her albums. These make great music for the Corvette while driving through Idaho's forests. It helps me to drive at a more relaxing speed!