Lorenna McKennitt - Cambridge Festival 2012 review

'A bewitching woman who has clearly lived'

Lorenna McKennitt - Cambridge Festival 2012 review

Photographer:Jason Downes

30 July 2012

Gliding onto the stage with an enchanting smile, flame-haired Celtic wizardess Lorenna McKennitt stations herself at the centre of a set of highly talented and intense musicians. Like curling up and dunking a rich tea biscuit on a rainy day, McKennitt’s lilting music is both soothing and comforting.

Evidently a highly experienced performer, McKennitt sinks into the stage amongst a plethora of instruments with total ease. Her breathy voice tells eagerly of her pan-Celtic eclectic history. Beginning her musical career as a busker, she has today sold over fourteen million albums worldwide and boasts an impressive array of instruments – McKennitt is a harpist, accordionist and pianist who composes and sings her own music.

McKennitt sees her music as a form of travel writing, telling us that she uses it as a springboard from which to tell her vast and vivid tales. Her rich and haunting Canadian tones instantly charm us as she narrates between songs, drawing us instantly into her magical world. Eyes closed, her fingers move so deftly and expertly over her harp it becomes an extension of her body, such is her obvious ease and affinity with the instrument.

Her music is wildly eclectic and we are treated to a heady blend of instrumentation, each song marinated to perfection. This is a bewitching woman who has clearly lived and has the songs to prove it.

-- Meg Roberts

 




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