Loreena McKennitt forced to cancel festival appearance in Fez, Morocco

Today I received this news: Loreena canceled her appearence at the Festival of World Sacred Music, which will be held in Fez, Morocco. Loreena McKennitt official website reports the news quoting Loreena:

I’m facing a grave family emergency and being away from home at this time is not an option. It is most difficult to make this unprecedented decision to cancel a concert so close to its date.

I planned to go there with my girlfriend, it would have been the opportunity to see Loreena's concert and to visit Fez, a city I visitied twice and that I liked very much. Unfortunately (well, that's what I thought...) the agency was not able to provide us an accommodation on time and that's why we opted for Crete.

I'm really sorry to hear about Loreena's troubles, whatever they be. So many time she accompanied me through the journey of my life, comforting me through the embrace of the music I'd love most, speaking to my soul as only few friends can do. It's time to pay my dues.

I wish everything went fine for you.

Concerto di Natale 2008, a deception

Yes, I told you and I went.

We were late because of an unexpected mist completely covering the A4 motorway, between Padua and Verona, but at the end, and 3 minutes before the beginning, we were there.

Surely my opinion is biased: I went for Loreena McKennitt and she's my unit of measure. Despite her short performance, I strongly think that the concert was a deception. First: the well known Italian host Mara Venier was not suited to lead such an event. Mainly, she misses the elegance of other hosts, such as Cristina Parodi, and gave no glamour to the event. It seemed, on the contrary, the typical arteriosclerotic television program which may hypnotize just my grandmother. The trite sketches in Venetian dialect were as new as the Flood. The artists that performed could be categorized as:

• the good: who didn't shine, as Dionne Warwick, Katia Ricciarelli, Alabama Gospel Choir and Loreena McKennitt. Either because of the bad acoustic, or because the repertoire was banal.
• the bad: did you expect to see a non-talented winner of a television show performing at such event? I don't.
  
• the ugly: all of the others.

Poor Loreena appeared almost at the end, after a ten minute break to prepare the stage for her band. Omitting the sad detail of a missing cable which delayed her performance, she and the Philharmonic gave us the most beautiful sound and feeling of all the night. Sadly, it lasted just two songs, after which Loreena literally escaped from the stage before the host could catch her.

I hope this was just an accident and look forward to seeing higher quality standards in the future editions of this show.

Loreena McKennitt to perform at Concerto di Natale 2008 (Christmas Concert 2008)

As stated in the performances page in Loreena McKennitt's official website, Loreena is going to perform at the Concerto di Natale 2008 (Christmas Concert 2008) on December 7th at the Philharmonic Theatre in Verona, Italy.

After 13 editions held at the Aula Paolo VI, Vatican City, this year the Concerto di Natale comes back to Verona's Philharmonic Theater. Verona is an elegant and beautiful city of Veneto, bordering Lombardia and at a privileged position at the end of the Colli Berici hills chain, at few kilometers from Garda Lake, Italian largest lake. I strongly recommend a visit to this charming city, dining in a restaurant near the medieval center and strolling around, admiring the beauty of the soft hills and the river surrounding the town. And for all the Romeos accompanied by their girlfriend, if that night you feel the romance, you can pay a visit to Giulietta's house.

Besides Loreena, many other bigs are going to perform in a concert which is already a tradition in Italy. The concert will be broadcast on the Italian national television (RAI) on December 24th at 21.00 and will also be broadcast via satellite by RAI International. The concert program, as stated at the official site, is the following (starting at 19.00):

• Zach Ashton (USA)
• Angelique Kidjo (Benin)
• Sananda Maitreya (USA)
• Loreena McKennitt (Canada)
• Dionne Warwick (USA)
• Paolo Fresu (Italy)
• Irene Grandi (Italy)
• Enzo Jannacci (Italy)
• Andrea Mingardi (Italy)
• Lola Ponce (Argentina) e Giò di Tonno (Italy)
• Neri Per Caso (Italy)
• Piero Mazzocchetti (Italy)
• PFM - Premiata Forneria Marconi (Italy)
• Katia Ricciarelli (Italy)
• Alabama Gospel Choir (U.S.A)
• Coro di Voci Bianche "A.d'A.MUS" of Verona directed by Maestro Marco Tonini

I already bought my tickets and will fly there on December, 5th, to enjoy a couple of days in Veneto before attending this event. I don't know if the concert is already sold out but if I could assist, I wouldn't miss such an opportunity to see Loreena perform, together with a bunch of another great artists, in a concert whose raised funds will be donated to the Don Bosco Foundation, to improve the lifes of Haitian children living in poverty.

Enjoy!