One of the more impressive things about A Christmas Celebration is its glowing immediacy. The record’s rich vocals and colorful instrumentals create a concert-like setting, reprising the season’s most loved hymns, carols, and pop standards, along with a Gaelic version of “That Night in Bethlehem.” Unexpected numbers such as “Christmas Pipes” and “Carol of the Bells” (here led by the spirited fiddling of Mariread Nesbitt) only enhance an already engaging disc that finely weaves between the piety of classical music and the playfulness of pop.

Chloe Agnew, Orla Fallon, Lisa Kelly, and Meav Ni Mhaolchatha combine their Celtic voices against orchestral arrangements and sparser settings–spiked with the traditional Irish fare of uilleann pipes, harp, and ancient choral harmony–to deliver an assortment of reverent but lively arrangements that wouldn’t be out of place at a church, concert hall, or good Irish celli. –Martin Keller


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A Christmas Celebration - Celtic Woman 2008 Track Listing
01. O Holy Night
02. Away In A Manger
03. Ding Dong Merrily On High
04. White Christmas
05. Silent Night
06. Christmas Pipes
07. The Christmas Song
08. Carol
09. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
10. Panis Angelicus
11. Don Oiche Ud I Mbeithil (That Night In Bethlehem)
12. O Come. All Ye Faithful
13. The Little Drummer Boy
14. The Wexford Carol
15. Let It Snow!