Personnel: Bill Whelan (arranger, handclaps); Juan Reina Gonzalez (vocals, handclaps); Aine Ui Cheallaigh (vocals); Des Moore (guitar); Rafael Riqueni (Spanish guitar, handclaps); Eileen Ivers (acoustic & electric fiddles); Maire Breatnach (fiddle); Nikola Parov (gadulka, kaval); Davy Spillane (whistle, Uilleann pipes); Ronan Browne (Uilleann pipes); Cormac Breatnach (susato whistle); Mairtin O'Connor (accordion); Kenneth Edge (soprano saxophone); David Hayes (keyboards); Eoghan O'Neill (bass); Desi Reynolds (drums, tom-tom); Tommy Hayes (bodhran, dumbeq, clay drum, spoons, percussion); Michael Flatley, Jean Butler, The Irish Riverdance Dance Troupe (taps); Noel Eccles (percussion).
Anuna includes: Michael McGlynn (conductor); Sarah Clancy, Katie McMahon (vocals).
Recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland.
RIVERDANCE won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
The Grammy Award-winning soundtrack to the popular Riverdance stage show has been re-released with a bonus remix of "Riverdance," as well as deluxe packaging which includes photographs from the show. Bill Whelan, who has worked for twenty years as a composer, producer, and arranger (his credits include work for Kate Bush, Hothouse Flowers, Van Morrison, and U2, among others), achieved international recognition for RIVERDANCE.
Whelan incorporates a variety of ethnic musical traditions as well as modern and choral music and the hypnotic, rhythmic hard-shoe Irish dancing for which RIVERDANCE is famous. This album traverses the continents, assembling an amazing group of international and Irish musicians. Standouts include the Irish choral group Anuna performing "Shivna," a haunting piece whose Irish lyrics are based on an 11th Century text.
Professional Reviews
Dirty Linen (p.87) - "[With] fine ensemble playing....Certainly worth re-exploring."
