Disc One, The Olive & The Cedar, is a Mediterranean-inspired collection of 11 studio recordings personally selected by Loreena from her back catalog.
Disc Two, From Istanbul To Athens, contains 56 minutes of concert highlights from the 2009 Mediterranean Tour including five songs not featured in previous Loreena McKennitt live releases. Includes a 24 page, lavishly illustrated booklet featuring on-location photographs captured during the tour.
Review:
Loreena McKennitt's A Mediterranean Odyssey collection includes an
11-track anthology of her more Mediterranean-influenced works entitled Olive and
the Cedar, as well as a ten-track live performance recorded in 2009 called From
Istanbul to Athens. McKennitt's transition from Celtic balladeer to worldbeat
superstar began in the early '90s with the genre-hopping Visit. Her penchant for
Mediterranean/Far East/Middle Eastern instrumentation came to fruition on
1994's Mask and Mirror and 1997's Book of Secrets, the latter of which spawned
her biggest commercial hit with “The Mummer's Dance.” The bulk of Olive and
the Cedar is made up of material from those three albums. From Istanbul to
Athens mines much of the same material, but draws more heavily from
2006's Ancient Muse.
All Music Guide – James Christopher Monger