Given her age, 13, her looks and an album that has already sold more than two million copies, it will not be wrong for the casual onlooker to rank her alongside other teen divas like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. But while there are indeed similarities, Charlotte Church is made of different stuff. The young singing idol does not prance around stages to the beat of R&B. Instead, she is a soprano, whose milieu is classical music.
Charlotte was only 12 years old when she made her album debut with Voice of an Angel. No title could have been more apt because the lass from Cardiff does sing with crystal tones just like we usually imagine angels would. It was no wonder that the whole world sat up and took notice when the album came out. In no time at all, she had became the youngest solo artist ever to have a Top 30, Gold and later Platinum album in the US of A, and to reach the UK Top 40 where she also made it to number one in the UK Classical hit list.
Given those credentials, it comes as no surprise then that Charlotte's second album would be a bigger, better planned production. The self-titled Charlotte Church was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and has a more varied and more difficult repertoire. Her singing, which was already outstanding to begin with, has also improved. Her voice is now fuller and more expressive. Much can also be said about the choice of materials. The songs are still predominantly religious but unlike Voice of an Angel, this album also includes popular arias and new compositions of a secular bent.
If you've often wondered what that song is being played in the Ford or Volvo or Mazda commercial, you will find the answer in this album. It is Just Wave Hello by Charlotte. If you've been looking for that tune that was featured prominently in the award-winning film Life is Beautiful, look no more, because Charlotte sings a lovely version of this Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffmann. And Celine Dion is not the only singer in the charts these days with a sweet version of Brahms' Lullaby," because Charlotte also sings this in her album.
Other songs included are La Pastorella by Rossini; O Mio Babbino Caro by Puccini; Lascia ch'io Pianga by Handel; Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer by John Hughes; The Holy City by Stephen Adams; Plaisir d'Amour by Martini; Summertime by Gershwin; The Jewel Song by Gounod; Voi Che Sapete (Tell Me What Love Is) by Mozart; the folk song She Moved Through the Fair; Songs My Mother Taught Me by Dvorak; If Thou art Near by Bach; The Last Rose of Summer by Thomas Moore; and Men of Harlech by John Ceirig Hughes.
If you are still in a semi-classical mood these days and if like many people I know, you still feel rapturous over the bittersweet love story of Anna and the King, then you might want to check out the soundtrack recording of the music from the movie. The album opens with the enchanting love song How Can I Not Love You composed by George Fenton, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Robert Kraft as sang by the newest addition to the Latin brigade, Joy Enriquez.
Fenton, who is one of today's most distinguished composers of film music also came up with the hauntingly beautiful score for the movie that stars Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat. It tells the romantic tale of the King of Siam and the British governess Anna Leonowens who was a teacher in the royal household in the 1861. Just like the story, the sweeping score uses a blend of classical themes from both East and West.
This one is not like most soundtracks in the market these days in that it is not a compilation of various hit songs but is made up of just the theme song and the mood music from the film, which explains the classical classification. It harks back to the old style movie soundtrack, which regained popularity with the hugely successful Titanic. In fact, there was even a Part 2 of the Titanic soundtrack made up of music that was left out when the first album was released. Moviegoers could not get enough of the movie and they just had to have the music to relive every scene with.
Will you also be sailing up the river aboard the royal barge or waltzing with King Mongut when you listen to the Anna and the King soundtrack? Listen to the album and find out.