Living A Dream - Katherine Jenkins Album Review

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Album Review

Guided by suggestions from her adoring fanbase, the Welsh songbird delivers her third album Living A Dream. As the title suggests, Katherine Jenkins is having a ball right now, but is not one for taking it for granted. The down-to earth beauty conquered the classical charts with Second Nature (La Diva in USA) for an incredible nine months. The in - demand singer has been flitting around Europe and the states, with appearances at the FA Cup Final, Welsh rugby matches and the summer's G8 concert. On the music front, Katherine has been very proactive co-producing the album with Nick Patrick when it was mastered in New York. As the working title hung in the balance she got down to recording the tracks which include show-tunes, Welsh songs, famous classical arias and anthemic standards.

Her perfectionist nature shows at every level as she hits pitch perfect notes on demanding songs. She's capable of rising through the registers with total ease and effect, without sounding contrived and pretentious. Opening with a blockbuster, her reworking of Dolly Parton's classic I Will Always Love You translated into Italian, brings new meaning to the country ballad. Parton has never allowed the song to be sung in a foreign language until now. It's now been made into, possibly, Katherine's signature tune. Elsewhere, she makes a fist of songs normally the reserve of male singers, like Nessun Dorma debuted at G8, and the emotionally charged Music Of The Night, where she becomes one of the first female singers to tackle it. Puccini's One Fine Day (Madame Butterfly) and Nessun Dorma (Turandot) posses all the hallmarks of a singer on top of her game, genuinely empathising with the lyrics, as she consolidates her reputation as the fastest selling female opera singer since Maria Callas making her the greatest mezzo-soprano of her generation. Arrangements are bold and sensitive, as they heavily feature the Prague Symphonia. It's not all strings though; harp, acoustic guitar and keyboards throw in a new dimension. As she continues to explore her crossover appeal, drawing -in many fringe classical admirers, we get Amazing Grace, Over The Rainbow and WW11 favourite We'll Meet Again.