Sacred Arias – Katherine Jenkins, soprano – Decca

by | Nov 20, 2008 | Classical CD Reviews | 0 comments

Sacred Arias – Katherine Jenkins, soprano – Decca 00195, 48:22 **:

The stunning picture of Katherine Jenkins—cleavage and all—is perhaps the most impressive thing about his album, even though the low cut dress is rather inappropriate for a disc of so-called “Sacred Arias”. I also wonder about the content—some blogs I have been visiting indicated that this album was indeed to be more “classical” in content than it is, with Mozart and others well-represented, but instead we get a lot of syrupy, sentimental, and downright tasteless arrangements of pieces like “Abide with Me”, “Down to the River” (done much better by Alison Krauss in the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou), and even “Silent Night”! Incomprehensible programming to be sure, and each selection featuring the soprano typically over-miked as in so many of these pseudo-classical starts striking it big in the crossover world.

I had only a cursory familiarity with Jenkins before this, knowing of her stunning UK success, and a contract reported now worth over a billion Decca-dollars, so she is laughing at me all the way to the bank. I cannot tell how good she is as the material on this disc just doesn’t support the challenge, but some web-surfing relates pros and cons according to the True Believers and the We-know-betters. I will have to side with the latter for now, though her voice does seem plump and full, and certainly shows moments of real technical virtuosity (and she has garnered some accolades from places like the Royal College of Music). But the program is sappy, the voice, if genuine, a waste of time on the material, and all of her cat walking (yes, she models), Christian testimony (despite the short dresses and garters), and six-album success does little to convince this tired and have-seen-and-heard-it-all reviewer.

But if you are already a fan, my comments have been dismissed and you are now listening to this newest album.

TrackList:  Abide with Me, Pie Jesu, The Lord is My Shepherd, Down to the River, May the Good Lord, Hallelujah, Panis Angelicus, In Paradisum, Silent Night, Ave Maria, Missa Criolla, Agnus Dei

— Steven Ritter

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