I Will Wait For You - Lesley Garrett

...Soprano Inspired’.

I am not really into opera or classical music. So bear with me if this review appears a little naïve.

I tend to avoid the 4-hour extravaganza TV specials, which show an opera in its entirety. A cleaning lady at my former workplace actually forked out £300 for a night at the opera in Covent Garden, London WC1.

A work colleague actually gave up a career in computing to become a full-time ...
...started music lessons at school I honestly thought that we would be taught about the Beatles, Slade etc and learn songs from the current pop charts. Imagine my disappointment when we were introduced to the likes of Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss, Stravinsky, Sibelius, Holst, Brahms, Liszt, Handel, Mendelssohn etc.

But one fact did sway me.

Scientists have identified that brain waves consist of certain number sequences. Classical ... more

This opinion is actually about the Lesley Garrett CD ‘A Soprano Inspired’.

I am not really into opera or classical music. So bear with me if this review appears a little naïve.

I tend to avoid the 4-hour extravaganza TV specials, which show an opera in its entirety. A cleaning lady at my former workplace actually forked out £300 for a night at the opera in Covent Garden, London WC1.

A work colleague actually gave up a career in computing to become a full-time opera singer. I do know that opera singers use different parts of the body from pop singers to hit the high notes.

When we started music lessons at school I honestly thought that we would be taught about the Beatles, Slade etc and learn songs from the current pop charts. Imagine my disappointment when we were introduced to the likes of Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss, Stravinsky, Sibelius, Holst, Brahms, Liszt, Handel, Mendelssohn etc.

But one fact did sway me.

Scientists have identified that brain waves consist of certain number sequences. Classical music also contains these numerical sequences. The inference being that if you listen to classical music, its numerical sequences will affect your brain waves and theoretically increase your intelligence.

Armed with this knowledge I began to listen to Classic FM on the radio for about half an hour each day. Certainly after a few weeks of listening to classical music I did not feel less stupid.

I first saw Lesley Garrett singing in 1998 in a concert to commemorate the first anniversary of the murder of Princess Diana. The first thing to strike me was how such a petite lady could generate such a loud voice. Her rendition of ‘Climb Every Mountain’ was the best performance of the concert.

Lesley hails from Yorkshire and success has not changed her.

There was a TV series of half-hour programmes entitles ‘Lesley Garrett Tonight’ shown a couple of years ago. The series was well produced and enjoyable. Each week a couple of guest singers appeared on the show. The camaraderie between the singers was too sickly to digest.

With every guest Lesley said that she had always admired their work and that she was a big fan and how pleased she was that they could make time to sing on the show. This was a mutual admiration society.

Being famous does not protect you from the critics. The Daily Telegraph music critic savaged Lesley unmercifully. I feel that the criticism was due to jealousy and did not have an ounce of truth in it.

A few months ago I visited the Lesley Garrett web site. It was difficult to navigate and was too professionally made. I gave up surfing the site after a few minutes.

If Lesley was not an opera singer she could pass herself off as pop totty like Jennifer Lopez or Kym from Hear’Say. Unfortunately she has a husband.

A couple of years ago I was browsing through the Our Price record store in Hammersmith, West London and noticed some unbeatable offers on certain CDs. I purchased the Lesley Garrett CD ‘A Soprano Inspired’ really to add variety to my CD collection.

On the CD the Britten Sinfonia & Chorus accompanied Lesley. This was conducted by Ivor Bolton and produced by Phillip Thomas.

The tracks on the CD are as follows:

1. Alleluia (Exsultate, jubilate) Mozart 2:50 (duration time)
2. Ave Maria Caccini 4:01
3. The Lord’s Prayer Malotte 3:24
4. Laudamus te (Mass in C minor) Mozart 5:12
5. Bless this House Brahe 2:40
6. La Vergine degli angeli (La Forza del destino) Verdi 3:32
7. Nulla in mundo pax sincera (1st movement) Vivaldi 6:24
8. Zueignung R. Strauss 1:49
9. I know that my Redeemer liveth (Messiah) Handel 6:28
10. Ave Maria Schubert 5:37
11. By and By (A Child of Our Time) Tippett 1:08
12. Climb Every Mountain (The Sound of Music) Rodgers 3:08
13. Panis Angelicus Franck 4:26
14. The Holy City Adams 5:58
15. Pie Jesu (Requiem) Faure 3:14
16. Prayer (Hansel and Gretel) Humperdinck 2:57
17. Because d’Hardelot 2:39
18. Easter Hymn (Cavalleria rusticana) Mascagni 6:12

The total playing time of the CD is 73:15.

The songs and arias are beautifully sung. Most of the tracks are much of a muchness. Some of them are not sung in English and this makes it impossible to understand the lyrics. My favourite track is ‘Climb Every Mountain’ which was featured in the film ‘The Sound of Music’.

I am one of those people who occasionally feel that the world is against them. When this happens I get upset, my confidence disappears and I get angry, depressed and emotionally vulnerable. Listening to this CD does uplift me spiritually.

In Lesley’s own words this album explores the many different ways in which music can help to calm, to uplift, to strength and to inspire us.

You could conclude that music soothes the savage breast.

 

...less