Wagner: Operatic Overtures and Preludes

Advantages: Beautifully Sung
Disadvantages: Her choice of song may change

...One Saturday evening towards the end of 2002, I was making a cup of coffee in the kitchen, when I heard this amazing voice coming from the TV next door. The voice belonged to a woman who was singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, and it sounded fantastic! I rushed next door to see who it was, and found that it was Charlotte Church, who was being interviewed by Michael Parkinson! This was the first song I had ever heard her sing which was not operatic or classical, and I was really impressed. So when my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I had no trouble asking for “Prelude” her latest album. I shall now endeavour to give my opinions on each track and the album as a whole. Pie Jesu - from Requiem by Andrew Lloyd Webber This is one of her most famous songs, and is lovely to listen to. This was made... Read review

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Advantages: The ultimate operatic experience
Disadvantages: It's complicated, but so was Wagner

...at all. There may be some truth in this statement, perhaps only elements rather than finalised views. Then we must take into account Wagner's view of other operatic composers, in particular the Italian school headed by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti during the first half of the nineteenth century. Wagner maintained the Italians debased opera by trivializing sublime music with nonsensical stories. By contrast, he lauded the efforts of earlier Italian and Greek poets whose works were devised from national folklore. And that was precisely how opera - the ultimate pure artform - should be created. Throughout Richard Wagner's entire operatic output, we see the principle elements that fashioned his mind. Firstly, genuine love and personal sacrifice. The failure of his first marriage clearly a factor, though leading to his second... Read review

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Advantages: A beautiful collection of songs
Disadvantages: One of two lower quality tracks

...Charlotte Church has clocked up an excessive amount of media coverage over the last year. Sadly, none of this coverage has been about her latest album release, or a new music project she is embarking upon. It has all been about a relationship she has formed with a local Cardiff lad, who depending on the day of the week is a DJ/producer/general layabout. Why the media are so focused on rubbishing her is beyond me, and I said in my recent Daniel Bedingfield review, it infuriates me that our media love to build up new talent to the highest heights, and set expectations which are so hard to meet, and then take the greatest of pleasure watching them crash and burn. At the end of the day, Charlotte Church has an undoubted talent, but so do many other young singers. 'Prelude' is an 18 track greatest hits collection, featuring high points... Read review

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