Track Listing

1. Pie Jesu
2. Panis Angelicus
3. In Trutina
4. The Lord's Prayer
5. Jerusalem
6. Ave Maria
7. Psalm 23
8. I Vow To Thee, My Country
9. Danny Boy
10. My Lagan Love
11. Suo-Gan
12. A Lullaby
13. Amazing Grace
14. Three Welsh Bird Songs: Y Gylfinir/The Curlew
15. Three Welsh Bird Songs: Tylluanod/Owls
16. Three Welsh Bird Songs: Mae Hiraeth Yn Y Mor/There's Longing In The Sea
17. When At Night I Go To Sleep

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4083 in Music
• Released on: 1999-03-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
Those leery and weary of tasteless crossover need not shudder at the sight of this disc, which has sold over half a million copies in Europe. There's none of the softcore kiddie porn that came with Vanessa-Mae or the heavily packaged faux romanticism of Andrea Bocelli. (That of course doesn't necessarily mean that you'll want Voice of an Angel.) This 12-year-old Welsh soprano is so uncloyingly cute and has such an appealing personality (with just enough touch of cheek) that you'd almost rather have her as a dinner guest than on your CD player. Her small, attractive, sometimes unstable but always sincere soprano perhaps went to the top of the British charts because it clicks into the boy-soprano choir tradition so prevalent there, especially since many of the selections are sacred items such as "The Lord's Prayer" and "Ave Maria." And Church may pick up some fans thanks to the tail end of Celtic chic, with the Welsh folk songs and the rendition of "Danny Boy." But this promises to be yet another short-lived media phenomenon, rather than the beginning of a lengthy career. --David Patrick Stearns

Customer Reviews

Has the purity that a trained soprano somtimes lack...
Immediately pleasing to the ear, her boy-soprano voice (i.e. Church's vocal color) it is an excellent built-in component to interpret songs like Gershwin's Summertime (From: Porgy & Bess, included on her 2nd CD). She will gain in her voice something more than the current divine touch of innocence when physically & emotionally matured (the taste appeal of aged-wine connoisseurs look for). Nevertheless, after hearing Ms. Church sing I was simply captivated.

Does Charlotte have the polish of a diva (which would be inappropriate at her age anyway) who's had decades of training and experience? No. But her music has a purity that a fully trained soprano does not have. It's lovely music that's soothing to the soul, as well as sweet to those who have the priviledge of listening her devoid of judgemental concerns/comparisons. If you close your eyes when you listen to this girl, you can imagine yourself in a Cathedral with her beautiful voice coming to enlighten you as alluring echoes.

This young lady deserves a great deal of respect for her accomplishments so far, and I join those who urge her and her trainers to pay attention to her vocal resources, guiding her & letting her voice mature naturally. Charlotte Church is mesmerizing, charming, lovely to listen to, and hopefully will continue to be so for many years to come.

The music in this CD is inspirational and uplifting, as well as the songs in her other released CDs. The words to describe the sheer beauty of Charlotte Church's voice do not come easily: it is better to experience the collection of pieces sung by her with irresistible charm.

The problem is that she is marketed as a prodigy and expectations are set incredibly high. I her 2nd CD she tries the operatic repertory with Puccini's Gianni Schicchi: "O mio babbino caro" and the: "Jewel Song" from Gounod's Faust. Her pure and voice showing an amazing agility that some coloratura sopranos would certainly envy.

Charlotte Church: Voice of an Angel
Having enormously enjoyed Ms Church's first CD, and not having bought the second one yet, I read all the consumer reviews presented here, back through October. I'm glad I did.

On first playing Church's CD numerous times (and trying to sing along, as a 50+ year old whose hey-days were in the Oberlin College Choir..and not since) I was mesmerized by her sweet voice and most of her songs. I do still love her CD and I will buy the next one (and I don't feel like I am participating in the ruination of her voice by buying her second CD.)

But I was very glad to read some of the kinder, more constructive critical reviews here which reminded me that in all the enthusiasm for Charlotte Church's performance, we really are talking about a young voice which, with its very possible great potential, one hopes will not be abused and overused in its youthful stages, but given thoughtful training, mindful of the need for rest, so that this lovely resource will not be strained and spoiled.

It was interesting to read the reviews of the young (teenaged) singers who submitted reviews; some of them expressed their concern for the future of Ms. Church's voice. Others (and other reviewers) seemed simply disgruntled, jealous or spiteful.

This young lady deserves a a great deal of respect for her accomplishments so far, and I join those who urge her and her trainers to take care of her vocal resources, letting her voice mature naturally. Charlotte Church is guileless, charming, lovely to listen to, and hopefully will continue to be so for many years to come.

A promising start, I hope
I just got this CD yesterday after hearing so much about it. Before I comment, it is only fair for me to say that I am something of an opera fan, although I am certainly not a purist. I was impressed by this young lady, although I msut say that I quickly thought that she needs to do a lot of work to develop her fantastic gift. That is not to put her down, it is only to acknowledge that she is young and that the material she has decided to dedicate herself to singing requires a certain amount of life experience if one is going to give it the musical expression that it deserves. In that sense, she reminds me very much of Leeann Rimes, who is similarly gifted but who also needs time and experience to fully develop her talent. For that reason, Iwas delighed to see Ms. Church's own comments on her recording. She herself has apparently recognized that she has work to do. Nevertheless, having said all of that, I must confess that the CD has remained in my player for the last twelve hours and that I cannot, at the moment, bear to think of listening to anyone else. I think her voice is, at present, so special because it has such a boyish quality about it; it has that certain innocence that we usually associate with, for example, The Vienna Boy's Choir of old. That quality will, of course, be lost with time and it will be her job to replace it with the sound of experience, which is often the sound of lost innocence. Hopefully, she will be up to the task. My prayer for her is that her adult guardians do not push her too far, too hard, too fast. With good, patient, careful training (especially in how to round out, as opposed to belt out, those high notes) the sound of her voice should be gracing us for years to come.