Charlotte Church - Dream a Dream
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CD Details
Artist: Charlotte ChurchEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2000-10-17
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Dream a Dream for voice & orchestra (based on Fauré's Pavane Op. 50) ("
- O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste fidelis)
- The Little Drummer Boy (Carol of the Drum), carol
- Mary's Little Boy Child, song
- Ding Dong! Merrily on High (French)
- Winter Wonderland
- The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
- Hark! the Herald Angels Sing (adapted by W. H. Cummings from Mendelssoh
- Coventry Carol (2): "Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child"
- Joy to the World (theme by Handel)
- When a Child Is Born
- What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)
- God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (English)
- Draw Tua Bethlehem (Far Over Bethlehem)
- Ave Maria, for voice & piano (after Bach's Prelude No. 1 from the Well-
- Gabriel's Message (Basque)
- Cantique de Noël for voice & orchestra "O Holy Night"
- Es ist ein Ros entsprungen (Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming), for chorus
- Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (Silent Night)
Music reviews of Dream a Dream
Music Review: Dream a Yuletide Dream...
Rating: 3 Stars
I read recently that approaching 20, Charlotte Church has taken steps to shed her goody-goody image. Which is not to say that she's gone punk, but she does apparently like to party. Let's just say that the "voice of an angel" seems to have developed a streak of the devil. Which is plenty normal for a young woman who's had a crushingly wholesome English Rose image foisted on herself--and on the listening public for the last seven or eight years. She certainly shouldn't be begrudged a little rebellion at this point in her life.
The only thing that any fan could legitimately be alarmed about were the references to her having taken up smoking cigarettes (and Lord knows what else). Aside from all the health risks (of which I'm sure Ms Church is already aware), smoking is tantamount to vocal suicide--particularly for singers with classical leanings. For years, people have been talking about the possible damage being done to this young singer's voice from her attempts at tackling material that was too demanding for so young and untrained a voice. Valid concerns certainly. And the cigarettes only add insult to injury. Or injury to insult, something like that.
In any event, I am a fairly new listener when it comes to Ms Church's oeuvre. People who know how much I appreciate good singing have recommended her work to me over the years, and what I had heard here and there seemed impressive enough. I was wary, however. The snatches of music I did hear seemed overly orchestrated and often downright bombastic. I wasn't sure if the world needed an adolescent Sarah Brightman.
Oftentimes, when I'm sampling a singer's work, I find that if there's a Christmas album available, that may be the best starting point. Sometimes they're cheaper--and of course, even when they're not, *I* at least might feel a little more favorably disposed if they succeed in putting me in the Christmas spirit.
As feared, DREAM A DREAM is heavy on the bombast. The title track, with its dramatic instrumentation, is vaguely reminiscent of Madonna's "Live to Tell." This song, by the way, is the one non-seasonal effort on the album, and just why it was included here and not saved for her next record is anybody's guess. (Well, actually, it's pretty clear that someone at the record company wanted to rush the release of this duet with the equally youthful country star Billy Gilman before either became passe or before Gilman's voice changed.) The two young singers complement each other well--in all fairness--when they're not being overwhelmed by the arrangement.
The Christmas songs are also a mixed bag. The arrangements are just as big and brassy as on the title track, but for the most part, the effect is less irritating. Sparser arrangements, as some have recommended, could have improved things, but the elaborate arrangements seem somehow less out of place on the yuletide numbers. Perhaps we expect ornate arrangements for holiday tunes, I don't know. But, while I might have preferred leaner settings, these do not bother me in particular.
Of the album's numerous tracks, the most successful are the traditional and the semi-classical. Church seems a bit uncomfortable with the Jamaican "Mary's Boy Child," and like many classically oriented singers sounds too stilted on idiomatic pop carols like "Winter Wonderland." "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Ding Dong, Merrily On High" and other such standard carols suit her voice and her style much more readily.
For a young teen, Charlotte Church acquitted herself quite well on this record. Time will tell how she will fare vocally and stylistically in the future. The cigs and the strain may guarantee that, if she continues at all, it may have to be as the next Marianne Faithfull. Or perhaps she will retire in her 20s to live off her vast earnings. However, a quick review of her website indicates that her most likely direction will be a departure from the classic-lite mode and a move towards poppier fare.
That may be a wise move. Other singers of her age may emerge in the next six to ten years as the real classical stars of her generation. But even her current career moves prove a bust or if she winds up pulling a Garbo on us (or maybe I should say "a Deanna Durbin"), it looks like Charlotte Church will have had a pretty good run for her money nonetheless. And she just may surprise us by getting the training she may need to sustain a "serious" career, swearing off the coffin nails and emerging in a few years as a significant vocal talent specializing in light opera and art song.
Whatever the case, I wish her luck.
Description of Dream a Dream
CHARLOTTE CHURCH Dream A Dream (2000 US 19-track CD album of of Christmas favourites and carols featuring The Little Drummer Boy Winter Wonderland Silent Night and When A Child Is Born plus Dream A Dream [duet with Billy Gilman] sealed picture sleeve with deletion cut-out mark)Everybody's favorite precocious sprite of a soprano comes out with her third album in Dream a Dream. It's only been two years since Charlotte Church's smash debut, Voice of an Angel, but that's a big chunk of the Welsh singer's life span so far. This latest is basically a Christmas album, so full of festive cheer you'd never guess it was recorded in the summer. Even the glummest of moods will disappear when you hear Charlotte's infectious take on chestnuts such as "Winter Wonderland" and "Little Drummer Boy" (and having the London Symphony Orchestra as your backup band doesn't hurt either). And on top of that is a really special treat: the title song (borrowing an unforgettable classical melody) which blends Church's soaring vocals with the tender voice of young country prodigy Billy Gilman. --Sarah Chin
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