Disco de Charlotte Church: “Voice of an Angel”

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.

For the few minutes of Charlotte Church's performance on PBS that my husband and I saw.... everything else in the world was blocked out and all that existed was the this beautiful voice. When it was over, we both looked at each other.. speechless. I've never heard anyone sing who can even compare to Charlotte Church. The highest rating I could give her here was five stars... but she deserves more stars than in the universe. Discovering this beautiful girl's talent is one of those magical moments of a lifetime.

If you enjoy Charlotte Church, you may also want to check out Andrea Bocelli's, "ROMANZA" and John McArthur's, "HIDDEN."

It is hard to express in words the depth of purity which transcends through Charlotte's voice. This CD will forever remain close to my heart. Heart! From heart to heart--that is the way a true artist should speak; Charlotte does. She's definitely a prodigy-very impressive.

I love the way she sings in Latin yet inside the CD pamphlet it is translated in English for us to understand (not all the songs are in Latin, only about 1/3.) The first time I heard her was on television singing "Pie Jesu." I wasn't even watching; just doing chores in another room and I was drawn like a magnet into the room where the most beautiful voice I had ever heard was coming and sat down right in front of the television with my mouth dropped to the floor.

I highly recommend it to everyone of all ages, but if you have an appreciation of classical music and/or opera this is not to be missed! Charlotte is like a breath of fresh ocean air to me. Allow her to transport you to your favorite place as well!

To all who criticize young Charlotte all I can say is "baloney". I'm no opera critic. In fact, when some aspiring Miss America contender begins caterwalling in the talent competition I use that time for a restroom break.

Miss Church, on the other hand, holds my attention--sends chills up my spine on several selections--and awakened an interest in music I did not possess previously. (God help me, my last CD purchase was Britney Spears.)

Charlotte may be young and incompletely polished, but the sheer potential of the lass astounds me.

Hopefully she will only improve with age and, in doing so, will convert others such as myself to the beauty of her music.

I must say, I don't really understand the negative reviews that Charlotte Church has received for her singing. Yes, of course she is young. But that just makes her all the more amazing. "Voice of an Angel" is one of my favourite albums. I have to say that, having heard her sing recently, her performance on "Voice of an Angel" was a little... well, green. But it was still INCREDIBLE! My only complaint about the album has nothing to do with Charlotte's singing... I didn't like the arrangement of 'Danny Boy'. It was a little too gloomy. If you watch the "Voice of an Angel" video you can hear a much better arrangement of that song.

I don't doubt that Charlotte will fulfill her dreams of singing opera on stage. She already has an incredible voice, and is getting better all the time.

I would definitely recommend this album to anyone, even if they are not actually a fan of classical or opera music. I think Charlotte Church has gone a long way in bringing this kind of music to a new generation of listeners.