Did anyone see Katherine Jenkins' performance of "Una voce poco fa" last night? Being a mezzosoprano myself who had to perform it in one of her exam-recitals, I am obviously a bit biased, but what the heck was that? If I had sung it that way (and I wasn't even very good at it, coloraturas never being my strength), I would have failed.

Don't get me wrong here - I believe Katherine Jenkins has her niche somewhere, and there are things she does reasonably well and her voice sounds good in it. This performance however has proven why she does light classical/crossover and will never have a career in opera (unless the same one like Bocelli et al.) - flat throughout, the high B just dreadfully tight and hardly hit at all, and her coloraturas were one smeary mess (and unmusical as well, as they were rather random attempts than anything that had a certain "logic"). She cannot sing coloraturas for toffee, so why did she even attempt to do so? If she wanted to prove that she has a place in "serious" classical music, why didn't she pick something to show off her voice reasonably well?

I seriously think she embarrassed herself - I was at the point where I actually felt sorry for her (only for a second though). Still, there are so many people out there who think she's absolutely fabulous. I am always slightly amused (no, actually angry) if her name is mentioned at the same time like the "real" and good mezzosopranos of our time.

Bah! Rant over, feel better now

No, not just you, I'm not a vocalist and know relatively little about what I should be looking for, but it just didn't sound right.

and what was that singing the worm song thing all about?

Wasn't too impressed with the hoovers in the Albert Hall either.

Was I just having a grumpy night?

I guess you had to be there (with the Hoovers) - I couldn't hear them very well, and there didn't seem to be much point to it all. Agree re KJ - not a singer myself, but didn't enjoy anything about her performance. Rather a tame LNOTP, I thought. I find Clive Anderson and Rory Bremner intensely irritating, so that didn't help.

Another Grumpy from Gloucestershire

I agree about the hoovers and Rory Bremner (why him? he had no pertinent contribution to offer). I didn't notice KJ being flat - I was just fascinated by the false eyelashes - but quite enjoyed the song.

As for it being tame, I enjoyed it more than usual - probably partly the pretty lights and firework music but what I really loved were the performances of Alison Balsom and Sarah Connolly.

Pah. I love the Grand, Grand Overture. But I guess you need to understand the context - i.e. the Hoffnung concerts. But since they don't exist anymore I reckon the Last Night is the best place for it. I can just imagine the cleaners coming in to get the hall ready for the evening concert whilst the maestro is attempting to get the orchestra whipped into shape. I particularly like the OTT organ chords.

The secret to enjoying Katherine Jenkins' performances is to switch off the sound, and to enjoy watching the picture!

Well, here's what one of the RAH Proms performers thought of the Proms in the Park performer.

I was going to say the same thing - you beat me to it!

Yep...me too!

I didn't see it at all but someone mentioned she had made a "mess" of it.

As far as you can tell, are KJ's shortcomings down to innate inability or a failure to apply the techniques she was (presumably) taught at the RA? I gather that when challenged her response has been that she's never described herself as an opera singer because she knows she isn't yet, but sees this as something to work towards as her voice matures. Is she really going about her operatic ambitions the right way, I wonder? There was even some reports that she was having lessons with Placido Domingo.

Whatever Katherine's abilities or ambitions, it is fair to say that she is not the one describing herself as an 'opera singer' - it is the media, press, record label execs and marketing gurus who always refer to her as 'an opera star / sensation / chart-buster' etc etc etc. And her photogenic looks only help to distract most of her fans away from this fact.

denmark

And I'm from her home town, so I'm trying not to be too biased here...

denmark

Men...

What??? This comes from someone who has admitted to changing her profile photo away from Pacman again "because it is not conducive to flirting"

What has that got to do with it?

A careful and extensive analysis of your sentence containing the two icons reveals that it is said in a somewhat derogatory manner about men (and more particularly three of us) who just happen to admire the physical attributes of someone whom others only concentrate on her singing ability. It seems that KJ is aware of her attraction, as she allows her media interests to include this aspect as often as possible, and also dresses in a way to emphasise that she wishes to appeal to men. Now I come to yourself. You have written that you like to partake of flirting and as this is a two-party interaction, you need to appeal to someone else in order to get a response. You have recently substituted a very amusing but, for the purpose of personal attraction-seeking, boring pie-chart with a "cool chick look" ( ) photograph of yourself.

I rest my case.

maledictis has posted a 'cook chick look' photograph? I haven't seen that one - only the one of herself!

That doesn't make my "men" comment any less valid though, it just means that I play them the same way that she does

And you can keep out of it!

let's say it this way: not every singer has a natural talent for coloraturas (including myself), but if you are trained on conservatoire-level, you can and have to learn to master them to a certain extent. kj didn't, which makes me wonder how good her training was, or if she finished it well before time. i am also quite certain that her voice doesn't project, although i've never heard her live. i put 2 excerpts of a cleveland watkiss-interview about the state of today's music-industry in my blog if anyone is interested. what he says about hype, mediocrity and quick fixes hits the nail on the head.

as for looks: it is no problem to use them in your favour if the whole package (not predominantly meaning a nice pair of lungs ) is there. there are a lot of beautiful AND talented singers/musicians out there. if beauty and a clever marketing-strategy mainly cover up inability though - hmmm...

But it was you who suggested I took a look at it...

Did I? My memory is shocking...

And as for the rest of you...

One can go off people you know

Chance would be a fine thing!

John, mate, did you know that there is a list of the top ten posters of the day? Is so do you know that you are in it? Behave yourself!

Crikey, H. No, I didn't know that. Where's that published?

Me behave? Never!

Hey! Don't bully my very good friend, maledictis!

Yeah, when I first heard KJ on classic fm, I was wondering who was this person singing as it sounded so unmusical etc.

Thank you FC - you are a true gentleman

In an interview some time ago, KJ did say that it was not her intention to be categorised as a serious opera singer, but rather as a singer of 'lite' operatic arias and popular tunes. If the Beeb offer her a large stash of cash for appearing on the 'Last Night..............., then she would be a fool not to appear. I personally have never cared much for these 'light-weight crossovers', popularising great arias to such an extent and frequency that they become nauseating to hear. ( I blame Classic FM for much of that). In KJ's defense, however, I believe that she did at least follow an academic music career at the RCM or RAM not sure which one.

Ahem..

I enjoyed the 'dido's lament', just because, by coincidence, my choir had sung it in the town hall that afternoon (not solo)! So it was nice to see what we did in comparison. The other funny thing was, when we sang it, we all managed not to come in at one point, and missed out about 6 bars until the next entry! No one appeared to notice (unless they knew it) but it was funny all the same!

Sorry Justin - did you have something to say?

I think our very own KJ (KatyJay) would have made a much better job of Una Voce Poco Fa

Ambs x

Of course not - all Katherine Jenkins is to blame for herself is her rather uninformed choice of suitable repertoire (and she probably doesn't even have to decide much on that matter).

It is a cultural problem and goes exactly in the direction of the interview I mentioned earlier - we live in a society that hails mediocrity, and in a culture where money and marketing are more important than artistic skills. The artists are only very partly to blame for this - if they are given the chance, of course they will take it. You will still find people however who rather hone their skills and don't try to run before they can walk. It is merely a decision about what is more important - the music or the limelight/fame. If the success comes with time (or even quickly) BECAUSE the skills hold up - all the better. And this has nothing to do with musical styles to say it straightaway - you will find fantastic musicians in all styles of music (as you will also find the rubbish ones). But what do you expect from a society that is easily bored, wants new thrills and faces every day and still believes that Andrea Bocelli and Katherine Jenkins are really great "classical" singers? It is us (not meaning most of the people on the ABRSM forums I reckon) who create this market by buying this **** (too polite to write it) ...


I have to admit I don't know much about KJ's CV, although I believe I heard somewhere her degree was in music education, but I might be wrong. I have ears to hear though - it doesn't matter where or with whom she studied if her technique is fragmentary for what she is trying to sing. She has a nice voice, I don't mean to say that she cannot sing at all. She should just just stay clear of repertoire that shows ineptitude - if for anything, in her own interest.

Ach well, we won't change society, will we? Trying hard every day though

Don't give up mezzo1974, we can change the world .

Even though I still think Kath J. is good at what she does (light classical), I agree in that she was misguided in her choice of repertoire this time. But as has been said already, she never claims to be an 'opera' singer; that tag is coming from other, lazy, PR chaps around her.

denmark

I can see the allure (of course!) of the large stash of cash, but if you're going to accept it and perform outside your comfort zone, then you have to be able to rely on your awareness of your own limits, and your advisors, to make sure that you don't appear to be outside your comfort zone, or you end up possibly damaging your reputation in such a way that the immediate stash of cash won't compensate for. If a large percentage of the live audience, plus who knows how many of the TV audience, have come away distinctly unimpressed, then there could be a knock-on effect.

Down in Cornwall a few weeks ago, on the local news there was an article about a young girl who 'they' were calling 'the next Charlotte Church' poor lamb. http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/southmol...il/article.html
but I understand there are several contenders for the title, including Faryl Smith, who doesn't listen to classical music because it's for old people.

And that tag sticks like glue. The Sunday Express had KJ on the front page with the headline "Opera star Katherine shines at the Proms" (emphasis mine). The online version of the article leaves out the O-word but doesn't mention Sarah Connolly one iota, either in the text or the picture gallery. Now that is infuriating.

I agree about the image problem. I do think the frequent wedding cake dresses are a distraction from the voice. Lesley Garrett is another culprit. I remember her asking the audience at Cardiff Castle 'Do you like my dress?', which I thought was a bit desperate. I don't know enough to be able to judge these voices from a technical point of view; to me they are quite pleasant to listen to, but I'd rather hear Elin Manahan Thomas. I heard her doing the Ode to Queen Anne on R.3 recently and I thought her voice control was fabulous. There was only a little vibrato yet the voice remained pure.

http://welovekatherinejenkins.blogspot.com/

That sounds like it was written by our bernie

Thanks for posting this!!!!

Oh my God, that's so bad, especially this:



It is really quite amazing to be able to squeeze in more or less 4 mistakes in this, I am amazed. No, actually not, because it shows quite simply KJs main target group

No, seriously: This is some kind of satire, isn't it? That's not serious - or is it?

Edit: Yeah, I do think I need more coffee and read all first, the penny drops a bit slowly today Still shows her main target group though

Reading that made me spit out my lunchtime cup of coffee all over the computer keyboard with laughter!! Thank you for posting that, Deborah!

I'm not sure I should admit this, but I went to see KJ in concert at Bournemouth last autumn. I quite like her voice in some light lyric stuff, but she really was quite hopeless at "una voce poco fa". It was so embarassing that I can't understand why she even attempted it?

There must be so many other good songs that she could actually sing well; why does she have to try something which is obviously way beyond her? In the show, she said it was intended as a tribute to Maria Callas, but I don't think Maria would have been very impressed!

Thats right, she wasn't!

Cheers Deborah!

"Our Kath sang in it last night but previous years' concerts have featured such immortal operatic legends as Russell Watson, Hayley Westenraa, Paul Potts and Lesley Garrett."

*ROFL*

That's a very amusing link. Thanks Deborah!

Crikey - I've just seen this on Youtube.

Quelle horreur !

Interesting approach to the col bits - apparently putting a little 'h' in between the notes is the way forward..

I also wanted to nail her jaw and tongue into place - it was harrowing to watch.

The high note made me feel a bit sick.

Can someone post a link to this, please?

Make sure you have a bucket close by