Amour

Another Amazon recommendation - thanks Amazon!!

Superb is about the only word I find appropriate. A good and eclectic collection of tracks from opera to pop. I'm not musically trained but I couldn't fault the voice nor the presentation. As an out and out Katherine Jenkins fan it was pleasant to hear a soprano in the same category. I am listening now to one of the best renditions of 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' since Roberta Flack's version. Crystal clear diction and a warm presentation. 'Si un Jour' is probably the best track for me but there isnt a track I dont like.

I hope we both see and hear much more of Natasha Marsh - mind you as far the BBC goes, this sort of music seems to be part of the vast forgotten realm of classical/cross over/operetta vocal music! Sorry about the soap box!!

Anyway - if you like Kate Jenkins I'm pretty sure you'll like this, by no means light, soprano.

Soprano Natasha Marsh's debut album Amour (meaning `Love') hit the No. 1 spot in the classical album charts in its first week of release in February 2007.

The album is a mix of classical, contemporary classical, opera, popular and film music, so has inevitably attracted the interest of those wishing to debate the merits of the so-called `crossover' music genre and whether it is a case of a good opera singer selling out to the pop market, or a pop singer trying to masquerade as an opera singer.

For me this type of debate always detracts from the music and its real purpose, which of course should be to entertain. A singer, after all, should be free to perform anything he or she likes. A `real' opera singer surely is one who acts and sings in a full opera production (rather than for example simply singing an aria taken from an opera) and a `real' pop singer is broadly defined as one who attempts to appeal to a wide contemporary audience. If an artist chooses to sing outside of their normal genre, or `crossover' into another style, it should not be considered as either selling out to their normal fan base or a diluting of the quality of the music. Ultimately it's whether the music sounds good and entertains that is more important than debating musical genres.

That said, Natasha Marsh is an opera singer. She must be, for she joined the National Youth Music Theatre, won a Scholarship to the Royal College of Music, graduated with a first class degree in Music and Drama at the Birmingham University then went on to appear in operas such as Mozart's `Don Giovanni', `Magic Flute' and `Requiem', Puccini's `La boheme', Bizet's `Carmen', Britten's `The Turn of the Screw' and Berkley's contemporary `Jane Eyre' (for which the title role was written for her).

Add to that live performances at the Birmingham Early Music Festival, the London Handel Festival and the Beaumarais Festival, plus performances with Harry Christophers The Sixteen, a BBC Proms performance of Handel's `Samson' and regular appearances at the Raymond Gubbay's `Classical Spectacular' concerts, there's a considerable amount of musical training and experience being channelled into this debut recording.

I think the choice of music on the album is well considered, and as Natasha herself admits "every song on this album means a lot to me". There's a range of styles, singing as well as musical, which provide a varied repertoire but which retain a uniform feeling of beauty and emotion.

The album opens with one of several film scores, a beautiful piece `Si Un Jour' (If One Day) from the film `Jean de Florette', and continues with the popular `Gymnopedie No.1' by Erik Satie sung in a dreamy and seductive fashion that just floats you away.

By track three, the popular aria from the opera `La Wally' should have convinced even the most staunch `opera buffs' that this really is a beautiful collection of music sung by an accomplished singer with a gorgeous voice.

My favourite, among the many lovely songs on this album, is the heart breaking `La Delaissado' (The Abandoned Woman) and the lively `Les Fille de Cadix' (Maidens of Cadix) which demonstrates Natasha's ability to mix opera-style vocal agility with a real sense of fun and lively frivolity.

In the words of Natasha "there's so much beauty and power in opera", and this album certainly proves that. It sounds good, she looks good, and above all it makes you feel good

In summary, an outstanding debut album by an outstanding singer.

Beautiful attractive woman with an equally attractive and very pleasant voice singing from opera, musicals and Queen. I am just about to purchase her CD Amour and yes I do have in my library Samson & Delilah, Turandot, Tosca, Madam Butterfly to name a few. Natasha Marsh makes a pleasant change.