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Review
You may need a chair to be handy as you start listening to this second album from Natasha Marsh, as I had to sit down in disbelief. The reason was twofold. Marsh will sing ITV Sport's Euro 2008 theme this summer. The theme is Queen Of The Night (from Mozart's Magic Flute, and where to start? Mozart's crisp, zippy scoring has morphed into a bizarre, poppy legato number, complete with clashing cymbals and heavenly chorus 'aaahing'. They've even changed the harmony under that magic top C. Yet Marsh does at least have the notes and the articulation to meet the aria's vocal demands. Also, in fairness, presumably it is ITV and not Marsh/EMI who is ultimately responsible for this musical massacre.
The second need for the chair is less pardonable. The album, like Amour (her first disc), is an assortment of classical favourites such as O Mio Babbino Caro, plus duets with Gardar Cortes (The Prayer) and Blake (O Holy Night). Normally one might say that if you bought Amour and liked it, then you'll like this. Not so on this occasion. You'd actually just feel you'd been had. Five tracks, yes five, also appeared on Amour. This is only her second disc! What happened? I could just refer the reader to my old Amour review but, quickly, Autumn Leaves is just as sweet. Identically sweet, in fact. Meanwhile, Les filles de Cadix is still lacking the necessary oomph. There.
Marsh is undeniably popular, and for good reason. She is pretty, her voice is pretty and effortless, she is comfortable to listen to, and she offers the consumer enjoyable musical selections. The problem is that her voice lacks the vocal warmth and emotional depth of other physically beautiful singers producing accessible discs such as Kate Royal, Magdalena Kozena and Cecilia Bartoli. It is true that Marsh still pushes all the right buttons for many people, but the inexcusable overlap of material here makes this disc one to avoid. --Charlotte Gardner
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Of the thirteen tracks on this album, which is entitled simply `Natasha Marsh', five of them appear on her debut from the previous year. Yes, a little cheeky maybe but I've seen far worse sins - like repeated `best of' albums which include the same tracks as the last `best of', or `special edition versions' which are simply the original album plus a bonus disc of a few Christmas carols!
Good artists enjoy singing - Natasha Marsh has certainly filled the year between these two albums with many concert performances - while good record labels, EMI in this case, make money for themselves and their artists by selling records.
While I'm a little disappointed that the follow up to `Amour' is a slight hybrid of that debut, the eight new songs on this album I do consider worthy of consideration.
The opening `Queen of the Night' is an adaptation (by John Haywood and Rick Blaskey) of `Der Holle Rache' from Mozart's Magic Flute opera. Written specially for ITV Sport's Euro 2008 Football TV theme, it's a clever adaptation, which starts with strains of Handel's `Zadok the Priest' (yes, ITV's Champions League football theme music!) and develops into a dramatic full orchestra performance culminating in a thrilling vocal finale to rival many a recent `Nessun Dorma' rendition.
Other reasons to recommend this album are the duets of new songs with Alfie Boe, Gardar Cortes and Blake. Those names, added to Queen of the Night - which would have been a nice title for the album - make this a worthwhile release.
Good artists enjoy singing - Natasha Marsh has certainly filled the year between these two albums with many concert performances - while good record labels, EMI in this case, make money for themselves and their artists by selling records.
While I'm a little disappointed that the follow up to `Amour' is a slight hybrid of that debut, the eight new songs on this album I do consider worthy of consideration.
The opening `Queen of the Night' is an adaptation (by John Haywood and Rick Blaskey) of `Der Holle Rache' from Mozart's Magic Flute opera. Written specially for ITV Sport's Euro 2008 Football TV theme, it's a clever adaptation, which starts with strains of Handel's `Zadok the Priest' (yes, ITV's Champions League football theme music!) and develops into a dramatic full orchestra performance culminating in a thrilling vocal finale to rival many a recent `Nessun Dorma' rendition.
Other reasons to recommend this album are the duets of new songs with Alfie Boe, Gardar Cortes and Blake. Those names, added to Queen of the Night - which would have been a nice title for the album - make this a worthwhile release.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
How wonderful to be treated to more of Natasha's beautiful and versatile voice - more musical gems from this incredibly talented artist. Her voice exquisitely glides through each track, communicating the emotion behind each piece with great feeling. Her judgement of when to use warm rich tones or a simple purity of sound is superb and demonstrates her outstanding musicianship. I found it helpful to see Natasha's comments on her website, which put me in the picture about this being a re-release of her original album Amour - I've pasted it here in case it's helpful to others too:
Well, it's been an amazing journey this last year and I've loved every minute of it! I have been on tour all over the world, singing in arenas with some of the world's top crossover recording artists, but I certainly never forget my classical roots. Whilst working on my second album, I was asked by ITV to sing Mozart's `Queen of The Night' theme for the Euro Football Championships. Due to the excitement caused by this, EMI decided to re-release my Amour album. We have included `Queen of The Night', along with some brand new recordings, featuring duets with some other artists. I am looking forward to completing my next full album. Until this is ready, I thought you might enjoy some or all of these new recordings on this current rush release. Hope you enjoy..... Tasha x
I was reassured from this that we can expect another full album at some point in the future - a treat to look forward to!
Well, it's been an amazing journey this last year and I've loved every minute of it! I have been on tour all over the world, singing in arenas with some of the world's top crossover recording artists, but I certainly never forget my classical roots. Whilst working on my second album, I was asked by ITV to sing Mozart's `Queen of The Night' theme for the Euro Football Championships. Due to the excitement caused by this, EMI decided to re-release my Amour album. We have included `Queen of The Night', along with some brand new recordings, featuring duets with some other artists. I am looking forward to completing my next full album. Until this is ready, I thought you might enjoy some or all of these new recordings on this current rush release. Hope you enjoy..... Tasha x
I was reassured from this that we can expect another full album at some point in the future - a treat to look forward to!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This thrills in the same way AMOUR did but the choice of numbers is better and the guest singers superb. Natasha Marsh has such a natural voice and her musical interpretations and vocal colours always excite. I can't wait to hear album 3 and hope EMI don't regurgitate tracks again but throw some real money at this exciting soprano.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Four stars only because of repeat tracks
OK, bad bit out of the way. We get 5 tracks from 'Amour' so, in fact, only 8 new tracks. (I wonder how they chose the 5 tracks to replicate?). Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2008 by M. Porter
Do they think we're mugs?
This isn't out yet so obviously I've not heard this yet - but does the record company think we won't notice that 5 of the tracks on this album were on the last album? Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2008 by R. Jones
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