Enchantment

Charlotte Church | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 9, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00005OWEJ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (500 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,181 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Of course, we couldn't expect time to freeze its relentless path and forever preserve the Welsh sensation Charlotte Church in a chrysalis of precocious youth. And yet, at 15 and now taking bolder steps into expanding her repertory on Enchantment, the soprano remains a marvel of a prodigy. Here, she scours a wider range of sources than on her previous albums. Church moves with breathtaking ease from classic Broadway (West Side Story, Show Boat, South Pacific) to traditional Celtic, film ballads, and even a couple of high-operatic numbers. Church's straightforward approach to the melody of "La Habanera" may not exactly be what Bizet had in mind for his Carmen, but fans will get double pleasure out of the singer's exquisite duet with herself on the haunting "Flower Duet" from Delibes's Lakmé. What's more, there's a greater freedom of expression and sense of how to shape a phrase in many of these tracks--notice how much there is to savor, for instance, in "The Water Is Wide" and "Carrickfergus." It all adds up to a widely varied course, demonstrating the continued growth of a singularly gifted young artist. --Sarah Chin

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

153 of 156 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Uninspired, January 1, 2002

By 

Christopher Farrell (Cupertino, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Enchantment (Audio CD)

Other reviewers have complained with some apparent authority about a lack of talent here, but I found Charlotte Church's voice to be fundamentally quite pleasing. It is strong, clean and clear, and seems to have a range more than adequate for the music on this CD. I thought her control was fine (and I do have a musical background, so I am not completely ignorant on these matters).

Where Enchantment fell down for me was not in the technical area, but in the absolute banality of the selections and a lack of any artistic expression throughout. The folk tunes and opera and broadway hits all sound basically the same. The selections themselves are a hodgepodge with no sense of either trying to make a coherent albumn or showcasing Church's talents - I suspect sobody just picked 15 tracks that they thought had the name recognition to sell. And while the technical performance is fine, none of the tracks have any intensity at all. It's all rather bland.

Maybe sometime Church will do her own albumn, somthing that establishes her own identity and on which she can put her own stamp. Until then, I'll take a pass, I think.

167 of 171 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting?...Not Really, December 28, 2001

By 

K. Li (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Enchantment (Audio CD)

Compare to her previous albums, this one ranks closer to the bottom. When she was younger, say elevenish, her voice was lovely to listen to. It was a sweet, angelic voice so like a young girl at that age should sound with a potential of becoming a power house in the future. But now in her mid teens, Miss Church has yet to reach that point and one wonders now if she ever will. Her voice has not gotten better nor worse.

Like a previous reviewer said, the strain in her voice is evident and sometimes a little painful to listen to. There are some songs where she's straining towards a range her vocal chords can not handle and there are other times like in "Papa can you here me?" where here voice is just above whisper (cranking the volume is needed). In fact, her pitch is not the same, at least to my ears it isn't. It sounds as if it's been lowered a key or two. Another thing with her singing is that I hear a lot of air before the words come out. Her voice does not come out as clear or pure as it could be. There is just too much whooshing sounds for me to continue listening to this CD.

I love show tunes from time to time and I'm familiar with most of the songs on this album. Although I believe Miss Church did put in a great effort, she missed her mark. If you want to listen to an Opera/Pop/Broadway style of music, I recommend Sarah Brightman (albums: Dive, Eden, or La Luna).

231 of 239 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Where's the improvement?, December 15, 2001

By 

"beethoven_nikita_christ" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Enchantment (Audio CD)

Charlotte Church still sounds the same... Cold and boring...
After 3 albums, I expect this album to be a lot better, but after listening to it, I find it (still) a disappointment... Where's the improvement?

I think the main problem with this album is the choice of songs. I think Miss Church would do better singing songs specially written for her (like a pop star?). Most of the songs she sing in this album have better versions, sang by more mature singers with better interpretation and techniques.

Her version of "Habanera" is especially weak. I would prefer it if she sings the original version of this famous aria... With notes and orchestral accompaniment exactly the same as the one Bizet had written. However, I don't think Miss Church would sound very good singing the original version either. Her voice is still of a boy-soprano quality which would not be strong and expressive enough for this aria which is demanding ---usually sang by more mature and established opera singers. She is trying to sound more mature here... But I think it wasn't that successful...

Her version of "The Little Horses" is a bit too slow for me and the accompaniment seems too loud. I would like this track better if she did it a little faster. However, I still think that a singer which much lower and deeper voice would do this song better. :-)

"The Laughing Song" is straining... Especially on those high notes!!! EEEEEKKKKKSSSS!!!!

The more outstanding tracks (I think) are "Carrickfergus" and "Papa Can You Hear Me?"... Other than that, the other tracks just isn't too well sung to leave a deep impression....

I hope Miss Church's next album would be better....