Customer Reviews

Kate Royal

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a nice first recital album. Kate Royal demonstrates promise, but--as others reviewers note--she needs to grow. She displays a rich, lush lyric soprano voice. However, at this point in her career, she is not fully polished, nor have her skills fully matured. For instance, she tries to trill at a number of points, and while the final effect is not bad, it still has measurable room for improvement. I commend her for her variety of selections here, taking on works that are not common on debut CDs. A couple illustrative cuts:

Debussy's "L'annee en vain chasse l'annee" is richly sung, well illustrating the lush voice that she has. She sings this with apparently considerable confidence.

"Les filles de Cadix" is a playful tune by Leo Delibes. She sings it well, although she appears to be a bit "raw." She displays a semblance of a trill here and there--good enough to be promising, not so good as to identify her with the coloratura sopranos for whom this is well accomplished (such as Sumi Jo or Joan Sutherland). Nonetheless, a nice performance.

From Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana," she sings "In Trutina." Again, this is smoothly sung, exemplifying her rich lyric soprano vocal quality.

So, as others note, she has considerable promise and needs to work to develop her talent and technique to move to the next level of accomplishment.

Having first heard Kate Royal on the DVD 'Tocar y Luchar', a superb visual and aural examination of the success of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, on which she was heard in excerpts from the Mahler Symphony No. 2, this listener's ears perked up: who is this young, beautiful soprano who can float the Mahler lines so effortlessly and eloquently? Finding that the voice belonged to one Kate Royal ended in discovering this recording. Despite the learned comments from the other reviewers it seems that this is a young (27 years) talent who is both in possession of a well trained and enormously beautiful voice, but also an artist of intelligence and dedication to her craft.

The program selected for a debut recording at an early stage in her career is reassuring. No rehash of popular arias that guarantee sales of a CD here, but instead a collection of lesser known, exquisitely lovely and disparate works by a broad range of composers. Yes the voice is young, and right decisions regarding repertoire are being obeyed, and yet Kate Royal is hardly a routineer. Her delivery of three selections from Canteloube's 'Chants d'Auvergne' (especially the 'Baïlèro') has not only the precision of pitch and the elegance of the poetry, but also the earthy sensual sound these songs require. Other highlights for this listener are the Ravel 'Vocalise en forme de habanera' (instead of, say, the overly familiar Rachmaninov 'Vocalise'), the utter ease of delivery and mastery of range she manages with the Anne Trulove selections from Stravinsky's 'The Rake's Progress', the breathtakingly beautiful Granados 'Quejas, o la maja y el Ruiseñor ' from his 'Goyescas', and the radiance she introduces in a too small sampling of the songs of Richard Strauss.

In short, for this listener, yet to witness Kate Royal live on the concert or opera stage, here is an eloquent, intelligent, intensely musical soprano who is comfortable with the coloratura pyrotechniques, but settles them in with a vocal color that is rich, at times appropriately dark, and always beautiful. She is accompanied by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Edward Gardner conducting. She is assuredly a talent to watch. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, January 08

This is in part a response to "Santa Fe Listener," whose comments are astute but, I think, miss the mark slightly. At the time of this release, Royal was/is 27 years old. Very young as a singer in other words. She is indeed in the hunt: her diction is very fine, her idiomatic singing of the Strauss lieder is truly accomplished, and a lovely, easily-produced, distinctive tone (more characterful than many "top" sopranos today). To criticize her for not fully inhabiting the operatic repertory is somewhat misplaced. The problem with the Next Big Thing mentality is that it expects, and record labels push, singers to sing beyond their capacity at early stages of their careers. In this recording, Royal wisely resists that misguided course. It's a lovely piece of work by a young, intelligent, and surely soon-to-be distinguished singer.

Unlike a lot of "debut" albums, this is refreshing in that it's not comprised of the same old, same old standards that every soprano seems to fall back on when doing this sort of introductory kind of recital. You have to listen and it's a joy. I bought this a few weeks ago and am still discovering the joys of this CD. There are a few familiar pieces, but the rest is not done to death. It's an excellent recording and the orchestra and the arrangements are terrific. I have no complaint and look forward to her next album. I've recommended this CD to several people already.

The European press, not least the British, has lavished high praise on Kate Royal's first recital disc. Deservedly so. I would have given this CD four and a half stars, if I hadn't heard Kate Royal live last week. I was lucky enough to see her as a stunning Ilia in Mozart's Idomeneo (with period ensemble Europa Galante) here in Amsterdam. What a revelation! Kate Royal has a fantastic, aristocratically rich and warm voice, full of emotion, and an absolutely magnetic stage presence. Her duet aria with Ian Bostridge didn't fail to bring me to tears. After this superb concert, I had no other choice than to buy this CD. It contains a broad selection of arias and songs from various composers (no Mozart, unfortunately); a somewhat mixed bag perhaps, but an ideal programme for Royal to display her gorgeous voice. Strongly recommended. Voices of this calibre don't come along too often. I only can hope she will record those Idomeneo arias very soon...

The two-star grouch who finds Kate Royal inadequate compared to a great singer like Victoria de los Angeles misses the boat -- as I did the first time I heard her debut Cd. If you listen technically, royal isn't completely secure, and she doesn't give the impression of a fully formed artist. But why should she? What counts at this early stage are certain qualities that mark a rising star: the voice has luster and range, the timbre is appealingly feminine, and emotional connection with the listener is immediate. In those regards, Royal reminds me of the young Te Kanawa and Renee Fleming.

Will she mature into a great singer? Even the most dedicated PR flak can't predict. but Royal's second release, "Midsummer Night," displays a leap in artistry and range that promises much, and it casts this first album in the best light. There are many ravishing moments here, and when you think how long the British have waited for a real international diva, I hope Ms. Royal makes it all the way.

Musically this CD is great and Kate Royal's voice is lovely. However her enunciation is not so good. I also thought the inclusion of a couple more well-known pieces would have added something. But overall, a very nice CD.

Kate Royal, a superb new sound on the operatic scene, grew up surrounded by pop music but luckily her voice was recognized as destined for other genres. In this collection of opera, concert works and songs from different traditions there a freshness and feeling that tells you they are important to the singer. I look forward to following the career of this wonderful new artist as she matures and brings new perspectives to old treasures and introduces us to daring new works.

I had read a few glowing reviews of Kate Royal in various opera and concert performances, so my curiosity led me to see if she could deliver the goods. Luckily I purchased this CD used at a great discount, which amounted to the list price of EMI's Debut series. Why is it that there was soooo much more mature artistry to experience in Alice Coote's budget-priced recital than in Kate's full-priced recital here? Who's in charge at EMI?

This is basically a crowd-pleasing program, with a feted newbie performing many short, pretty pieces for the Sarah Brightman-loving public. There may have been a greater chance for success if the conducting weren't as flaccid and uninispired as it gets. Every selection is an undergraduate-recital version of what a recorded version should be. Granted, Kate has a pleasant voice, reminiscent of Kiri Te Kanawa with a bit of darker color, but, in contrast to Kiri's artistry, Kate's commitment to text and to communication seems to be of intermittent concern.

Having noticed a couple of articles about Kate's rise to fame, I was surprised to learn that 'The Rake's Progress' was a seminal operatic experience for her, since her rendition of 'No Word from Tom' is a total bore. If you want to really hear the power of this aria, listen to Dawn Upshaw in her 'Knoxville' CD collection.

If you want to hear a world-class rendition of the aria from Debussy's 'L'enfant prodigue,' listen to Ileana Cotrubas or to Victoria de los Angeles.

If you want to hear a totally idiomatic renditon of the brilliant 'Quatro madrigales amatorios,' listen to Victoria de los Angeles. For some reason, Kate sings them in a lower key, which dampens their sparkle, and at a lower energy level.

The selections that are not seriously impacted by her fluffiness are the Canteloube songs (who doesn't sing them well?), the Orff exerpt, and the Strauss songs. There is no sense of an individual impression on these pieces, but the moderate beauty of Kate's voice keeps them sweet.

No one really needs this collection. Wait for 10 or 15 years, and Kate may be polished enough to deliver some English folk songs and a few Schubert Lieder.

Remember when you first heard Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band? It was an amazing artistic whole, each piece contributing to the effect in a way new to me. Well, Kate Royal has done that with this recording. It is about love, of course, but it is so much more than the sum of its parts. Royal has a beautiful voice; big, a little dark, but just as important, she makes intelligent choices. This cd is a box of Godiva chocolates. Watch out.