Opera in The Park - Leeds

A cold, wet day with occasional thunderstorms would not be the ideal setting for an open air concert, but it did not dampen the spirits of the 50,000 strong crowd that turned up to Temple Newsam in Leeds for Opera in the Park with Katherine Jenkins, the Orchestra of Opera North and The Leeds Philharmonic Chorus. The Compere for the evening, Jon Hammond helped lighten the mood with his lively chat before the start of the performance and promised that the rain would stop when proceedings got underway.

This was my first year at Opera in the Park and I didn’t know what to expect. I thought this type of event would attract a more mature audience but was surprised to see teenagers and young children there alongside more experienced veterans, including a 75yr old lady who had attended every year and whose daughter said 'refused to go home' because of a bit of rain! People had risen to the occasion, not just bringing picnics, but tables decorated with candles, bottles of champagne and lots of delicious food.

Then, as promised the rain stopped just before 8.00pm and Katherine Jenkins took to the stage with the Orchestra of Opera North and the Leeds Philharmonic Chorus. Katherine was wearing a stunning bright pink taffeta dress with train and a cross shoulder strap with jewelled detail. I think the dress even got applause!

Katherine’s first number was the song ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ from the Opera Gianni Schicchi by Puccini. Her performance was flawless and the Orchestra and Chorus complimented her wonderfully. Afterwards, she said how last year’s Opera in the Park had been her favourite concert and she had really hoped that she would be invited back again this year.

Katherine introduced her next song, Carmen’s ‘Habanera’ by saying that this song was all about a naughty girl flirting with all the men. In the song she tells them, “If you don’t love me, I love you and if I love you, watch out!” After receiving a couple of whistles from a member of the audience, she responded with a smile and called the person ‘cheeky’, this earned her more applause and laughs.

Katherine then explained that in between various concerts, she was back in the studio recording her new album and the next song she would be singing would be included on it. This was to be the first time that she had performed it live and was called ‘Il Canto’ by Robert Musumarra.

Whilst Katherine then left the stage for a quick costume change, the Orchestra played the opening of Act 3 from Carmen, which received a rapturous applause.

Wearing her second outfit of the evening, Katherine then reappeared on stage wearing a beautiful dark blue strapless dress with red-netted petticoats underneath. I think this might have been the dress that she wears on the front of her album ‘Living the Dream’ and also in her video for ‘I Will Always Love You’. Although it might be considered a fashion faux pas to be seen wearing the same outfit on more than one occasion, I thought that it showed how down to earth she is. In fact, throughout the evening, any ideas people might have had that she might possess those diva-like qualities which many singers do, were quashed as the audience were won over by her genuine delight to be there and her easy going, fun loving nature.

She introduced her next song ‘Everything I do, I do it for you’ which was made famous by Bryan Adams when he recorded it for the film ‘Robin Hood Prince of Thieves’, by saying that she loved to sing pop songs as well as classical pieces and enjoyed combining the two. Katherine said how she had always liked this song and was delighted to have recorded the Italian version with Bryan Adams in the studio and this would also be going on the new album. I enjoyed this new take on a popular song, Katherine’s voice was well suited to the piece and the fact the she sang in Italian, added to the romance of it.

Katherine then sang ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical ‘Carousel’. This song is perhaps better known now as the anthem for Liverpool Football club and so many people joined in and sang along at Katherine’s request.

The first half of the concert ended with the Orchestra playing a Waltz by Tchaikovsky.

The second half opened with the Orchestra and Chorus performing the Triumphal March from Verdi’s Aida. Although the chorus was probably a lot smaller than I have seen in a production of Aida, the sound they produced was nonetheless magnificent and was complimented perfectly by the Orchestra.

Katherine chose a long turquoise dress for her next outfit as she sang the song ‘Chance of a Lifetime’. I recognised the tune to this song as being the title theme from the film ‘Chariots of Fire’ but I was not aware that words had been put to this music. The lyrics fitted well to the music and seemed to add to the spirit of the theme of the film too.

Next Katherine sang ‘Be my Love’ made famous by Mario Lanza. This was followed by Turandot’s ‘Nessun Dorma’ which Katherine herself acknowledged was usually sung by a tenor voice but she thought it was unfair for the boys to have all the best songs, so had adapted it for herself. Afterwards she interacted with the audience again by saying that she had noticed that many people had been taking pictures of her and now she wanted to turn the tables on them. She explained that her ‘Nana’ usually accompanied here everywhere but at the moment she was back home unwell. The conductor then produced a camera from his pocket, which he gave to Katherine for her to take a picture of the crowd for her ‘Nana’. She joked around with the crowd, telling those on the edges to lean in so she could fit everyone in and then said she had to retake the picture because someone moved! Her sense of humour was greatly appreciated by the audience who cheered and waved as she left the stage.

The Orchestra then played the ‘Can-can’ from Offenbach’s ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’ which really roused the audience. People were clapping along in time to the music or doing the hand can-can which had been taught to them earlier in the evening by the compere Jon Hammond. This was then followed by ‘Dance of the Comedians’ from Smetana’s ‘The Bartered Bride’.

Katherine re-appeared in her final dress of the evening, which again received many gasps of admiration. It was a strapless white, fitted bodice dress with multilayered skirts all finished with diamante sequins and a silver bow around the waist. Katherine looked like a fairy princess and now that it had grown dark and the lighting on the stage had come into full effect, the result was truly spectacular.

Her next song was to be ‘I will Always Love You’. Katherine explained that although she wouldn’t class herself as a country music fan, she loved the words to this song and had always wanted to sing it. Dolly Parton was the first person to record this song and so Katherine had written to her to obtain permission to sing it in a different language. She had been thrilled when the permission came through. She sang the song with great feeling and joined in a lighter moment with a member of the audience when they shouted to her “we love you Katherine” she replied, “I love you all too”.

She then sang a song which she said reminds of her of Wales and her home ‘Green Green Grass of Home’. She remarked that she had noticed Welsh flags in the audience and commented how she was proud to be the official mascot of the Welsh Rugby Team. As she sang the song, the Welsh flags were waving high and Katherine responded by waving back and smiling at all of them.

She then sang what she said was to be the last song ‘Time to say Goodbye (Con Te partiro)’ by Andrea Bocelli. The whole crowd seemed hushed into silence at this point as if under a spell of Katherine’s singing and with the stage setting and the grandeur of Temple Newsam house in the background; it was easy to get caught up in magic of the moment.

The spell was broken when a giggling Katherine after finishing the song, turned to the conductor to thank him and then told the crowd that she had been so carried away with excitement that she forgot they still had two more pieces to do. She left the stage temporarily whilst the Orchestra played a waltz from Rogers and Hammerstein’s Carousel and then re-appeared to sing Mozart’s “Laudate Dominum”. The crowd showed their admiration and appreciation by giving her a standing ovation and after a little persuasion she sang ‘My Way’ as an encore, which many people joined in with and then again stood in applause. She thanked everyone for their support in coming and said she had thoroughly enjoyed herself and hopes to be invited again next year.

Although quite wet from the earlier rain, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and look forward to attending next year. I was very impressed by the organisation of the event by Leeds City Council, who seemed to have thought of everything from providing rubbish bags, recycling bins and drinking water. The first aid tents and ambulances were also readily available although thankfully not needed. The event was well marshalled and despite the huge number in attendance, it didn’t take that long to get out of the car parking area and on my way home.

Many thanks to Leeds City Council and Roger Boyde, Media Relations Officer for a fantastic evening and bringing Katherine to the area.

Added: July 23rd 2006
Reviewer: Sarah Fahey
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