Katherine Jenkins Winter Tour 2008

The long cold nights may be upon us, but the winter blues were banished for the evening as Katherine Jenkins and her support act, the classical quartet Blake, took to the stage of Sheffield City Hall. Accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra, directed by Anthony Inglis, Katherine enchanted the audience from the moment she walked on the stage and the next two hours seemed to just fly by. 

Katherine’s voice seems to have developed even more since her summer concerts and this came through in her performance, which was strong and assured but also heartfelt and full of emotion. She included many songs from previous albums and also several from her new album Sacred Arias. As the title suggests, these were all well known hymns and see her return full circle to her days as a chorister but, having developed more maturity in her voice and with wonderful musical arrangements, she brought a new sound to each piece. Her rendition of Abide with Me, started off with just Katherine singing accompanied by the harp which gave quite an ethereal feel to the piece and made the lyrics seem particularly poignant. Katherine sings with a great emotion, whether it is a patriotic piece like Cymru Fach, the operatic Nessun Dorma or a more contemporary piece like The Things You Are to Me, the spirit and feel of each song come through in her performance. 

Not only does she look and sound stunning, but what endears her to the audience is the way she interacts with them in between songs. She happily read out requests for dedications and also playfully answered questions from the audience that had been left for her before the start of the concert. She made reference to the VAT reduction that had come into effect saying that she got a discount in a well known high street store for one of her dresses she was wearing, thanks to Mr Darling. Her cheekiness and humour were appreciated by the audience but Katherine also acknowledged her appreciation for the support of her friends, family and fans over what had been a difficult month for her. She dedicated the song You’ll Never Walk Alone to those who had stood by her during this time and shown their love and support to her. This well known song from Carousel is a particular favourite of mine, despite its unfortunate association to football, and Katherine’s rendition seemed particularly heartfelt and sincere. 

Perhaps my favourite piece of the evening was the song Til There Was You. I believe this was the first time Katherine performed his song and she said how “they just don’t make songs like that anymore” to which I have to agree. Her vocal style in this piece reminded me of her rendition of We’ll Meet Again and a bygone era all too easily forgotten. Katherine is often referred to as the force’s sweetheart akin with her heroine Dame Vera Lynn and in this song it was easy to see why, as her interpretation of the song transported you back to another time and added a romantic feel to the moment. 

Following on from their success on the summer tour, Katherine was again joined by the classical group Blake. Despite their triumph this year at the Classical Brit Awards, many members of the audience had not heard of the group, but they were soon won over by the wonderful harmonies which others have come to know as the Blake Effect. They sang songs from their new album And So It Goes, including Closest Thing To Crazy and Because We Believe which as well as demonstrating their unique style of harmonies, also hi-lighted individual voices and in my opinion, were the perfect choice for the evening. These were well received by the audience but the biggest applause was saved for their final song, Jerusalem, written by the man who inspired their name, William Blake. This song has always been a favourite of mine and Blake’s performance combined with the wonderful orchestral arrangement was so powerful that it was quite overwhelming and exhilarating. The audience literally erupted into applause before Blake had even finished the final notes and the roar of appreciation that followed lasted for quite a few minutes. 

Perhaps the one disappointment of the evening was that Blake and Katherine didn’t perform together. They all have such wonderful voices that it would have been lovely to hear them altogether. It would also have been nice to hear a few Christmas songs but I guess that this is only the start of the tour and there is still plenty of time for this in the remaining concerts. Overall, it was a truly wonderful evening with singing and music of the highest standard and one that could have gone on for a lot longer. 

Programme: 

Katherine: I Could Have Danced All Night
Abide With Me
Cymru Fach 

Blake: E Sara Cosi
Closest Thing to Crazy
Up Where We Belong 

Katherine: Pie Jesu
The Things You Are To Me
Time to Say Goodbye 

Interval 

Katherine: Hallelujah
Til There Was You
You'll Never Walk Alone 

Blake: Because We Believe
Steal Away
Jerusalem 

Katherine: Down by the River to Pray
Nessun Dorma
May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You

Katherine &Blake are on tour at dates and venues throughout the UK until Dec 22nd.

Added: December 2nd 2008
Reviewer: xantha
Score: