Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

One school where I taught had a marking policy of "two stars and a wish". In other words we always started with two positive comments before offering some constructive criticism, a policy I found to work well and which I will use in this review. So on the plus side, Carly Paoli has a beautiful soprano voice and on this album she is accompanied by some inventive orchestrations and supplemented by some well-chosen duets - and by my reckoning that is more than two positives. My negative opinion is just that, an opinion. To my ears the material started to sound a bit same-y. Well sung, well played but having heard the collection yesterday I am hard put to remember much about it today. The highlight is "En Aranjuez, Con Tu Amor", a duet with Jose Carreras that is well worth a listen. Thinking aloud as to why I particularly like this one it could be that the contrast between tenor and soprano allows the music to speak more clearly. Carreras is one of the greats and Miss Paoli's voice blends well with his. I suppose having a Carreras duet is the jewel in the crown and we should not be too surprised if nothing else quite matches it although there are some very near misses. Her take on "Ave Maria" composed by Romano Musumara with lyrics by Grant Black was played on Vatican radio as the theme for the Pope's Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2016 and suggests that Miss Paoli has a spiritual side. Indeed, this listener would be more than pleased to hear a collection of hymns and spiritual songs should she ever record one.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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