Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Time To Say Goodbye
2. Hallelujah
3. L'Amore Sei Tu (I Will Always Love You)
4. I Vow To Thee, My Country
5. Quello che far� (sar� per te)
6. Nella Fantasia
7. Hymn to the Fallen
8. The Flower Duet
9. Pie Jesu
10. Calon Lan
11. Caruso
12. Vide cor meum
13. O Mio Babbino Caro
14. Music Of The Night
15. I Could Have Danced All Night
16. I've Dreamed Of You (Questo e per te)
17. Don't Cry For Me Argentina

Disc 2:

1. Somewhere (West Side Story) LIVE
2. I Will Always Love You LIVE
3. Nella Fantasia LIVE
4. Somewhere Over The Rainbow LIVE
5. Music Of The Night LIVE
6. I Could Have Danced All Night LIVE
7. Welsh Medley LIVE
8. We'll Meet Again LIVE

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #370 in Music
• Released on: 2009-10-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Box set
• Running time: 39 minutes

CD Description
The world's favourite mezzo-soprano finally receives the best-of treatment with this collection of her most cherished recordings. From the crossovers of Cohen's 'Hallelujah' to the straight operatic conventions of Puccini's 'O Mio Babbino Caro', Jenkins proves that she is nothing if not versatile. Her lengthy career has also seen such highlights as a version of 'Time To Say Goodbye' (originally made famous by AndreaBocelli and Sarah Brightman) and Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Music Of The Night', from his 'Phantom Of The Opera' musical. Throughout this collection, it is Jenkins' maturity beyond her years that impresses most in performance.

The special edition includes a bonus disc of live material including 'We'll Meet Again' from Trafalgar Square as well as a special 'Welsh Medley'.

Customer Reviews

A great place to start
While just about everyone has heard of Katherine Jenkins not everyone will have bothered to find out what she sounds like to any great extent. My only experience before this album had been 'Time to say goodbye' being played at a funeral! I thought it was OK but preferred Sarah Brightman singing it with Andrea Boccelli. I thought at first glance that this best of looked to be a pretty worn out collection of old standards that had been pretty much done to death. However it has been a pleasant surprise to discover just how excellent so many of these tracks are. You would think that 'Hallelujah' had just about been flogged to pieces but this version is somehow purer and Jenkins haunting vocal style alongside a rather beautiful orchestral accompaniment means there was still life to be found in Cohen's much covered track. This really pretty much sums up what makes this such a winner. Jenkins really does have a beautiful voice that avoids artifice and cleverness but rather simply portrays a clear and yet powerful projection. She is constantly supported superbly but orchestration that is both moving and highly enjoyable. Such well worn classical tracks as 'O mio babbino Caro' & the flower duet from Lakme sound fresh and bright. Corny stage barnstormers such as 'Music of the night' & 'Don't cry for me Argentina' again sound new and well worth listening to. Even an Italian rendering of the Dolly Parton/ Whitney Houston 'I will always love you' is touching & beautifully finished. The only track I would happily live without is 'I could have danced all night' but in fairness I already hate it and this does little to change my mind.
Otherwise this is a very enjoyable collection, with a generous track listing and well recorded at a great price. Not sure what else needs to be said other than to give this a try if you've not taken much notice of Kathrine Jenkins before. It really is a very good album and she has a lovely voice.

A great selection of Katherine's music for Decca
Although Katherine Jenkins recorded six albums for Decca, this collection draws heavily on just three of them, these being Second Nature, Living A Dream and Serenade. It would be fair to say that these were the albums that really established Katherine's reputation following her promising debut album, which isn't represented here at all.

It's possible to argue what should have been included. The compilers had a hard job in selecting seventeen tracks that represent the best of Katherine's Decca music. No doubt the selection was influenced by the need to ensure that the album qualified for inclusion in the classical music charts, as all but one of her earlier albums did. This may explain the absence of Katherine's exquisite covers of We'll meet again, You'll never walk alone and Amazing grace, to name but three popular songs that I would like to have seen included. But I am pleased that Decca chose to include Don't cry for me Argentina. This was not included on Living A Dream , but it was included in a deluxe edition of the same album. I decided not to pay the premium price for just that track and one other. There's also a deluxe edition of this collection, Katherine Jenkins: The Ultimate Collection / Special Edition, containing a second CD featuring eight live tracks, but again I opted for the standard edition.

Whether this truly is the ultimate collection of her music, this compilation certainly provides a great introduction to the music of Katherine Jenkins.

Good `Best Of' Katherine Jenkins

It's no surprise to see this Katherine Jenkins `Best Of' compilation release on the Universal Classics label since her departure from them to sign with Warner Brothers.

The 17 tracks are a selection from her highly successful five year, six album contract with Universal from 2004 to 2008. Second Nature, Living a dream and Serenade are well represented, while her debut Premiere is dismissed (Lascia ch'io pianga would have been nice) and her last two albums Rejoice and Sacred Arias are poorly represented with just 3 tracks from them.

The decision to release the album into the popular, rather than classical, chart means that many of her trademark songs must be left out to comply with the chart rules, which is a shame for those early classics were the ones responsible for her current popularity.

Katherine's regular fans won't find anything new on offer here but for newcomers this is a good introduction to Katherine Jenkins, and of course an opportunity for Universal to squeeze some more revenue from the singer's increasingly successful career.