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Ms Church continues her tradition for excellence with this latest release. More than just another Christmas album, "Dream a Dream" is a mixture of the ancient and new, spiritual and contemporary, Pop and traditional. Ms Church's crystalline pure voice accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra carries one to heavenly heights with the greatest of ease. It's real delight to listen to this latest work by Ms Church and it will be one I'll be listening to long after the passing of the Season of Christ.

My favorite's on the album include these moments: Rhodri Davies' harp accompaniment on the beautiful Ave Maria is one of the finest ever heard, this pairing of harp and voice is nothing short of one of the finest moments in music history. Charlotte's "child like voice" in O Tannenbaum conjures forth images of Christmas settled and celebrated around the Christmas Tree by millions of children around the world. The only all a cappella song on the album is "Lo! How A Rose E'er Blooming". Dating from the late 1500's it is the most regal of all the spiritual songs on the album. Dream a Dream is Ms Church's first step into the season of Pop and is superlatively performed. What else are we going to see from this very versatile young lady in the way of Pop? The full orchestral backup of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" truly expresses the spirit of the season. "Draw Tua Bethlehem", a Welsh hymn of praise, is expertly carried by Ms Church in Welsh and English and sets one on a journey of hope.

Not only does this album express the measure of the season but it gives us an insight into the sophistication of voice and value of this very beautiful young lady. The album is beyond the land, lore and love of Charlotte's Welsh citizenship, it speaks to millions throughout the world of all languages and cultures.


Good effort by this child, but....   December 17, 2000
 30 out of 39 found this review helpful

Charlotte Church is certainly talented. Don't let anyone tell you differently. I don't care whether she has been "properly trained" or not. I don't care what some of the more snooty classical music fans think of her operatic abilities. She may not be the best singer out there, but that does not mean she has a lack of talent. To suggest that someone is absolutely talentless, as some have suggested here, just because she doesn't sound "trained" enough is hogwash. Charlotte has PLENTY of talent, and she was gifted with a very nice voice.

With that out of the way, I will get to the album at hand. It is a good effort by Charlotte, but not great. I have a few issues with it:

1. The production stinks. Charlotte's voice is mixed pretty far back, and sometimes the instruments just dominate her.

2. The instrumentation is a bit overblown. I would have preferred a bit more sparseness in the accompaniment, or even just a string quartet. This would have been a much better choice than the almost bombastic constant swells of this orchestra.

3. Charlotte seems to be stretching a bit on some songs. She has a great voice, but sometimes she tries to push it past its limits, I believe. (This is probably what some of the more picky classical fans don't like, and it is probably what leads them to resent Charlotte. I don't look at it that way. Plenty of popular artists are not vocally perfect, but still put out GREAT albums. Dylan anyone? I think that classical music fans are many times too hung up on accuracy and not concerned enough about pure feeling.) Charlotte's vocal stretches aren't egregious or anything, just a bit too much for comfort.

4. Most of the time, Charlotte's pitch is right on the money. But once in a while, it wavers off just slightly. The kid's not note-perfect yet. This is a bit wince-inducing if you are listening closely. Otherwise, it is not that much of a problem.

5. I would have preferred some more unique takes on the traditional songs. Nothing outrageous, just more than cookie cutter orchestral backing. The arrangements are not daring and bring nothing new to the table. Some folks may prefer that, though. The songs are presented in their traditional glory. Again, I would have preferred a nice, tight string quartet arrangement on most of these songs.

6. Call me a charlatan, but when it comes to operatic singing, there is one thing I have always had a problem with: 99% of the time, I can't understand a word of it. Even when it is in English! With Charlotte, I know she is singing in English and I can pick up a few words here and there just because I already know the songs and know what words are *supposed* to be sung. But most of the time, I can't make out squat. She might as well be up there singing oo-ee-oo-ah-ah-ting-tang-walla-walla-bing-bang, for all I can decipher. I guess I'm no opera fan...but I prefer singers that say the words more clearly.

All in all, a fine album, but not a classic by any means. If you like Charlotte's voice, you will most likely enjoy this album, despite its flaws.


Dream a Somewhat Boring Dream...   December 3, 2000
 25 out of 29 found this review helpful

Don't get me wrong, I love Charlotte. I fell in love with her voice when I first saw a commercial about her advertising "Voice of an Angel" and hearing her sing "Pie Jesu". However, this Christmas album is not quite what I expected...first of all, Dream a Dream isn't even a Christmas song and it's the title song. And then the other songs on the album, while beautifully sung, are sung by the choir with Charlotte only doing a verse or two on them and descants on some of them. There are some jewels on this album however, such as O Holy Night, which is done beautifully, and not-so-familiar pieces such as Draw Tua Bethlehem, but for the most part, the album is a little boring with a choir singing the same old Christmas songs (Oh Come All Ye Faithful, etc.) Bottom line: a good Christmas CD overall, but I'd rather listen to her self-titled album or Voice of an Angel instead.


Bravo Charlotte you've done it again.   November 16, 2000
 24 out of 25 found this review helpful

Just when I thought she couldn't sound better. She releases Dream a Dream and proves me wrong. This album is destined to be a classic. If you only buy one Christmas album this year you can't miss with this one.


A wonderful compilation of Christmas songs   December 1, 2000
 24 out of 26 found this review helpful

I have been a fan of Charlotte Church since I caught her concert on public television. She amazed me with her talent and her childlike outlook that was so at odds with her powerful voice. I have been following her voice through her albums and could not pass up the chance to pick up her Christmas album both as a fan of Church and as an avid fan of Christmas music.

Charlotte Church will stun you with the brilliance of this album. The title song alone is darkly beautiful and includes the talent of Billy Gilman. The combination of these two voices is heartstopping and they blend wonderfully together. In addition to many traditional Christmas songs, Church also includes ones that are lesser known and for that I am thankful. Too often, a Christmas album contains holiday classics with different inflections produced by style alone. Church outdoes these other artists by including songs like "When A Child Is Born". Prior to this album, I had resigned myself to a musicbox rendition of it. But the lyrics are powerful and stirring and I am glad to finally have a version of it that does the song justice. Also, the catchy and moving song "Mary's Boy Child" is a song that initially caught my attention because the beat and style of the song was unexpected from the artist.

This is probably the best album I've heard from Charlotte Church in terms of the quality of her voice. Like many young artists, Church has been blessed with an extraordinary talent. The advantage of this is that she has years to cultivate her talent and to improve her technique. Though she is far from perfect, I respect her talent and am amazed at her gift. I look forward to hearing more from her in the future and to observe her development as a vocal artist.