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=Pre-Concert
Press=
Earth
Angel
At
15, singer Church can take her ethereal voice anywhere
ALAN HUSTAK
The Gazette(Montreal)
Charlotte
Church, who plays Place des Arts on Friday, says her
future is undecided, but she won't do opera.
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She
has just turned 15, but even on the telephone from her house
in Cardiff, Wales, Charlotte Church projects the confidence of
a seasoned professional twice her age.
Billed
as the world's most successful teenage soprano, Church has
performed for royalty, heads of state and the pope. Her CD
Voice of an Angel has sold more than 7 million copies
worldwide. She has made a fortune singing timeworn traditional
songs. Her repertoire includes sweet and sentimental tunes and
hymns. But Church, who plays Place des Arts on Friday, is
anything but pious. She has the voice of an angel, but clearly
her feet are on the ground.
As
soon as she picked up the phone, she started talking about
boys - specifically Prince William. Last week, the British
press linked her romantically to the 19-year-old future king,
and Church is not happy about it.
"He's
very handsome, but I have never met him," she said.
"Just because I'm from Cardiff doesn't mean I want to be
the princess of Wales. It's absurd.
"I
don't have a crush on (William). I have met Prince Charles,
though, and he is really nice. I don't think he means to
insult people, he just puts his foot in it, poor man. He
really is nice."
Church
said she expects to meet Prince William in July, when she does
a concert in Hyde Park with the famous tenor Luciano
Pavarotti. Singing for royalty, she said, "is kind of
strange and severe. They are just people. You can't let
yourself be over-awed."
Her
career began four years ago when she called a television
talent show and sang four lines of Pie Jesu over the phone. An
agent, Jonathan Shalit, caught the act, and signed her to a
recording contract.
Paul
Burger, the chairman of Sony Music U.K., marketed Church as
"every grandmother's dream granddaughter, every parent's
dream daughter and every kid's best friend."
It
worked. Her first album, the ethereal Voice of an Angel, made
her an overnight sensation. She is the youngest female artist
to have a classical CD reach No. 1 on the charts in the United
Kingdom. A second CD, Charlotte Church, followed, and Time
Warner has just published her autobiography, My Life So Far.
Church
is growing up, and fast. In a highly publicized incident, her
backstage mother fired Shalit last year for verbally abusing
the young singer. Without the man who masterminded her career,
the questions now are: Where does she go from here and who
will direct her?
Critics
are already asking what her voice will sound like two years
from now, and how much longer she will be able to sustain the
image of angelic innocence.
Church
isn't too concerned.
"My
career is run primarily by me. I don't do anything I don't
want to do," she said. "I am in a unique position.
I'm different from most child stars because I am not singing
to impress fans my own age. My core audience is mature. It is
much older than I am. The fans that I have are great, so
nobody is pushing me to change. Because of my age, I can
evolve."
Even
Church admits she often tires of her material - Panis
Angelicus, Danny Boy, The Last Rose of Summer and Jerusalem -
but enjoys performing live.
"I
don't want to go into opera," she said. "I don't
want to do the Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera belly thing.
I am undecided. But I definitely don't want to do opera."
Her
taste in music leans toward R&B and pop rock, - "Wyclef
Jean, Lenny Kravitz, Sting, people like that."
She
has met Celine Dion twice, and thinks "she's really
lovely, really sweet." Church said they both started off
as child stars, and it's not inconceivable that one day she
could become the next Celine.
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Charlotte
Church performs at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier in Place des Arts
Friday at 8 p.m. Flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook opens. Tickets
cost $60, $70 and $85. For information, call (514) 790-1245.
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