opera babes - beyond imagination

Mezzo Karen England and Soprano Rebecca Knight's debut, supported by perceptive and idiomatic accompaniment, is a solid and impressive recording. The instrumentalists play with great boldness and precision and present the classic works as vibrant music to be taken seriously, not just period pieces.
These compositions pose a range of challenges to the singers. England and Knight respond to the arrangements' disarming freshness and originality with a ready and penetrating intelligence. While they muster ample virtuosic agility of lyric warmth as required, it is their dramatic sense that is most compelling. Knight flings herself passionately into the emotional torrents of "Chanson Boheme," while she delivers her own lyrics in the charming "Ode II Joy" from Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with a confident fervor. England sings with pure, attractive tone; her voice has maturity, depth and flexibility, and her diction is impeccable. JMRL


























T r a c k L i s t i n g s

01. One Fine Day
02. Sempre Ricordo
03. There's a Place
04. Beyond Imagination
05. O Fortuna
06. Lakmé H2O "Flower Duet"
07. Ebben?... Ne Andró Lontano
08. You Live On My Heart
09. Chanson Bohéme
10. Remember Me
11. Stranger in Paradise
12. Ode II Joy
13. 1001 Nights
14. BArcarolle
15. Lakmé H2O VibeTribe MIx
16. Ave María
17. Vittoria! Aida 2002