Katherine Jenkins 

Brighton, Centre | 10 February 2012

A review by Gary Marlowe

It’s not often you go to a concert where the artist talks about being attacked in a helicopter over Iraq, gives a shout out to not one but two people who are celebrating their 90th birthday or witnesses the acceptance of a civil partnership. It’s also rare these days to be at a concert that no one is allowed to film with their mobiles. But this was Brighton and there was a diva on stage. And she was not alone. Also there were the 24-piece National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Anthony Inglis and special guest, American classical crossover singer, Nathan Pacheco. But of course it was Katherine Jenkins people had come to see. One has to say she looked stunning and there’s no question she has a wonderful voice.

But are good looks and a great set of pipes enough? Well, for most people in the audience, the answer to that would be a resounding ‘Yes!’ However, this was not a performance without its shortcomings and most of those were visual. Little effort had been made with the staging, and whilst it is the norm for these kind of shows, having the back of the conductor and, for that matter, the orchestra directly behind her, was both distracting and frankly unnecessary. A staging arrangement, perhaps utilising several different levels would have hugely enhanced the visual appeal, as would a couple of live projection screens. A static backdrop of oversized flowers that did nothing more than occasionally change colour was boring to say the least. Indeed, the only visual interest was when Katherine changed dresses, which she did no less than four times.

Aurally, the sound system was quiet to the point where noises from the audience were distracting. Indeed, there were times when it was actually hard to believe there were two dozen musicians on stage. Musically, it was a bit of a mish-mash, a little bit of this, followed by a little bit of that. And, as a result of trying to please everyone, there was no real coherence in the song choices. The performance was split into two sections with the interval giving people time to queue for posh ice creams as well as submit questions to Katherine. It may sound like An Audience With... and in many ways it was, but Katherine Jenkins is more than just a pretty girl who can sing, she has a infectious and often self-depreciating personality. And one suspects that for many in the audience that’s what is so endearing about her. She gives a twirl and asks whether they like her frock and even gives a namecheck to her dress designer. She dances with her conductor and she demurely curtsies when people applaud. She is thoroughly nice. Yet for all her virtues, one questions whether she needs more direction in her career, about the songs she chooses to record and especially with the way she performs them on stage. You also have to wonder whether playing to nonagenerians is really the audience a newly single 31-year-old wants.