Katherine Jenkins Q&A

With the release of her third album, Living A Dream, the Welsh mezzo Katherine Jenkins speaks with Classic FM.

This is your “difficult third album”… 

The pressure was on to make this album as good as it could possibly be after the success of the first two, but then I thrive under pressure. I’m very pleased with the result. I was involved in making the arrangements and I flew out to Prague to attend the recording sessions of the orchestral parts. 

What can we expect? 

There’s a much wider range of repertoire than on my first two albums, a lot of which I’ve chosen myself. Many of the other tracks are suggestions from members of the audience – I always meet them after my concerts and make a mental note of everything they ask for. Two pieces that were most requested were One Fine Day from Madama Butterfly and Music Of The Night from The Phantom Of The Opera. 

Any personal favourites? 

It was my idea to do I Will Always Love You in a classical style with a really rich, lush orchestral arrangement and I think it works very well. I had to get permission to record it from Dolly Parton, who wrote the song – particularly as I’m singing it in an Italian translation. In fact, it’s the first foreign language version she’s ever allowed and the only other version out there apart from the one by Whitney Houston. 

Your voice is sounding stronger than ever… 

Thank you! I’m continuing to work with my wonderful singing teacher and, as I’m only 25, my voice is still developing. I’d love to do opera in five years – it’s my dream to sing Carmen. What’s the importance of classical crossover? My role model is Bryn Terfel – he’s the most amazing opera singer and also makes fantastic crossover albums, such as his latest, Simple Gifts. I want to get people into classical music through my albums, the way that he does. 

What’s next for you? 

I’m just about to go on my first international tour –Japan, Australia, the US and Germany. My mobile phone bill’s going to be huge!