Reviewed by Dave Massey

Often when opera singers try to tackle popular works/music, the result is a pastiche of overdone, overdramatic and invariably painful recordings. A case in point for me are some of Kiri Te Kanowo's recent popular offerings. This recording though is a different kettle of fish. I put it on already cringing, with my fingers in my ears, and found that I could gradually release my tension and start to enjoy it. Jessye Norman, as the 'blurb' says, is "one of the most distinguished and prolific recording artistes of our day" and it is not for nothing that she's been awarded something like 13 honorary degrees from various universities. The negro spirituals on this recording are excellent - full of pathos and power - the sort of songs that other opera singers turn into black and white minstrel material. "There's A Man Going Round" and "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" both sung unaccompanied were particularly powerful, and "Mary Had A Baby" - the song I was expecting to be most corny is a triumph of musical interpretation and choral arrangement. "Steal Away" starts with a hummed intro that sounds like a cello or viola - followed by a haunting husky solo that I could best describe as up-market Tracey Chapman. An excellent recording by a true artiste.

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