Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), born in Poland as Karol
Józef Wojtyła, was elected Pope of the Catholic
Church in October 1978 and served for almost 27 years. Only Pius
IX served longer. He was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian
VI in the 1520s. He is regarded as one of the most influential
leaders during the 20
th century and he travelled widely,
visiting 129 countries during his pontificate. He was a great
linguist and could read and speak more than ten languages. In
his youth he was an athlete and played football. He was also
interested in theatre and wrote several plays. During the Second
World War he studied to be a priest and was ordained in 1946.
At the age of 38 he became the youngest bishop in Poland. Very
early he started writing about clerical issues but he also wrote
plays and poetry, which were published under pseudonyms. A dozen
of those poems were chosen as the literary basis for this disc
and they were set to music in a pop-oriented vein by a number
of composers, including Plácido Domingo Jr.
Plácido Domingo Sr is in fine vocal shape, singing with
admirable lightness, surprisingly so since he is preparing to
take on baritone roles. He also nuances well and only occasionally
one can hear that his highest notes don’t come as easily
as they once did. That he is committed to the repertoire is beyond
doubt. Of his invited guests Katherine Jenkins has an agreable
lyric voice and Vanessa Williams is a secure and rather expressive
artist. Andrea Bocelli sounds undernourished in comparison with
Domingo.
The various composers are no doubt professionals in their field
and then it’s a question of personal preferences what the
individual listener likes or dislikes. I was hooked by
La
tua semplicità with its noble melody, and I believe
Love with
partipitation of The Los Angeles Children’s Chorus - as
well as co-composer Plácido Domingo Jr - has hit-potential.
Amore
glorificato is another high-ball with lyrical singing of
great beauty and
La libertà is a nice song to return
to.
Argentinan Jorge Calandrelli is not only composer of some of
the songs but also arranger and producer. I must admit that I
find some of the arrangements rather overblown - professional
no doubt, but I would have liked at least some of it in small
print, now most of it is in bold type and underlined as well.
It should also be said that the production is as far from ‘live’ as
could be imagined with the LSO recorded at Angel Recording, UK,
the rhythm section in Los Angeles, Bocelli in his own studio
in Tuscany, Italy, Katherine Jenkins somewhere in UK, Vanessa
Williams in NY and Domingo in three different studios. At least
Josh Groban and Plácido Domingo recorded their duet in
the same studio - there is photographic evidence of that.
What should not be overshadowed in the midst of all modern
technique is the humanitarian message in the poems of Karol Wojtyła
- ‘the greatest human being I have ever known’ as
Plácido Domingo writes in his notes. For that reason alone,
but also for some inspired songs and for Domingo’s deep
commitment and lyrical singing of great beauty, this disc deserves
to be heard.
Göran Forsling
Plácido Domingo (tenor)
Josh Groban (2); Katherine Jenkins
(4); Andrea Bocelli (6); Plácido Domingo Jr (8); Vanessa Williams (10);
The Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (8); London Symphony Orchestra/Nick Ingman;
added musicians 
