It will be her second performance with the singer, and Jenkins recalls hours spent in the Royal Academy of Music library listening to his recordings. “He’s the voice of a generation,” she says. “Now I sing alongside him and he helps me be better. You’re always going to up your game when you sing with someone so legendary.”
The 33-year-old calls scooping second place on the British version of the popular reality television show Dancing with the Stars and running the London Marathon in memory of her father, who died when she was 15, as highlights from the past year.
Although now on a break from recording, she has also been nominated in the Classic FM Album of the Year category at this year’s Classic Brit Awards for This Is Christmas.
Jenkins says one of her favourite memories is performing for Barbra Streisand on the legendary singer and screen star’s birthday in 2009.
“I was invited to sing at her birthday and it’s not exactly something you turn down,” she says. “It feels surreal to even talk about it now. I was standing in the middle of a room in Barbra’s home about to sing to a woman who I’ve spent most of my life trying to be. Words can’t explain the terror-slash-jubilation.”
Jenkins’ critics, those unwilling to subscribe to classical crossover, or “popera” as it’s known, scoffed at her reported £5.8 million (D34.6m) label switch from Universal to Warner in 2008. The move has since reversed; Jenkins is back with Universal Music and has gone from sweetheart-from-the-valleys to worldwide star.
The daughter of a factory-worker father and radiographer mother, Jenkins started her career by winning the Welsh Choir Girl of the Year competition at the age of 11. Though her parents encouraged her, she says they were far from pushy.
“He was a stay-at-home Dad, so I learnt a lot from him,” she says about her late father. “He always encouraged me and made me believe in myself. I say a prayer for him before every performance. It’s the first thing I do when I step on stage.”
• Flash Entertainment present José Carreras and Katherine Jenkins at the du Arena, Yas Island, on October 25. Tickets, priced from Dh395, are available at www.ticketmaster.ae
artslife@thenational.ae
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
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MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16 second leg
Paris Saint-Germain (1) v Borussia Dortmund (2)
Kick-off: Midnight, Thursday, March 12
Stadium: Parc des Princes
Live: On beIN Sports HD
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
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