A second-season finalist on the television show Britain's Got Talent, Faryl Smith made her full-length debut at the remarkable age of 13 with Faryl, a 12-song album of classical crossover favorites. Produced by Jon Cohen, whose recent work includes albums with classical crossover stars Vanessa-Mae and Opera Babes, Faryl finds the opera sensation accompanied by a 60-piece orchestra. Starting rather predictably with "Amazing Grace," Smith sings with power and perfection, showcasing right away the vocal talent that was praised effusively by Simon Cowell on Britain's Got Talent. "Ave Maria," one of the songs that Smith performed so memorably on television, shows up soon afterward as expected. The Welsh hymn "Calon Lân" also gets a nice airing here. Fortunately, there are a few curiosities sequenced intermittently amid all the classical crossover favorites on Faryl, most notably "River of Light," a new version of "The Blue Danube" with original lyrics. Other surprises include opera versions of ABBA's "The Way Old Friends Do" and John Denver's "Annie's Song." The 60-piece orchestra gets to be a bit overwhelming by the time Faryl reaches its 40-minute conclusion. Classical crossover fans oriented toward popular music rather than classical might find themselves hoping that her next album is more varied in musical style. For sure, Smith is an exceptional mezzo-soprano whose young age makes her vocal talent all the more awe-inspiring, and Faryl is produced with fine precision by Cohen, who is good at giving classical music a pop crossover twist. It's too bad that she isn't given more creative material to sing. One hopes her next album is more adventurous. A second-season finalist on the television show Britain's Got Talent, Faryl Smith made her full-length debut at the remarkable age of 13 with Faryl, a 12-song album of classical crossover favorites. Produced by Jon Cohen, whose recent work includes albums with classical crossover stars Vanessa-Mae and Opera Babes, Faryl finds the opera sensation accompanied by a 60-piece orchestra. Starting rather predictably with "Amazing Grace," Smith sings with power and perfection, showcasing right away the vocal talent that was praised effusively by Simon Cowell on Britain's Got Talent. "Ave Maria," one of the songs that Smith performed so memorably on television, shows up soon afterward as expected. The Welsh hymn "Calon Lân" also gets a nice airing here. Fortunately, there are a few curiosities sequenced intermittently amid all the classical crossover favorites on Faryl, most notably "River of Light," a new version of "The Blue Danube" with original lyrics. Other surprises include opera versions of ABBA's "The Way Old Friends Do" and John Denver's "Annie's Song." The 60-piece orchestra gets to be a bit overwhelming by the time Faryl reaches its 40-minute conclusion. Classical crossover fans oriented toward popular music rather than classical might find themselves hoping that her next album is more varied in musical style. For sure, Smith is an exceptional mezzo-soprano whose young age makes her vocal talent all the more awe-inspiring, and Faryl is produced with fine precision by Cohen, who is good at giving classical music a pop crossover twist. It's too bad that she isn't given more creative material to sing. One hopes her next album is more adventurous. false 2025-11-08 07:53:53 Faryl 2009 2009-03-09 2009-03-09 4 Classical 137938 2244383 4accb266-a313-469e-a566-8ba0ac77508e 97056efa-1d47-485a-8de8-e29a43122166 e806e87a-40cc-3880-a92c-1ac7faed3d9d /media/data/media4/Music/Faryl Smith/Faryl/folder.jpg Faryl Smith Faryl Smith 1 2 The River of Light (Blue Danube) 03:43 Faryl Smith (born 23 July 1995) is a British soprano who performs opera, classical and classical crossover music. Smith rose to fame after appearing on the second series of the ITV television talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2008 as a child. After the programme, in December 2008, Smith signed a contract with Universal Classics and Jazz for a £2.3 million advance, the largest ever granted to a schoolgirl. Her debut album, Faryl, was recorded from December 2008 to January 2009 and released in March 2009. Faryl became the fastest-selling solo classical album in British chart history, selling 29,200 copies in the first week. It debuted at number six and rose to number four the following week, making Smith the third Britain's Got Talent contestant to have a top ten album. In 2010, on account of Faryl, Smith was nominated for two Classical BRIT Awards and became the youngest artist ever to receive a double nomination. Smith's second album, Wonderland, was released in November 2009, after which Smith left Universal. In addition to releasing her two albums, she featured on a charity cover of "The Prayer", released in March 2010, provided vocals for the 2012 album The Magic of a Thousand Strings by the International Harp Ensemble, and performed at numerous public events, including the 2009 Royal Variety Performance. In 2015, Smith began studying music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She continued to perform regularly, including at major sporting events, such as a Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium in February 2019.