Classic FM Presents Alfie Boe
Alfie Boe is an overnight star years in the making.
He grew up in Fleetwood and became a car mechanic. He says, "I was working in the garage and Tonight from West Side Story was on the radio. I started singing along. The guy whose car I was working on worked in opera and said to me 'you've got a good voice.' He gave me his card and told me I should go to London to audition."
The result was a journey from the chorus of The D'Oyly Carte via the Royal College of Music to starring roles on Broadway, Glyndebourne and the English National Opera . Now comes a striking solo album with the BRNO Philharmonic . The album's 14 songs and arias concentrate on the classics of the tenor's traditional Italian-based repertoire, with music from Verdi, Leoncavallo, Donizetti and four arias from Puccini . Among these is Nessun Dorma, and Alfie's favourite, Che Gelida Manina from La Bohème. Another highlight is Salvatore Cardillo's Core 'Ngrato' (Ungrateful Heart), famously recorded by Boe's inspirations Domingo and Pavarotti and given a most heartfelt rendition here. Also featured is a passionate interpretation of Handel's Ombra Mai Fu, and a stirring performance of Parry's Jerusalem.
But Boe gives his heart and soul to 19th Century Italian opera, where his charisma and warm, powerful, romantic voice is most fully at home. The result is a fine debut likely to make this refreshingly unaffected artist a household name
Track Listing
- Che Gelida Manina-Puccini [From ''La Boheme'']
- Core 'Ngrato-Cardillo
- Una Furtive Lagrima-Donizetti [From ''L'elisir D'amore'']
- E Lucevan Le Stelle-Puccini [From ''Tosca'']
- Vesti La Giubba-Leoncavallo [From ''Pagliacci'']
- Lensky's Aria-Tchaikovsky [From ''Eugene Onegin'']
- Addio Fiorito Asil-Puccini [From ''Madame Butterfly'']
- Ombra Mai Fu-Handel [From ''Xerxes'']
- Dalla Sua Pace-Mozart [From ''Don Giovanni'']
- Il Mio Tesoro-Mozart [From ''Don Giovanni'']
- Je Crois Entendre Encore-Bizet [From ''The Pearl Fishers'']
- Jerusalem-Parry
- La Donna E Mobile-Verdi [From ''Rigoletto'']
- Nessun Dorma-Puccini [From ''Turandot'']
