Track Listing

1. Nella Fantasia
2. Amor Ti Vieta
3. Pelagia's Song (Captain Corelli's Mandolin)
4. Caruso
5. Miserere
6. Panis Angelicus
7. Non Ti Scordar Di Me
8. La Donna E Mobile
9. Saylon Dola
10. Someone Like You
11. Bridge Over Troubled Waters
12. Vienna
13. Funiculi
14. Barcelona (With Shaun Ryder)
15. Nessun Dorma! [From Turandot] - Metro Voices, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Russell Watson

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27843 in Music
• Brand: Watson
• Released on: 2001-04-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Album Description
Full length LP from the British tenor that shot straight to the top of the UK classical charts. Features many beautiful renditions of classical & e-z listening standards, plus a version of 'Nessun Dorma', which Watson often sings before high-profile English soccer matches.

Amazon.com
Russell Watson's story is a classic rags-to-riches fairy tale: The former welder, after years of singing in pubs and clubs, traveled from Salford, his hometown, to London. He turned up unannounced at the Decca offices and was promptly signed up by one of the most important classical labels in the world. Vocal coaching followed, as did a number of successful live appearances supporting Cliff Richard. Now, we have this recital CD, which explores a wide range of musical styles. Watson's Italian is a little ponderous in tracks such as "Amor Ti Vieta," but this is more than offset by his captivating and utterly natural-sounding tenor voice. The inevitable popular arias are here, namely "La Donna è Mobile" and "Nessun Dorma," sung with a refreshing and youthful vitality. Pop tracks, including Ultravox's classic 1980s hit "Vienna" and a witty cover version of "Barcelona" sung with former Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder, sit comfortably on the disc. Watson performs them with integrity, not simply paying lip service to the music of his generation. Watson has the potential to do for classical music what Jamie Oliver has done for cookery, and there are few people who won't find this debut CD appealing. --Rebecca Agnew

Customer Reviews

Personal Choice
I remember a music/theatre critic writing an article in a Spokane newspaper many years ago denigrating a colorless personality with an equally dull, colorless and monotonous voice singing songs in a movie called "Pete Kelly's Blues. That dull singer was the late and famous jazz singer, Peggy Lee! Now I read critical reviews of Russell Watson falling way short of what constitutes a classical singer from individuals with supposedly learned backgrounds in classical music. If an expert critic can call Peggy Lee a singer with a dull voice, then I have no faith in every day critics claiming Russell Watson, a boring and limited singer in range. These critical reviews are so commonplace that I believe it really is a matter of personal choice on which voice is great or terrible. It all boils down to what you or I like. I like Russell Watson. That is enough for me. I listen to his CD and cannot hear what the critics hear because I am entranced by his powerful and appealing voice. I recommend this CD to anyone with an open mind who wants to hear a rare and unusual singer with a tremendous future ahead of him.

Albuquerque reviewer says it best
I couldn't quite think of the right words to describe why I like the VOICE until I read a review from Albuquerque which described exactly the feeling I have when I listen to Russell Watson. The reviewer stated "It has the unique quality of surprise--in the same song it can be soft and intimate or melodic and lively and then suddenly burst loose with amazing power and beauty. It is the last voice that I like the best and that is the most impressive to me, the voice of the operatic arias and soaring melodies, but it is all the more amazing because of the contrast with the "other" voices." I couldn't say it any better. This is a wonderful CD.

A revelation
From T. Brannan

My review was somehow replaced by a fellow Russell Watson fan from Federal Way, so I'm re-submitting my review.

What a revelation this album is. Watson is so thoroughly immersed in the Neapolitan idiom that it is hard to believe these songs were recorded by an Englishman. As he matures, he will perfect his sense of phrasing, commitment and sensitivity which he displays even now in each song. Critics and classical buffs should give Watson a chance as he has a bright future ahead of him. I eagerly await all of his future recordings. The VOICE is a CD to keep in your collections.