Alfie

?After the tremendous success of his first Decca album at the end of last year, Britain's favourite tenor, Alfie Boe, returns with the release of his eagerly-awaited follow-up, "Alfie".
Alfie presents a collection of the most beautiful and timeless songs, sung just the way you want to hear them. It is hard not to get a lump in your throat with his delivery of such romantic classics as the forever popular When I Fall In Love, Leonard Bernstein's impassioned Maria from West Side Story and Ewan MacColl's heartfelt "folk song" The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.
Having teamed up with good friend Matt Lucas for a duet on his first album, Alfie continues to surprise us with his unlikely, but perfect, pairings by being joined here by one of his heroes, rock legend Robert Plant. After a chance meeting in a bar, the two singers were soon in a studio recording this extremely moving version of Tim Buckley's Song To The Siren. Having been called "Boe, the Bad Boy of Opera" it is entirely fitting that Alfie should welcome Plant onto his new record, and, somewhat surprisingly, their voices blend beautifully against the delicate orchestration. This collaboration may soon be witnessed in the flesh (details to be announced).
It is hard to believe that Alfie has had time to record a new album as he is still in the midst of his incredible stint in Les Misérables, taking the lead role of Jean Valjean. Here Alfie is joined by king of musical theatre, Michael Ball for a duet version of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables. Who better to duet with Alfie for this than Marius, to whom the song belongs, from the original London cast of Les Mis.
Alfie's versatile voice takes us on a journey through the musicals, with the uplifting Being Alive from the musical Company, the all-time favourite Music Of The Night from Phantom of the Opera, George Gershwin's jazz standard Someone to Watch Over Me from Oh, Kay!, Wheels of a Dream from the musical Ragtime and of course Jean Valjean's own Who Am I ("I'm Jean Valjean!") from Les Mis.
 'Alfie' is made up of songs of genuine power and quality, a status that is only enhanced when interpreted by one of the world's great voices. Some of these timeless classics are forever associated with their original interpreter so it is a tribute to Alfie Boe's artistry that he gives each one his own individual stamp. One imagines Alfie singing to his 3-year-old daughter with the wistful When You Wish Upon A Star from the 1940 Disney classic Pinocchio. And as the seasons change, the album closes with the highly appropriate Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas from the musical Meet Me in St. Louis. With Alfie Boe's ringing tenor voice, the magic of the musical has never sounded more enchanting.