UNIVERSAL
The tenor offers a beautiful clear tone and impressive
ring, but he has yet to develop a
full-bodied, resonant quality.

‘The Voice’ needs
more time to shine

"The Voice"
Russell Watson (Universal)

---

Review by Mark Vogel
mvogel@starbulletin.com

Just a couple of years ago, Russell Watson was being trained as a bolt cutter on the shop floor of a Manchester engineering firm. Now, at 27, he finds himself to be a record-breaking singing sensation at the top of the British classical and pop charts.

Watson's vocal career exploded while singing arias in his spare time at local clubs. He was discovered by talent scouts and soon found himself performing operatic anthems at major sporting events and eventually signing a five-album deal with Decca Music Group.

With his debut album "The Voice," Watson offers a beautiful clear tone and an impressively wide range, but his operatic singing will likely take years to develop. The tenor, who has only studied formally for a couple of years, has yet to develop a full-bodied, resonant quality and a sense of basic musical phrasing.

To compensate for Watson's lack of true vocal projection, the sound technicians are hard at work here, controlling his balance level so that he isn't drowned out by the accompanying orchestra. And in lieu of a natural ringing quality -- so desired in the operatic tenor voice -- excessive amounts of reverb are used, making Watson sound like he's in the bottom of a well.

The classical repertoire on "The Voice" is somewhat limited, sticking mainly to powerhouse arias like Verdi's "La Donna è Mobile" and Puccini's "Nessun Dorma," made famous to European sports enthusiasts by Luciano Pavarotti's rousing performance at the Italia '90 World Cup.

Original material such as "Ricordo ancar (Pelagia's Song)," written for the new film "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," is composed in the style of a Puccini aria, with, of course, mandolin thrown in.

Crossing over to the pop side of things, Watson teams up with Manchester rocker Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays) on "Barcelona," a cover of the Montserrat Caballe/Freddie Mercury song, made famous at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. And the soulful duet "Someone Like You" unsuccessfully pairs Watson with English R&B singer Cleopatra Higgins, whose rich, full-bodied vocals overpower the tenor's comparatively small voice.

We have to remember that Watson is new at all of this. Who can blame him for not possessing the complete package at this very early stage in his career? Hopefully this talented beginner will learn that singing like Placido Domingo takes more than just a few rolled R's.

Click for online
calendars and events.