About this Artist

• Biography
• Interview

Editorial Reviews

Like Russell Watson's top-selling debut album, The Voice, Encore -- the tenor's sophomore release -- fashions a program that ranges from famous arias to popular standards to newer, classical-inflected material, all featuring lush orchestral backing. It's a recipe that has carried this rising star out of working-class England to international fame, helped along by boyish good looks, an affable demeanor, and a generous dose of natural talent. Listening to the well-known opera arias included here -- Puccini's "E lucevan le stelle" and "Che gelida manina" and Verdi's "Celeste Aïda" -- it's plain that Watson has done some woodshedding in the interval between releases. His Italian has improved, and so has the placement of his voice, which is darkening and growing in richness. Pavarotti he still is not, but "the voice" (he refers to his instrument in the third person) is certainly gaining in strength and luster: Just sample the classic Italian songs -- "O sole mio," "Volare," "Mattinata" -- for a taste of Watson in full-on Mario Lanza mode. The pop selections, on the other hand, show Watson's style-hopping skill. "You Are So Beautiful," for example, highlights Watson's gift for breathy pop crooning. Other tacks, such as "Va, pensiero" (based on the famous Verdi chorus) and Carol Bayer Sager's "The Prayer," a duet with Lulu, show Watson in both lights: as pop stylist and full-voiced operatic leading man. At times this contrast can be jarring -- the shift from a Puccini aria to the Lionel Richie duet, "Magic of Love," for instance, or from Verdi's Aïda aria to "Where My Heart Will Take Me," the faith-affirming theme from Enterprise. Watson clearly wants to play both sides of the fence, however, and is succeeding; Encore is sure to be merely the first of many curtain calls for this crossover star. EJ Johnson, Barnes & Noble

Customer Reviews

• Listener Rating:
• Ratings: 28Reviews: 28
• See All Reviews

More Customer Reviews