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| The Daily Telegraph - Thursday October 30th 2008 |
ALFIE BOE biography Preface
Alfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe was born 33 years
ago in Blackpool, a seaside town in the north west of England and brought up in nearby Fleetwood. As the youngest of 9 children,
little did Alfie’s parents know that the baby of the family would grow up to be one of the finest British tenors of
his generation. His mother of Irish and father of Norwegian descent respectively, loved classical music. On Sundays
the family would sit around the dining table whilst Alfie’s father would listen to his favourite tenor, Richard Tauber.
Alfie would sit patiently waiting to be excused so he could go and play football. Many years later he realised the immense
effect those Sunday afternoons would have on his life.
Chapter
One
At 14, encouraged by his sister, “and the possibility of meeting girls”, Alfie joined
an amateur operatic society. The first week he got as far as the front door, but nerves got the better of him and he turned
around and went home. The second week his trip was more successful and stepping through the door he entered a whole new world.
His love affair with opera had begun. In his late teens Alfie took a job as an apprentice mechanic at the local TVR sports
car factory in Blackpool. During the day he was shunted to the corner of the factory and left alone to listen to his beloved
classical music. He would, quite often, entertain his workmates by singing his favourite arias and it was on one of those
occasions that he was overheard by a customer. The gentleman worked in the music industry and suggested that he should go
to the D’Oyly Carte touring company who were auditioning for new members. Out of over 1,000 hopefuls Alfie landed the
job.
He toured the length and breadth of the country with the company, but his desire to learn more compelled
him to move to London and enlist at The Royal College of Music. After graduating he continued his studies at the National
Opera Studio and then went on to the Royal Opera House Young Artist’s Programme. It was when Alfie was at the ROH that
he received a call that was to change his plans. Baz Luhrmann, who had spent two years looking for one of the leads for his
controversial Broadway production of Puccini’s La Boheme, approached Alfie for the role. Luhrmann noted, “We came
to London to hear a young tenor called Alfie Boe who turned out to be absolutely extraordinary. I couldn’t believe the
luck we had.” Alfie jumped at the chance to work with Luhrmann and his leap of faith lead him to winning a Tony Award
which sits beside his John McCormack Young Voice and Lyric Tenor of the World Audience awards. He toured the U.S. with
La Boheme and fell in love with the country. He met and made many friends in New York and one person he will always be eternally
grateful to is vocal teacher Bill Schumann. “He’s the guy that changed my whole approach to singing. He not only
opened my ears but my eyes too,” Alfie reveals.
Chapter
Two
In early 2006 Alfie signed to the label Classic FM Presents, a label designed to act as a springboard
for fresh, new talent. The label was an offshoot of the biggest Classical radio station in Europe. Alfie’s eponymous
debut album was released in November 2006 to a fanfare of acclaim and established Alfie, not only as a firm favourite of Classic
FM listeners, but also grabbed the attention of the classical world. In January, of the following year, Alfie
signed to one of the oldest Classical labels in the world, EMI. Within less than 3 months his second album, ‘Onward’,
was released. The album was recorded with the renowned Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Not only was Alfie delighted
to be performing works by British composers such as John Rutter and Karl Jenkins but to have them write special arrangements
for the album was beyond his wildest dreams. Howard Goodall also stepped up to write a special arrangement for ‘The
Lord Is My Shepherd’. ‘Onward’ went straight to No.1 in the UK classical chart and established Alfie as
a household name in the UK.
Alfie enjoys the recording process, and for him, it helps take
his beloved opera to the masses, but he’s never far from an opera house. 2007 saw him touring the UK and Ireland and
also performing in a sell out run of Kismet for English National Opera at The Coliseum, London conducted by Richard Hickox.
Chapter Three
2007 proved an extremely busy year for Alfie. After the release of ‘Onward’ he went straight
on tour. He was also nominated for a Classical Brit Award for ‘Best Album’ sharing the category with Sir Paul
McCartney and Sting; he performed at the Royal Albert Hall with Lesley Garrett and Sir Willard White and graciously accepted
the role as Ambassador for HRH’s Arts and Kids Foundation which saw him performing at Clarence House for Prince Charles.
In late 2007 Alfie released ‘La Passione’, the second album release of that year. The album, which Boe had longed
to record, is a collection of traditional, mainly Italian folk songs that have stood up to the test of time. The repertoire
includes ‘O Sole Mio’, ‘Funiculi Finicula’, ‘Santa Lucia’ and the wonderful ‘Caruso’.
“The songs featured on ‘La Passione’ have been passed through many generations. They are songs of the street
musician, the cantautore and the social protester. They are instinctive songs about loves lost and won, about grief and about
the agony of leaving home – ‘per la gente’ written by the people for the people,” Alfie explains.
Chapter Four
Boe is one of the hardest working opera artists and 2008 was once again brimming
over with activity. He continued to promote La Passione with key TV and live appearances in the diary including his debut
tour with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The ever growing list of concerts, spanning the Country in 2008, can be
found at www.alfieboe.com. His 2008 Festival appearances included Llangollen, Chester, North Devon and Kings’ Lynn.
Orchestral engagements included concerts with the RPO, Manchester Camerata, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the RLPO.
The spring also saw Boe returning to the English National Opera at the Coliseum, in a new production of Lehar’s engrossing
opera, The Merry Widow. Boe took on one of the main roles as Le Camille de Rosillon alongside Amanda Roocroft, Roy Hudd and
Richard Stuart.
Running alongside The Merry Widow, Alfie also played The Italian Tenor in der Rosenkavalier
at ENO. Later in 2008 Boe returned home to his beloved Royal Opera House in Covent Garden to perform The Young
Servant in Elektra, conducted by Mark Elder. Alfie was nominated in two categories at this years Classical Brit
Awards – the only Artist with two nominations.
Chapter
Five
With three top selling classical albums under his belt, Alfie Boe continues to be in great demand
on both the concert and operatic stage. His 2009 festival appearances include Kenwood, Grassington, Rochester and Lichfield.
He has just completed performances as Rodolfo in Sir Jonathan Miller’s new production of La Boheme at ENO and this Autumn
will see his return to WNO as Alfredo in David McVicar’s production of La Traviata, and the release of his new album.
Footnote:
His operatic roles include Alfredo, Tamino, Don Ottavio and Rodolfo. After performing Rodolfo in
La Boheme at Glyndebourne, he went on win a Tony Award for his performances on Broadway as part of Baz Luhrman’s controversial
La Boheme production for which he also won the John McCormack Young Voice award and Lyric Tenor of the World Audience award.
His further engagements include the title role in Albert Herring (Glyndebourne),
Lysander in A Midsummer Nights Dream (ENO, La Monnaie), Ferrando in Cosí Fan Tutti (Opera National du Rhin), Caliph
in Kismet, Camille du Rosillon in The Merry Widow, Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier and Rodolfo in La Boheme (ENO).
His future opera engagements will see Alfie return to the English National Opera
to sing Nadir in a new production of The Pearl Fishers and also his return to the ROH.
In concert Alfie has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, RLPO, LPO, Ulster Orchestra, RPO, Bournemouth Symphony
Orchestra, Kristiansand Symfoniorkester and Boston Symphony Orchestra. He works regularly with conductors including Richard
Hickox, David Parry, John Wilson, Timothy Redmond, Oliver von Dohananyi and Edward Gardner. Future concerts include engagements
with the Halle, RPO, CBSO, Ulster Orchestra and RSNO.
© Brilliant! June 2009
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