As you have gathered I thought it was great - and I have already ordered another of his CD's.
Decca must, indeed, have clambered to sign the Salford wonder, what with Pav fast nearing the end of his recording career, and with only so many people not posessing the original 3 Tenors recording. Andrea Bocelli not really a viable commodity to any real remunerative degree this side of Europe, (foreigner etc. etc..). "...........what we need is a home-grown 'Golden Boy', ....... pity that nice Aled Jones couldn't sing once his voice broke............Russell who???........Give us a song then, sonny.......very dishy I'll give you that.........ooooh, the girls will love you......................................"
More sexed up than Blairs' dodgy dossiers, Mr. Watson is thus presented, et al, described and introduced by Al Fayed at a recent 'Classical Awards' ceremony as possessing a "better voice than Pavarotti". Which is analogous to describing the Grimsby second eleven as better than Manchester United.
'The Voice', intimates that not only does he have one, but that it is so good that epithets alone are insufficient to describe just how good it is, consequently it must be referred to as 'THE voice'. If you've never heard the Voice(es) of Bjorling, del Monaco, Caruso, Krause, Corelli, Gigli, de Stefano, Bergonzi, Cura, Schipa, Mcormack, Locke, to name but a few, then you just might buy the hype. That isn't a 'stuffy, snobbish purists opinion. It's the whole truth. There must be a hundred thousand, if not more, amateur operatic performers and classical singers who groan with dismay at the mere mention of Mr. Watson's name, knowing deep down that they have an infinitely more talented voice. And they'd be right. Yes, he CAN sing; quite pleasantly, in fact. Good pitch, 'Raw' natural tone, fair upper register. But that isn't enough to compensate for a voice devoid of any character, passion, resonance, depth, intonation or any REAL beauty.
He is, technically and aesthetically so POOR, that even the critics give him little space in column inches. Funnily enough, they tend to lambast Bocelli's attempts, in some cases rightly so. But Bocelli, whilst no Operatic Tenor of any real merit, DOES posess a startlingly exquisite voice of REAL beauty. It is of no saving grace that Watson proclaims to be trying to introduce and convert his fans to the world of opera and "serious music", (that tired old mantra was Pavarotti's also, probably at the behest of the mandarins at the same record label, Decca). It is to be hoped, for his sake as well as his backers, that he spectacularly fails in this mission to convert, because should his 'groupies' actually acquire a palate for Puccini, Verdi, De Curtis along with the other Neopolitan pieces he croons, they will rapidly discover that Watson is to Classical Music what Eddie the Eagle was to Ski-Jumping; what Les Dawson was to pianoforte. What the Grimbsby second eleven are to Manchester United.
Mr. Watson is thus presented, et al, described and introduced by Al Fayed at a recent 'Classical Awards' ceremony as possessing a "better voice than Pavarotti". Which is analogous to describing the Grimsby second eleven as better than Manchester United.
