REVIEW: Michael Ball and Alfie Boe - Together, Decca Records CD ✭✭✭✭✭

Together - Michael Ball and Alfie Boe

Decca Records

5 Stars

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What could be better than a new Alfie Boe album or a new recording from Michael Ball - simple, an album that takes both of these incredible talents and puts them together. As a pre-cursor to their forthcoming Together tour, this album has been released to give audiences a teaser of what they may experience live.

Opening with a wonderful new take on Les Miserables, Ball and Boe weave their magic on some of the greatest moments from the hit musical that has affected their lives. Bring Him Home, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables and I Dreamed A Dream are woven together into a suite of soaring melodies, spine-tingling moments and sheer vocal warmth that makes this track in particular completely irresistible.

Over the course of the album shows such as Blood Brothers, The Phantom Of The Opera, Chess, The Wizard Of Oz, Carousel plus movie standards from Dr Zhivago, Disney's Pinocchio and Gershwin classics are beautifully handled.

I've been playing this CD for most of the weekend and I'm still finding it full of suprises, depth and meaning that elude so many other albums of this type by other artists. The artistry, production values and personality that comes shining through each track is breath-taking.

Backing the magnificent vocals on this album is a sublime orchestra playing some of the most beautiful arrangements you are likely to hear and with real strings! You really don't realise what is missing from musical theatre until you hear the gorgeous string arrangements on some of these songs.

Don't buy this CD for your mum or granny without buying a copy for yourself. If you are a fan of musical theatre, you will kick yourself if you don't own a copy yourself.

There is little doubt in my mind that both Michael Ball and Alfie Boe are kings when it comes to their interpretations of this type of material, that being said there is but one word for this album - Majestic!

I can't recommend this album highly enough!

Track Listing: 1. Les Miserables Suite (Bring Him Home, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, I Dreamed A Dream) 2. Somewhere (West Side Story) 3. Music Of The Night (Phantom Of The Opera) 4. Anthem (Chess) 5. Speak Softly Love (The Godfather) 6. Tell Me It’s Not True (Blood Brothers) 7. Incurably Romantic (Let’s Make Love) 8. I’ll Build A Stairway To Paradise (An American In Paris) 9. Wonderful World/Over The Rainbow 10. For Once In My Life 11. A Thousand Years (Twilight) 12. When You Wish Upon A Star (Pinocchio) 13. You’ll Never Walk Alone (Carousel) 14. I’ll Be Home For Christmas

MICHAEL BALL AND ALFIE BOE ARE NOW ON TOUR TOGETHER