Alfie on Alfredo

Alfie Boe shares insider news from onstage where he is currently starring as Alfredo in the WNO production of La traviata. 

"Playing the role of Alfredo has been a wonderful experience for me. I first began to sing opera at the age of 16 in a local operatic society in Lancashire, and performed in the chorus for their production of La traviata. Ever since then it's been a dream of mine to sing the role of Alfredo and finally I've had the opportunity. It's an incredibly rewarding role to sing, for you really feel like you've achieved something when you have finished. It has it's demanding moments, musically and productively because you have to learn how to pace yourself throughout the show so you can give a solid performance.

There's not such a big difference when singing Lehar as the intensity of the music still has to be there. When reading the text, there's just as much emotion in a Lehar aria as there is in the traviata score, infact you should keep the control and intensity of every piece of music you sing. My philosophy is to make every word you sing truthful. So really the only difference between Lehar and Verdi is the structural writing of the score. They both write such dramatic phrases and romantic phrases as well as tragic phrases but each in their very own style. 

I love the aspect of live performance because the presence of an audience changes the whole perception of the production. You never know what to expect in a live show, basically anything can happen and I think the general public much prefer a live performance rather than a recorded disc or dvd. Long live the theatre."

You can see Alfie perform in La traviata throughout October and November at venues across the UK.  Click here to visit the WNO site for performance details and tickets.