Artist viewpoint: Alfie Boe

Get closer to live recording with this insider look from singer Alfie Boe as he explains why this recording was so enjoyable to make.  Alfie's new album 'Franz Lehar: Love was a Dream' is released this week...

I have to say that recording my latest album 'Franz Lehar: Love was a Dream' was the most enjoyable recording sessions I have ever been involved in.

The studio was the stage of The Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. Normally when recording the voice you get separated from the orchestra but in this case I had the opportunity to stand and record my vocal in the middle of the string section. In my opinion this creates a solid connection with the players and forms a unity of sound. Also having the live connection with your conductor makes a huge difference. There were moments in the sessions when I really picked up on the melody of the instruments surrounding me and began to really understand their contribution to the score.

The Orchestra of Scottish Opera were amazing, the control they had with the delicate musical structures and simplicity of sound, for the Lehar score, was perfection. I really hope we can work together again in the future.

The side of recording that the listener tends to forget is the sound engineer, and what a guy we had at the helm, this is person that brings it together in the studio. They have to be able to pick out the slightest mistake, or if something doesn't sound quite right, they also need to have great musicianship.

I hope you all enjoy the album and I am looking forward to performing this material in my concerts in the near future. Big thanks to all at Linn Records for giving me this opportunity to record such beautiful music. So here's to my management team Neil and Jill Ferris, my agent Heulwen Keyte, my conductor Michael Rosewell, a superb engineer and producer, Philip Hobbs, the Leader Anthony Moffat and players of The Orchestra of Scottish Opera, the design team and photographers and all involved in the production of this album.

Last but not least many thanks to The City of Glasgow, hope to be back soon.

Alfie x