Tag Archives: Il Divo

What if Alfie Boe returned to Opera?

As David Miller of Il Divo is set to star in Faust at the Detroit Opera House, I thought it would be a good time to ask the big “what if” question:

What if Alfie Boe were to return to opera?

Miller is scheduled to perform only once in Detroit next May, alongside his wife, Sarah Joy Miller but this is not the first time he has taken an operatic role since becoming part of Il Divo.  Back in 2011, he appeared in The Magic Flute, again in Detroit:

Subsequently, Miller took the role of Alfredo in Palm Beach Opera’s 2013 production of La Traviata.  Here, Miller played opposite Sarah’s Violetta.  At the time, Sarah said that “the pros outweighed the cons as she’d rather be kissing her husband on stage than some singer she’d just met”.

So, this role made me think – wouldn’t it be great if Alfie returned to opera? I hasten to add that plenty of fans have no desire at all to see Alfie on the opera stage, but keep with me! After all, Alfie and David Miller both starred in the famed Baz Luhrmann Broadway production of La Boheme.  Besides, even if Alfie did want to return to the opera world, there are no guarantees that the doors would be wide open for him.  In a recent interview with Liz Jones of the Daily Mail, Alfie said that:

‘I’m not sure, I really don’t know what they think of me, I’ve not been in that circle or spoken to anyone in that world recently.’

Having said that, if Alfie did take an ooperatic role, which role would you like to see him in?  Let me know via the form below:

In the meantime, to oil your wheels, let’s see Alfie in La Boheme with Melody Miller:

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Rekindling my love of opera

Way back in the mists of time, I listened to a fair bit of opera, in fact, my first live music experience, aged 11, was a performance of La Boheme at my local theatre in Chelmsford, Essex.  My Dad was a huge opera fan and he took me to quite a few productions but La Boheme stands out head and shoulders above all the rest, probably because I sat and cried buckets at the end! Then, as I grew older, I fell out of love with opera and much to my Dad’s eternal regret, I didn’t really listen again for …over twenty five years!

In the last couple of years I’ve found myself listening to opera again, and I’m sure no one will be surprised that I’ve come back to it through Alfie Boe’s wonderful voice.

Shortly after becoming Boe’d, I bought as many of Alfie’s recordings as I could find and was delighted to come full circle to La Boheme.  I was thrilled to find Alfie’s Classic FM album, the cast recording of Baz Luhrman’s Broadway production in which Alfie sings the first act and best of all, the DVD of the 2009 ENO La Boheme.  (Il Divo fans will also love the Broadway recording as David Miller is one of the two other Rodolfo’s).

I have continued to listen to more and more opera since then but it is only recently that I felt like writing a blog post about it…and once again, La Boheme is at the core.  One of the two lovely Linda’s went to see the Royal Albert Hall’s production, which led to several conversations about our mutual desire to hear Alfie as Rodolfo (and I know we’re not the only ones)! And then, I published an interview with Alfie’s older brother Michael in which he reminded us that it was him who gave Alfie his first recording of La Boheme when Alfie was just 11. Thank you Michael! .

Michael’s recently released CD, A La Voix (available from North Star Opera) has also shown me that though La Boheme will always remain special, there is so much more to opera and I’m really looking forward to learning more.

A La Voix available from North Star Opera.

La Boheme DVD available here:

Broadway La Boheme CD (import):