Alfie Boe

Alfie Boe

He's a cheeky northern lad who gave up his job as a car mechanic to pursue his dream to become an opera singer. It's the stuff publicity teams' dreams are made of - and sure enough, Alfie Boe has been the subject of a mammoth marketing campaign since Classic FM first laid eyes on him six months ago. He's got the charm, the charisma, the rags-to-riches story of having slept on a bench in Hyde Park during his time at the Royal College of Music (RCM) - what self-respecting commercial radio station wouldn't go weak at the knees at such an opportunity?

Boe quickly became the face of the station's new artist-led record label Classic FM Presents, which aims to thrust undiscovered British talent into the limelight with high-profile CD releases, plenty of pretty pictures and copious airplay. TV and radio appearances and interviews in the national press ensued - as did another high-profile record deal, this time with EMI Classics. The latter has been equally quick to cash in on Boe's marketability: carefully dressed and armed with a catalogue of phrases praising EMI and its history, he's been handed a packed schedule of back-to-back interviews to fulfil before the launch of Onward, his first album on the label. He's not even allowed to do an interview without being carefully monitored by a member of EMI's PR team.

It's hard not to be just a little bit suspicious. Millions of people will know Boe's name, his face and his story before they have even heard him sing a note.

'The talent has to be there and the training has to be solid but without the expertise of a record company I wouldn't be able to do it'

But here's the catch: Boe is actually a cracking opera singer. Rigorously trained at London's National Opera Studio after his stint at the RCM, he went on to work for several years as a chorus member with the Scottish Opera, English National Opera and at Glyndebourne before gaining a place on the Royal Opera House's highly esteemed Young Artists Programme (then known as the Vilar Young Artists Programme) in 2001. He then progressed to singing solo roles, eventually winning a Tony Award for his performance as Rodolfo in a controversial Baz Luhrmann performance of La Bohème on Broadway. It's a CV that any 33-year-old opera singer would be proud of.

Boe is unruffled by suggestions that his recent success might owe more to marketing than to raw talent. In fact, he doesn't even feel the need to defend himself: 'It's part of the job. I'm not going to deny it. My talent is one part of it but marketing is another part and we have to be honest about that. It's the way the business works. The talent has to be there and the training has to be solid but without the expertise of a record company I wouldn't be able to do it. It's a team effort.

'People don't hear about you and then something like this happens and they only hear part of the story,' he continues. 'To some people it doesn't come across that you have actually worked and studied and trained to do the job and it's taken a long time.'

It's been 10 years since Boe first set his heart on getting a solo record deal. He was recording as a chorus member with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, where he got his first professional work, when the seed was planted. 'I got the buzz that I wanted to be a recording artist,' he says. 'When I was at college I volunteered for any job that involved recording, whatever it was. So it hasn't just happened overnight.'

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