Touring to promote their second album, Back In Harmony, Welsh singer Aled Jones and English tenor Russell Watson were at the Royal Concert Hall to delight their fans with an eclectic set of hymns and operatic classics.
Friends for over twenty years, they were instantly a natural fit on stage. Taking centre stage for the opener, Ennio Morricone’s Nella Fantasia, they kicked off the night with typical Italian gusto before the tempo was lowered for a beautiful The Lord Bless You And Keep You.
With the crowd hushed into near silence at times, not knowing when to clap and cheer, they were soon won over with the entertaining natural and unscripted between song banter, and in no time at all they were singing along.
With no solo slots Jones and Watson’s beautiful harmonies on Mario Lanzo’s The Loveliest Night Of The Year was a first half highlight which saw a bit of dad dancing around the stage. Night And Day, then the lovely Where Have All The Flowers Gone (with its layered harmonies) led the way for the first half closer, The Impossible Dream.
The second half continued where the first left off with a rousing version of Luigi Denza’s Funiculi Funicula. Soon the crowd were clapping along for the raunchy Lucky Lucky Lucky Me. There was a nod to Jones’ Walking In The Air when he sat behind a piano encouraged by Watson for the first two lines, before they entranced with the peaceful The Lord Is My Shepherd.
With the backing of a very talented eight piece band, the duo brought the evening to a close with Puccini’s version of Ave Maria, How Great Thou Art and their encore song, You Raise Me Up.
And with Jones off to Goose Fair, they may not have delivered a night for the classical purists but injecting plenty of laughter into their set had made for a night of fun.
