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Universal Classics and Jazz has made a habit of releasing albums by unknown young classically trained singers and placing them in the pop charts, albeit in most cases not very high. Then again, UCJ was one of the only record companies doing this on such a scale, and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. One such singer was Scottish tenor Nicky Spence. His debut album -- produced by Chris Hazell, who had previously worked with Aled Jones and Bryn Terfel, two other successful crossover singers -- was called My First Love, which presumably referred to singing. And he sings very well, at least as well as one might expect from a release on the UCJ label. My First Love included a combination (weren't most of them?) of traditional Scottish songs such as "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose," "The Skye Boat Song," and "Ay Fond Kiss," and just for good measure he stuck the song "Maria" from West Side Story in the middle, maybe because it's just a good song. Also included were classical works Santa Lucia, Every Valley, an aria from Handel's Messiah, and L'Ultima Canzone and Brindisi from Verdi's La Traviata, on which he was joined by one of the more successful singers in this genre, Lesley Garrett, who had also recently signed for the label. So Nicky Spence was a good singer, and he had a human interest story, as he used to be twice his size and worked in a chip shop. But the marketing department of UCJ would know it takes more than that to make a star -- somehow there has to be a connection with the masses -- and on the evidence of My First Love, it didn't happen.
© Sharon Mawer /TiVo
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Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Robert Burns, Composer - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Neil Martin, Whistle, Uilleann Pipes, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Nicky Spence, MainArtist - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Erich Becht, Arranger, Work Arranger - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Teodoro Cottrau, ComposerLyricist - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Nicky Spence, Tenor, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer - Tony Burke, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Reynaldo Hahn, Writer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Nicky Spence, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Annabel Thwaite, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Franz Lehár, Composer - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Nicky Spence, Tenor, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer - Giuseppe Verdi, Composer - Lesley Garrett, Singer/Speaker, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Francesco Maria Piave, Author - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Maida Vale Singers, Choir, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Nicky Spence, MainArtist - Christopher Lee, Music Director & Conductor, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Traditional, Composer - Chris Hazell, Producer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Robert Burns, Writer, AssociatedPerformer - Neil Martin, Whistle, Uilleann Pipes, AssociatedPerformer - Nicky Spence, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - George Frideric Handel, Composer, Writer, AssociatedPerformer - Chris Hazell, Producer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Nicky Spence, Tenor, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Arthur Somervell, Arranger, Work Arranger - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer - Tony Burke, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Nicky Spence, Tenor, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Traditional, Composer - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Robert Burns, Author - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Nicky Spence, Tenor, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer - Paolo Tosti, Composer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Nicky Spence, Tenor, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer - Chris Hazell, Producer, Arranger, Work Arranger - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Nicky Spence, Arranger, Tenor, Work Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - George Frideric Handel, ComposerLyricist - Chris Hazell, Producer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Nicky Spence, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Ian McMillian, Conductor - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer - James Horner, Composer, Vocal Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Neil Martin, Whistle, Uilleann Pipes, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Ian Stephens, Arranger, Co-Arranger, Work Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Nicky Spence, Co-Arranger, Contributor, Tenor, Work Editor, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Edouard Lalo, Composer - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Nicky Spence, Tenor, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer - Edouard Stanislas Viateur Blau, Author
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra - Chris Hazell, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Will Brown, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Simon Eadon, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - William Butler Yeats, Author - Ian McMillan, Conductor - Thomas Dunhill, Composer - Nicky Spence, Tenor, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jane Ward, Producer, Associate Producer
℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
Album review
Universal Classics and Jazz has made a habit of releasing albums by unknown young classically trained singers and placing them in the pop charts, albeit in most cases not very high. Then again, UCJ was one of the only record companies doing this on such a scale, and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. One such singer was Scottish tenor Nicky Spence. His debut album -- produced by Chris Hazell, who had previously worked with Aled Jones and Bryn Terfel, two other successful crossover singers -- was called My First Love, which presumably referred to singing. And he sings very well, at least as well as one might expect from a release on the UCJ label. My First Love included a combination (weren't most of them?) of traditional Scottish songs such as "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose," "The Skye Boat Song," and "Ay Fond Kiss," and just for good measure he stuck the song "Maria" from West Side Story in the middle, maybe because it's just a good song. Also included were classical works Santa Lucia, Every Valley, an aria from Handel's Messiah, and L'Ultima Canzone and Brindisi from Verdi's La Traviata, on which he was joined by one of the more successful singers in this genre, Lesley Garrett, who had also recently signed for the label. So Nicky Spence was a good singer, and he had a human interest story, as he used to be twice his size and worked in a chip shop. But the marketing department of UCJ would know it takes more than that to make a star -- somehow there has to be a connection with the masses -- and on the evidence of My First Love, it didn't happen.
© Sharon Mawer /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 15 track(s)
- Total length: 00:50:54
- Main artists: Nicky Spence
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Decca (UMO)
- Genre: Classical Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred)
© 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz ℗ 2006 Universal Classics & Jazz
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