Russell Watson RCH review

He started singing at a young age but only managed to reach the dizzy heights of performing at a working men’s club, before being discovered a decade ago.

However, Russell Watson’s journey has not been plain sailing and just over a year ago he was being treated for a benign brain tumour.

So his return to Nottingham was certainly an emotional one, not only for the tenor but also his adoring fans, who packed the Royal Concert Hall last night.

During the two-hour show he gushingly told the audience “I was here last year and it was packed to the rafters, it is fabulous to be still alive and singing again to you today.”

After various emotional chats with his fans I think they would have forgiven anything and at one point they had to when he got a wee bit carried away and started singing ‘Robin Hood, Robin Hood ….’ in his formidable tenor voice

Russell Watson switched from belting out operatic classics, musical gems and the odd pop tune which kept the show interesting and moving along nicely.

The high point was his spine-tingling version of Nessun Dorma. The late Luciano Pavarotti would have been proud.

The self-styled people’s tenor has done tremendously well to come through so much adversity and deserves the thousands of fans who came out to see his return to Nottingham.

Source: This is Nottingham