Opening up with some Spanish guitar, Paul Ettore Tabone – a.k.a. The Tenor From Oz – brings us an Italian language operatic version of Bryan Adams’ ‘Heaven’, as a sampler from his new album ‘This Is Me’.
Paul was given the prestigious ‘Most Promising Voice For Music Theatre’ in both 2007 and 2009 at the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music, before making his operatic debut in Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’, a period in West Side Story and Puccini’s ‘Madame Butterfly’, and a four year West End run in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom Of The Opera’. That operatic heritage and training has stood Tabone in good stead here, his deep, rich resonant tenor voice carrying the song beautifully, the combination with the Italian language lyrical translation transforming a pop-rock classic into something much deeper and more emotional.
You can hear ‘Heaven (Paradiso)’ on Soundcloud; order Paul’s debut album, ‘This Is Me’, from Paul’s website.
Review by Alex Holmes