Universal Music Australia is thrilled to present the debut album from Harlem Tenor, Noah Stewart. It is hard to believe that only a few years ago Noah was a receptionist at New York's Carnegie Hall, working to pay for his singing lessons. He has of course, since then, performed on that stage and is now building a fine reputation as a fast-rising operatic tenor, equally accomplished in interpreting such core roles as Don Jose in Carmen or Rodolfo in La Boheme or pioneering new roles in contemporary opera. But Noah also knows that there was a time when being an operatic tenor didn't just mean performing at the opera house, but could encompass all kinds of popular and traditional songs too.
From Enrico Caruso to Luciano Pavarotti, history's classic tenors all had the popular touch. The disc includes fine renditions of the operatic arias Recondita armonia, from Puccini's Tosca, and Pourquoi me reveiller, from Massenet's Werther, as well as the enduringly popular Bach/Gounod version of Ave Maria. But it casts its net much wider too. With inspirational input from producers and arrangers Steven Baker and Christian Seitz, the album also presents Noah's rich, resonant voice in the spiritual classic Deep River, and the traditional tunes Silent Night and Nearer My God To Thee.