Reality is, Potts is no talent show wannabe

Paul Potts ****
Edinburgh Playhouse

GIVEN a voice of reasonable quality, to be able to trot out the likes of Nessun Dorma or Celeste Aida as isolated concert items is not a very great achievement. To cope with the parts of Calaf or Radames over the span of complete performances of Turandot or Aida, however, the singer must set his sights a good deal higher. The gap between these two levels of attainment separates amateur from professional. The number of individuals who have been able to make the transition from one to the other is quite remarkably small.

In any performing career the element of luck can never be underestimated. Paul Potts was fortunate enough to come by a large sum of money when he won the Britain's Got Talent contest. Having done so, he invested much of his winnings into learning about what he has always wanted to become – a professional operatic soloist. Already, with amateur companies, he has gained experience of having sung complete roles in Mozart and Verdi operas. There are many more still remaining for him to explore.

These points having been made, his Edinburgh programme leant heavily towards well-known musicals and the popular Italian ballad style favoured by Luciano Pavarotti – not to mention some of his illustrious predecessors. To put things out of order, two of the highlights were from repertoire operas. Along with his guest, Natasha Marsh, he sang the Brindisi duet – or drinking song – from Act I of Verdi's La Traviata.

Its climax brought the house down. No less so did Nessun Dorma. Returning to the stage after his final item, Time To Say Goodbye, Potts played a little game with the audience. Had he missed something out? The answer to that – from all sides – was the famous solo from Act III of Puccini's Turandot, which he offered as an encore.

The orchestral ensemble, ably directed by Mark Agnor included strings, piano, harp, flute, oboe, two horns and timpani. For his first solo, Potts sang Granada – complete with all the usual hesitations and pauses. Schubert's Ave Maria, which ended the group, was not sung to Sir Walter Scott's words from The Lady of the Lake but to the text of the traditional prayer.

Natasha Marsh opened very creditably with O! Mio Babbino Caro from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. Unfortunately, her Tonight, from West Side Story, was spoiled by a temporary bout of over-amplification. Towards the end of Part II, You'll Never Walk Alone worked very successfully.

There were other highlights. Among them Potts offered a Mario Lanza selection that included the drinking song from The Student Prince.

He has a natural way of talking to his audience. Complimentary remarks made about being in Scotland were very well received, and he talked for a time of his charity walk from John o' Groats to Land's End, which raised over £4000 – mainly north of the border. He would, however, do well to enlist the services of a script writer to advise on more disciplined structuring of what he says between items.

His ménage moves on from Edinburgh to a world tour that includes dates in over a dozen countries.