Hello, I'm Kresse Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 2009. My castaway this week is the singer Roberto Alanya. He is one of the most celebrated tenors in the world.

He is never in greater demand and he says never happier than when he's singing alongside

his wife, the soprano Angela G Giorgu. They are opera's it couple, blessed with dazzling

talent, beauty and huge success. Yet his is not a voice that was honed through early years in a conservatoire. He was brought up in Paris, part of a large poor immigrant family.

He learned to love music in sing-alongs at home.

His career started when he was discovered singing in nightclubs.

Roberta Alanya, I want to talk first of all about your operatic debut.

It was in Britain around about 20 years ago.

You were part of the Kleinborn touring production now I'm you

were run about 25 years old one would think I was 24 in that moment but turning to

25 years I want to ask you about your preparation for that great night

because you would think maybe spending some time alone possibly in your hotel room.

It didn't quite work out that way. How did you spend that time, you know, for me was something very natural because sure in that time I was a little bit in your aunt because I sang in cabare before you know for eight years. I sang each night on cabare and for me it was a normal life I had a normal life during the day and each night singing in cabaret and it was the same when I started to sing opera and during the day I was with my family in Plymouth I remember and I went to the sea and

Yeah, I had a very good time, you know, with them and the after six o'clock I said, okay, now I'm going to the theater to sing Draviata, Alfredo.

And I remember the baritone asked me, did you rest all day without speaking everything? I said yeah, no, it was nice. I was to the beach with my family and I said but you're crazy and then but after that I start to understand it was right but I sang well in that night

I was very happy because in fact it was my debut and I made my debut without rehearsing with the orchestra

and I remember at the end of the show, my manager came to me and said,

oh, you made a miracle tonight.

So we have eight of your desert island discs here today some very beautiful music

and what I notice is that your wife is not among your choices is that going to be

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