Josh Groban is booked to appear at the presidential inauguration celebration concert this Sunday. But British dates are still a scarcity.

Indeed, Groban’s most recent UK appearance was topping the bill in a rare concert version of ABBA’s Chess musical at the Royal Albert Hall last summer. Fortunately, the show-stopping anthem from this event has lovingly been included in a well-balanced and comprehensive set, which includes Cinema Paradiso, Weeping (featuring the Soweto Gospel Choir) and probably the best loved song of the decade, the original version of You Raise Me Up. Early copies of the Groban set also include half-a-dozen tracks culled from the seasonal Noel album, which of course can be kept in a safe place until next December.

Il Divo are also well connected and likewise manage to secure some high-profile gigs. Their music is so popular that 30 million CDs have been sold since 2004. Their quasi-classical productions of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s The Power Of Love, ABBA’s The Winner Takes It All (both sung in Italian) and the omnipresent Hallelujah are well executed. But Groban is the real deal, keeping Il Divo well in the shade.