''The Opera Band'' is the debut album by

Amici Forever Amici Forever is a band of four classically trained singers who mix opera with pop music ( operatic pop). The band's first album, '' The Opera Band'' (2004), reached number one on the Australian classical charts, number two on the United States ...

released in 2004.

Making of the album

The members of Amici Forever met when rehearsing and performing at opera venues around the world.

Tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

Geoff Sewell Geoffrey David Sewell (born 13 March 1972) is a tenor from New Zealand. He is a classical crossover singer, a multi platinum selling international recording artist, impresario, entrepreneur, creator and CEO of London-based entertainment compan ...

, originally from New Zealand, came up with the idea of an "opera band" mixing traditional opera with contemporary pop. The band features two tenors, two

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

singers and a

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three ...

singer. Amici Forever signed with

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

and started playing high-profile gigs such as the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

final and the English rugby union final. Nick Patrick, who had produced albums by the

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings (originally Los Reyes) are a musical group founded in 1979 in Arles, France. The band, whose members have Catalans, Catalan heritage, play a blend of Catalan rumba, flamenco, Salsa music, salsa, and Pop music, pop. They perform mos ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

produced the band's first album ''The Opera Band''. The album mixes opera classics such as "Nessun Dorma" with pop standards such as "Unchained Melody" and " Requiem for a Soldier" from the Band of Brothers soundtrack.

Track listing

#"Prayer in the Night" (based on Handel's "Sarabande") #"Senza Catene (

Unchained Melody "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert ...

)" #"Canto Alla Vita" #"Vita Mia" #"Requiem for a Soldier " #"Whisper of Angels" (based on Faure's "Pavane") #"The Pearl Fishers" #"Soave Sia Il Vento" #"Nimrod: Lux Æterna" #"Song to the Moon" #"Zadok the Priest" #" Nessun Dorma" #"Adeste Fidelis" #"Olympia: Eternal Flame" (bonus track used as theme to

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Making of the album

Track listing

Charts

Weekly chart

Year-end chart

Certifications

External links

References