by Amici Forever List Price:$18.00 Our Price:$13.00 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Product Details
Media: Audio CD
Release Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Label: RCA
Average Customer Review: 4.5 Based on 5 reviews.
Sales Rank: 153
Tracks
1.
Recondita armonia
2.
So Far Away
3.
The Prayer
4.
Ocean Heart (Oceano Cuore)
5.
Nostalgia (La Mia Nostalgia)
6.
Nella Fantasia
7.
Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix
8.
Land & Freedom (Terra e Liberta)
9.
La Fiamma Sacra (The Sacred Flame)
10.
Core 'ngrato (Ungrateful Heart)
11.
Aranjuez Ma Pensee
12.
Adagio
Editorial Review
The five, young, good-looking and classically trained singers who comprise Amici Forever have a lot to offer. They have taste, and they make, for the most part, beautiful sounds (one of the sopranos is wobbly; the other singers--a soprano, two tenors and bass-baritone--are splendid). Their debut CD, The Opera Band, has sold over a million copies. Their arrangements, though somewhat sappy, are attractive, and they're very imaginative with both classical and pop repertoire. I Amici are not just good singers who add a beat to the classics; they think things through. Defined offers a fine arrangement of the Allegretto of Beethoven's 7th Symphony with a text that turns it into a Hymn to Liberty; a Bocelli-Celine Dion duet has been transformed into a densely harmonic quintet; an original work tells a Maori legend; Dalila's "Mon ceur s'ouvre a ta voix," once past the wobbly soprano, becomes a fine blend; Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto and Rodrigo's "Concerto de Aranjuez" form the basis for two other pieces. This is a handsomely produced album which could alert pop fans to some beautiful classical melodies and, in and of itself, it's good listening. --Robert Levine
Top Customer Reviews
Rating:
5 If You Enjoyed The First Collection, You'll Enjoy This CD Too!
Amici Forever's second release DEFINED will be well received by people who enjoyed the group's first collection THE OPERA BAND. The collection is more similar than different to the first CD. There are a few excerpts from the world of opera; a few "classi-pop" selections that are similar to songs performed by Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Sarah Brightman, et. al.; and contemporary lyrics set to the music of well known classical composers. The purpose of the collection is entertainment rather than serious interpretation of classical music and opera and it more than succeeds in entertainment value. Yet it not only entertaining, it is also musically sound. Even though the arrangements are closer to pop standards than the original intentions of the composers, performing these pieces requires skill and vocal ability, both which are evident in the performances on this CD. I am going to admit I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this collection. I have enjoyed the first collection since its release, but I thought it was a fluke of sorts. Every type of music has "one hit wonders" who make a splash in the musical world then disappear, and I thought this would be the case with Amici Forever. I assumed that the first collection would be successful, maybe they would release a moderately successful Christmas album, but a second collection would be more of the same and get tiring. Not the case with this collection. The group sounds more like an ensemble in this collection which gives it a bit of an edge over the last CD, and the music has a fresher quality to it.I hope you enjoy this collection, and if the marketing people from RCA happen to read this review, a Christmas collection would not be such a bad idea.
Rating:
5 SIMPLY SUPERB
What a remarkable album. DEFINED is surely the best example of this type of music and performed by the best voices I've encountered in a long time. The mix of these 5 superb singers is just inspirational and add to that the simply superb orchestral and vocal arrangements - this album should be around and selling millions for years to come.
Rating:
5 THIS IS THE GREATEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR BY FAR
If you have not heard of Amici before DEFINED was released....YOU WILL DO NOW. This is the most glorious, single album I have ever bought. If you like classical crossover with something 'special' DEFINED is a must for your collection. The glorious harmonies, the fantastic selection of tracks, the incredible vocal and orchestral arrangements are just sublime. There is not another Artist out there that has this unique and compelling combination of talent. I cannot get over the sound..... they make everyone else, supposedly in this genre, sound lacking in the extreme! Il Divo is absolutely a cheap rip off of what this sort of music should sound like. To recommend that we buy that on the same page as Amici is simply commericalism gone mad! Their feeble attempt at a cover of Amici's Unchained Melody from their debut album 'The Opera Band' only goes to illustrate that. This album is pure class. You don't even have to like opera - this is something special and a true tribute to everyone who had a hand in the making of it.Please go on and on forever making the world sit up and listen to your unique and 'defined' sound. I am telling everyone I know to rush out NOW and treat themselves.This album is a simply THE GREATEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR SO FAR!
