Opera Babes - Beyond Imagination
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Opera BabesEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2003-01-14
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- One Fine Day (Un Bel Di From Madame Butterfly)
- Sempre Ricordo (Piano Concerto in A minor)
- There's A Place (From The New World Symphony)
- Beyond Imagination (From A Midsummer Nights Dream)
- O Fortuna (From Carmina Burana)
- Lakmé H2O (Flower Duet)
- Ebben?..Ne Andro Lontano (from La Wally)
- You Live On In My Heart (Cinema Paradiso)
- Chanson Bohème (From Carmen)
- Remember Me
- Stranger In Paradise (From Kismet)
- Ode II Joy (From Symphony No. 9)
- 1001 Nights (From The Nutcracker Suite)
- Barcarolle (From The Tales Of Hoffman)
- Lakmé (VibeTribe Mix)
- Ave Maria
- Vittoria! (Aida 2002)
Free Music Notes for Beyond Imagination
Free Music Review: Great songs reinvented, with a twist
Hit: 5 Stars
Expanding upon the recent interest in Gregorian chant fusion as well as rich-voiced solo vocalists such as Josh Groban, operatic soprano Rebecca Knight and mezzo soprano Karen England offer full-vibratoed, somewhat modernized interpretations of favorite classical themes. Backed by chorus, orchestras, keyboards and drums, they draw from such diversely satisfying works as Puccini's opera "Madame Butterfly," Grieg's "Piano Concerto in a minor," Dvorak's "New World Symphony," Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream," Orff's "Carmina Burana," Delibe's "Lakme," Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite," Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffman," Schubert's "Ave Maria," and Verdi's "Aida." Some of the arrangements are fairly traditional, while others are noticeably enhanced. The emphasis tends to be on pretty pieces with sweet melodies, though a few are more intense in nature (#1, 4, 5, 15 and 17). A couple of pop songs, still sung in operatic style, are thrown in for good measure, although they don't have the same appeal and mystique as the old favorites. All of the selections feature both vocalists together, singing in lovely, close harmony. The arrangers of this elegantly hip music include Jon Cohen, Noely, Frank Gallagher, Deni Lew and Anne Dudley, with multi-language lyrics (for the adaptations of instrumental works) by Rebecca Knight and others. I have to admit that I occasionally found myself longing for the modern additions to be more consistently interesting and distinctive--in other words, equaling the artistry of the classics that they're accompanying. Track #1, which really shines, is a well-done example. Alternately, perhaps the source songs might have been better off left in their pure, original styles rather than watered down with schmaltzy, predictable underpinnings that don't add much to the music. But like Enigma did for medieval chant, the Opera Babes are endeavoring to bring some wonderful, time-tested music to a wider audience, fusing it with modern idioms in way that is artistic and generally appealing. For more opera fusion, compare the work of Amici Forever (a group of five singers, both male and female), and the oddly packaged but similar-in-concept album "Coco de Mer" by Adam Plack.
Beyond Imagination Poster
Plucked from a wet afternoon of busking Bizet and Puccini to passersby on the Piazza in Covent Garden in the spring of 2001, soprano Rebecca Knight and mezzo Karen England soon found themselves singing in slightly larger venues: the FA Cup and Champions League soccer finals. That the management company doing the plucking had recently performed a similar Cinderella crossover act for Russell Watson offered portent, and indeed the Babes--the moniker began as a joke--were soon on their way to this recording debut. The marketing shtick and its soccer connections may offend purists, but it's the football hooligans that the Babes are trying to win over here; can Borodin soothe the savage Manchester United fan? Their classically trained voices mesh gloriously, with England's warm mezzo showing particular character in her solo turns.The repertoire choices here cover material that may already be familiar to fans of Charlotte Church (i.e., Delibes "Flower Duet") and other crossover acts, but they do include some pleasant surprises, like Offenbach's Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann and "You Live On in My Heart," a reworking of Ennio Morricone's enchanting Cinema Paradiso theme with lyrics by Knight. But in a rush toward the musical middle of the road, it's the productions themselves that sometimes overwhelm the Babes with bathos ("Ave Maria"), hollow thunder ("Aida 2002"), and electro club kitsch (the 'Vibe Tribe' mix of "Flower Duet"). Former Art of Noise mainstay Anne Dudley's tastefully restrained coloring of Tchaikovsky's "1001 Nights" is one of the notable exceptions. They're babes, they sing opera--with fair promise--for the masses, and if they turn one in a hundred from football hooliganism to a well-mannered appreciation of Grieg and Dvorák, won't it all have been worth it? --Jerry McCulley
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