The Opera Band

Following on from the success of Bond, the sexy all-girl string quartet from the UK that helped to bring classical music into the mainstream, and Muse, their South African equivalent, comes Amici Forever, an attempt to do for Puccini what the Bond girls did for Handel.

The album has an interesting mix of well-known opera tracks (the inclusion of 'Nessun Dorma' is probably written in stone on their record contract) and modern interpretations of classical pieces. There are some interesting adaptations of pieces such as Handel's 'Sarabande', Edward Elgar's 'Enigma Variations' and Faure's 'Pavane', which has been set to lyrics by Canadian writer Amy Sky.

These sit cheek-by-jowl with modern pop tracks such as the theme from the 'Band of Brothers' TV series and an Italian version of the Righteous Brothers' '60's hit, ‘Unchained Melody’. It's an odd mix of styles, but it makes a surprisingly good combination. The five members have astounding voices and although some of the tracks are perhaps a bit melodramatic for some people's tastes, the performance is faultless and as a pop-classical album it is impressive. If you enjoy Sarah Brightman (well, her early stuff), Vanessa Mae, Bond and Charlotte Church you're sure to appreciate Amici Forever.

With much of the album sung in Italian, the sleeve notes have been well thought out, with the lyrics to each track included along with a brief, but informative, introduction to each piece explaining who wrote it, when and why it was chosen for the album.

Amici Forever is also sure to spark some interest in South Africa in that the Soprano singer in Amici is none other than Tsakane Valentine, who played the role of Maria in West Side Story at the prestigious Spier Opera Festival to great acclaim. After finishing her studies at the Pretoria Technikon she moved to London and became part of the world's first 'opera band'.

It's evident that Amici Forever are breaking new ground with their album, and in fact their band as a concept, as they decided to title their debut album 'The Opera band', just in case there was any confusion with your run-of-the-mill pop band.

And such a mistake would be easy to make. The three guys and two girls are all young, good looking and dashingly dressed for the album photographs — no large women in Viking hats here! They'd look more at home on the cover of the latest teen idol magazine next to Will Young, and perhaps that is exactly what they’re intending. With the recent surge in popularity of '30’s big-band music thanks largely to Robbie Williams, who knows, perhaps Amici Forever will make opera the next big thing.