Track Listing

1. La Fiamma Sacra (The Sacred Flame)
2. Nella Fantasia
3. The Prayer
4. Aranjuez Ma Pensee
5. So Far Away
6. Nostalgia (La Mia Nostalgia)
7. Core 'ngrato (Ungrateful Heart)
8. Land & Freedom (Terra e Liberta)
9. Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix
10. Recondita armonia
11. Adagio
12. Ocean Heart (Oceano Cuore)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54596 in Music
• Released on: 2005-06-21
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

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.

the "copy protect" software is too harmful. find a less toxic cd.
I am disappointed to realize that I unwittingly loaded Sony's anti-piracy software rootkit into my hard drive when I loaded this CD. I didn't realize that something would actually install itself on my hard drive. I also didn't realize that this particular file would be a file created so as to be difficult to remove.

I was even more upset to learn that, in doing so, I opened my hard drive up to at least one documented computer risk, as reported in the New York Times (Brian Krebs: "Calif Lawsuit Targets Sony" - follow the links to get more info)

There is a class action lawsuit in California and another pending in New York.

The reason for this lawsuit is that, by installing this CD, you are uploading invasive programming onto your computer. This CD will install a "rootkit" onto your hard drive and this rootkit can and will interfere with your hard drive.

It will also leave you open to hackers. Anti-virus software maker Sophos is already working on the fix to at least one virus that your computer will be susceptible to, if you install this CD.

I also understand that the music on this CD cannot be played on portable MP3 players. (This is apparently what "copy protect" means - it restricts you from copying the content onto your MP3 player. If you follow the links you'll also see claims that this software interferes with other legitimate applications, like copying your own content.)

Avoid this product. I like Forever Amici too, but it's not worth it. In fact, someone please tell Amici Forever that I'm not buying any more of their music if they can't find a more reputable way to get it distributed.

Artists are great...CD sucks!
I will never purchase another CD that is copy protected! If I cannot use it on my iPod then I have no use for it. These record companies have become so greedy that they deserve to lose money. I have never stolen a song ever and I am rewarded with garbage from a paranoid corporation.