description: differs from Ethereal Vocal in that the singing is opera-style, either sampled or original
Angelica
An innovative blend of famous opera pieces sung by top sopranos, mixed with rock music. The album was conceived by Grammy Award-winning pop and rock composer/producer Clif Magness who has produced and composed a myriad of American hits, from Hanson to Barbra Streisand. The talented quintet of opera singers are joined by guitarist Steve Vai, David Foster and the Harlem Boy's Choir on some songs. Magness has made completely new arrangements for the famous opera pieces from Puccini's Madame Butterfly, Verdi's Rigoletto and Mozart's The Magic Flute amongst others. The reviewers describe the album as "...more than simply a rock 'n roll work shaped into operatic form, Angelica is innovative in its marriage of opera's style and stories with rock's sound, attitude, look, and contemporary impact..." Thanks to Luis Fernando for mentioning this artist
Mixing famous operatic pieces with ambient and upbeat music, Paul Schwartz and Mario Grigorov have released two beautiful albums (the first self-titled and the second called New Horizon) under this project name. Each track on the albums is centred around a powerful excerpt from dramatic arias, underpinned by modern, ambient dance beats and effects all wrapped in the lush textures of a large string orchestra. The singing is never sampled, but specially performed for the project by Rebecca Luker. Paul also released a 10-track solo album called A State of Grace which features 7 original songs composed by him and the other three are adaptations of existing works (like with Aria). Lisbeth Scott is featured on seven tracks while Miserere features a choir. While some tracks sound like they would be perfectly at home on either Aria CD, the music on A State of Grace is usually less layered or synth-orientated, tracks often are just with piano, violin, cello and the occasional Irish whistles. The entire CD though maintains an air of mystery. Thanks to Ken Day for additional info.
Jean-Patrick Capdevielle's follow-up project after Emma Shapplin is the epic Atylantos released in 2001 which sees Capdevielle's original idea for a full modern opera come to fruition. This album is an original operatic interpretation of the Atlantis myth with lead vocals by Chiara Zeffirelli (who was to perform on Shapplin's debut but due to other commitments was unable to), supported by two other sopranos and a tenor. If you enjoyed Emma Shapplin you will love this! Note: you may find that Atylantos is listed under the artist name Capdevielle.
This is in fact a project name for a modern pop-opera that Jean-Patrick Capdevielle, a French rock-star and owner of Pendragon Records, always had in mind. It started as an idea to have a fully-realised opera with soprano, tenor and baritone parts, but after Capdevielle met Cryslèle Joliton he decided to make her lead singer and transposed all the various parts. Emma Shapplin was to be Cryslèle stage-name, what Capdevielle called her 'Diva' name. Her stunning operatic voice and equally stunning looks saw the debut album Carmine Meo become a worldwide smash-hit featuring original Italian and Latin opera vocals combine with modern, upbeat music. It revitalised the Technological Opera genre, with its foreboding synthesisers, rock drums, orchestra and French opera choirs all supporting the crystal clear soprano voice of Emma. Songs range from epic to tragic, inspiring to ominous -- the rock-opera-ballad Spente le Stelle, the haunting simplicity of piano-and-voice in Reprendo mai piu... and the Enigma-like Ira di Dio with it's dark Gregorian-style chanting. Emma Shapplin is set to release another 5 albums in the future according to their contract agreement. Based on the success of this album, Jean-Patrick Capdevielle managed to finally realise his dream of a full modern opera in the form of Atylantos.