Tuesday, November 19, 2002

Just a short entry, as I really really need to say this!

I recently heard this absolutely beautiful song over the classical station the other night, and found the CD that it was taken from.

It's called Sometimes I Dream, by Mario Frangoulis, who's considered a veteran musician, but is in fact less than 35 years of age. Greek in origin, but raised in Africa, and later musically educated in the UK, he's also a violinist and composer, who's sung in productions of West Side Story, Les Miserables and various operas.
His album is mostly new-agey fare, ranging from slow introspective numbers ( including a theme from "Life Is Beautiful" ) to exuberantly happy pieces like "Luna Rossa" (which never fails to bring a big smile to my face, even at 7am in the morning, when I battle traffic jams to get to work ).
Frangoulis has, in my opinion at least, an AMAZING voice, far surpassing those of Russell Watson's and Josh Groban's ( two other young "prodigies" who've made pots of money these past couple of years ). So don't be surprised if Mario soon kicks them both off their pedestals. He obviously has received much training, and shows this off in all the songs featured. However, he's also capable of singing more standard pop fare, as evidenced in his ease when switching suddenly from lung-bursting high notes to more mellow melodies.
My favourite piece in this astounding CD is "Sometimes I Dream", a hauntingly romantic number with Middle Eastern tinges that remind me of the film "The English Patient". It also doesn't hurt that he's good-looking, with smouldering dark eyes. But this is definitely one "newcomer" who's going to make huge waves in the music scene.
His official website offers samplings of songs from the album, so take a listen and see if you end up buying it, 'cos I couldn't resist!

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