They look like a new cast for Friends, but Amici Forever aim to be top of the popera, writes Arminta Wallace
AMICI Forever? Does this have anything to do with those cute little bears on the birthday cards? Five expectant faces dissolve into hoots of laughter. They are seated around a table in the Princess Grace Suite in the Shelbourne Hotel: and they look as if they've strayed out of the Big Brother house. But no - wrong show, as it turns out. "When we started, somebody told us we looked more like the cast of Friends than opera singers," says Geoff - who, it turns out, is from New Zealand. "So when we were searching for a name - and millions of names went across the table, let me tell you - we thought, 'We're friends, we sing in Italian, and we're hoping to be around for a long time, so ... Amici! "
He does the shrug-with-the-palms-up thing: as Italian, dammit, as Dolmio. If Amici Forever were the cast of Friends, Geoff would be Chandler. Jo, with her shoulder-length blonde tresses, could be Rachel, and since we're talking hair, Tsakane's South African braids would give her a great head start as Phoebe - though Tsakane, even on the briefest of acquaintance, seems far too softly-spoken for a Phoebe. Nick is a composer and arranger whose meticulous piano accompaniments somehow smack of Monica. As for David - tall, dark, handsome - well, you work it out.
They're not the cast of Friends, of course. They are Jo Appleby, soprano; Tsakane Valentine, mezzo; David Habbin and Geoff Sewell, tenors; and Nick Garrett, bass. But Amici Forever have rocketed into the celebrity end of the opera mainstream in impressive style. Their début album has just been nominated for best album of the year at the Classical Brit awards, the first début album ever to make the shortlist. "We didn't win, though," says Jo. Who did? There is a chorus of beautifully-modulated groans. "Bryn Terfel." Still, though - not bad territory for a bunch of beginners, is it?
It's a tricky market, popera. But Amici Forever have, as David tells it, found a new angle. Star soloists practically grow on trees in the operatic field, but nobody - until now - thought of putting together an opera band. "It's a handy way of summing us up in a nutshell, really. 'Opera' refers to the fact that we've all - in our various ways - come from an operatic background. 'Band' is merely a way of saying that our method of presentation is not what you might expect from five opera singers. We don't go out and do, like, a formal recital."
In performance they go in for smart moves, pop-style lighting and plenty of banter with the audience. What about the obligatory "who's-doing-what-to-whom" operatic explanations commonly found at gala gigs? Do they do that? Geoff sighs. "How many times have you been to a concert where they explain the songs? Its sooo boring."
On the album, there's an emphasis on the ensemble vibe - the trio from Così Fan Tutte, Requiem for a Soldier from the movie Band of Brothers, Adeste Fideles - interspersed with Italian pop songs. There's a rather fetching version of the old Righteous Brothers tune Unchained Melody which, for the craic, they've translated into Italian as Senza Catene. They exchange glances, then chuckle as one. "Somebody came up to us after a concert and said how nice it was to hear the 'original' version of Unchained Melody," says Geoff. Opera snobbery. Don't you just love it? Then there's track 11. Such is the power of telly marketing that the instant those throbbing strings and portentous bass register in the ear, the eye expects to see Roberto Carlos springing out of the tunnel to take on Valencia or Bayern Munich.
And sure enough, Amici Forever's version of Handel's coronation anthem Zadok the Priest, aka the official Champions League theme music, earned them a place at the final in Old Trafford last May - on the podium, though, rather than the pitch. "This style of music seems to go hand in hand with sport," says David. Now why is that? He smiles. "Pavarotti started it off with Nessun Dorma and the World Cup thing. Since then, the marriage has seemed to work - the, um, the passion of opera and the passion of football, maybe." He has the grace to look abashed.
They're off now to tour the UK, and later the world; but don't be surprised if Amici Forever soon turn up at "a high-profile sports event" near you. Five gleaming smiles turn suddenly coy. They can't say what it is, which means it has to be the Olympics. Pavarotti must be sick as a parrot.
Amici: the opera band is out now on the BMG label