Mario Frangoulis

[Stephany]

Hello Roger & George

Thank you very much for your reviews and pictures. It sounds like it was a great concert!

Lara Fabian is very, very famous in France (her first album is called 'Pure' by the way!) - she has a powerful voice and controls it well. I would love to see her perform live but I'm not too fond of her last (English) album. I think she sings French songs better.

Hope you both liked Natasha Marsh? Did you meet anyone at stage door?

Stephany

[Martin]

Here is the video of Mario on the Alan Titchmarsh show with Natasha Marsh singing "Brindisi". Well worth a watch:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy4scXYE_QI

Martin

[roger]

Hi Martin,

Thanks for the link. I didn;t know he had been on that programme but it brought back memories of a great evening. Mind you, it was only teo nights ago so I hadn't exactly forgotten!

There is also a superb promo video for the RAH event at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ote15TkhmFw&feature=related

This includes clips of Mario and all the guest artists who appeared. Now you will all know what you missed!

Roger

[comet]

Great to see Justin Hayward. I have been a fan of his for many years.
One of my all time favourite albums is Blue Jays By Justin Hayward and John Lodge.
They wrote so many great thought provoking songs and made the Moody Blues the great band that they are.
I'll also mention his wonderful contribution to War of the Worlds.

Do I have to mention Mario

[Richard]

Yes, and you did!

Richard

[Libby]

Okay, I know there must be a thread for Mario, but the search thing here does not work well enough for me to bother searching, so I'll let Richard or somebody find it for me. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

As some of you know, I was lucky enough to obtain a copy of the Boston Pops DVD, and I enjoy it very much. In addition to Hayley's solo and 2 duets with Mario, I also really enjoyed some of Mario's songs. So, I started listening to some of his songs on youtube. I came across a live video of him singing Nights in White Satin in Italian, and then Justin Hayward himself (of the Moody Blues) came out and sang with him in English! I was really blown away by this performance! Mario has a very powerful, emotional voice. And Justin Hayward is still a great singer for an old guy. LOL It was fantastic! Watch below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcEdAYfddAQ

I listened to some more from the album it came from, and I liked some of those too. Enough so that I just now went on a Mario Frangoulis shopping spree on Amazon! LOL I ordered the Beautiful Things CD, as well as Sometimes I Dream, as well as the live DVD from that album! The CD and coinciding DVD are only $9.99 each at Amazon! I think the Nights in white Satin song alone will be worth my $10, but I think the other songs will be good, too. Naturleza Muerta, the song that Hayley sang with him on the BT DVD, is on Sometimes I Dream, too, with him singing solo. I enjoyed it that way, too, it's a catchy tune.

Beautiful Things is more expensive because it's an import, but I luckily ordered it when it was over $2.00 less than it was when I viewed it a few weeks ago! I'm glad I waited! I even qualified for free shipping! Haha.

[Joe]

Hi Libby,

The forum's search function will be much better when we update the forum on January 1 i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

I also agree that Mario and Justin singing 'Nights in White Satin / Notte Di Luce' is superb. Thanks so much for the YT link... and the lyrics too!

Glad that you found a great deal on Amazon! Enjoy

[martindn]

Ahrgggh. The thread disappeared as I was composing a post. Still, I think I have saved it. Here it is.

Ah Libby, you have discovered Mario. He is at no. 3 on Nicola's CCUK site for a very good reason you know. I first heard him sing with Hayley live back in 2004, so they go back a long way.
As for Nights in White Satin, from the Moody Blues album "Days of Future Passed" (before your time), it was a huge hit. But in their 5th album (the fourth really, since the first one was a completely different lineup and sound) "To Our Children's Children's Children" (an album about space flight, released shortly after the first moon landings) was an attempt to do another song in a very similar style called "Watching and Waiting". The members of the band considered it was the best song they had ever written, and expected a huge hit. It bombed.
But they were right in my opinion. It is a better song that "Nights in White Satin". But perhaps it was a bit too spiritual for the general public. And then there Justin's unique voice. I would expect you to love it though Libby.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2i6Fi21Vqo

Martin D

[Libby]

Thanks, I'll try it! I actually did a search on some of their other songs. I thought Forever Autumn sounded good. I mostly found stuff from 20 years after the Nights in White Satin song. They were okay too, interesting stories.

I guess I would have seen it by now, but are there any old videos of Hayley singing with Mario back in the Pure days? Of course, I've seen the more recent ones, like You Raise Me Up, and obviously the Boston Pops and Athens 2012 ones.

[John H]

I love female voices. Whilst I can appreciate the skill, power and interpretation of male soloists, they do very little for me on an emotional level - except Mario. I bought 'Sometimes I Dream' rather sceptically just over two years ago, to find out what his fans on Nicola's website were going on about. Mario's opening song 'Vincero Perdero' had me hooked from my first listening. That album achieved what endless Youtube videos had failed to do and I became a Mario fan that day.

[Libby]

Apr 14, 2013 11:51:32 GMT John H said:

I love female voices. Whilst I can appreciate the skill, power and interpretation of male soloists, they do very little for me on an emotional level - except Mario. I bought 'Sometimes I Dream' rather sceptically just over two years ago, to find out what his fans on Nicola's website were going on about. Mario's opening song 'Vincero Perdero' had me hooked from my first listening. That album achieved what endless Youtube videos had failed to do and I became a Mario fan that day.

Vincero is on the Beautiful Things DVD, and really liked it, too.

I haven't received my order yet, but I can already highly recommend the CD, if you don't have it already. I'm With You is absolutely wonderful, and received a well-deserved standing ovation in Boston. The Face and I Believe in You are some other favorites. I still haven't watched the DVD in its entirety yet, though.

[Libby]

Just starting to listen to Sometimes I Dream. I'm absolutely loving Buongiorno Principessa. I liked it so much I played it again immediately. I felt like it wasn't quite long enough, but it was actually a normal length song! Vincero was good, too, but I liked it better on his Beautiful Things DVD, I think. I love Sometimes I Dream, too. I'm very familiar with the Tosca music, because figure skaters use it a lot, and it was wonderful to hear it performed in a voice I can actually enjoy.

(I'm composing this as I listen, reviewing each song during or after I hear them. )

Luna Rossa was a great, upbeat song. I listened to it while I was uploading some photos to photobucket, and I found myself moving around to it almost the whole time. LOL

I enjoyed Naturaleza Muerta every bit as much as on the DVD, although I did miss hearing Hayley's pretty voice joining in. But not too much.

Nights in White Satin was amazing, as usual. I did think that Mario had a that much more conviction in his voice in the live performance, but just a little bit. Justin Hayward was every bit as good as the live version. It almost sounded the same, actually! He's a really good singer! I even thought in the parts where they were both singing, some of the time I thought he almost sounded better than Mario! Until Mario got back to his more powerful notes, of course. Again, I was surprised that the song was over 5 min. long, but it really didn't seem long at all. Part of it is that some of the instrumental parts take up some time, but they're very enjoyable nonetheless. Can you tell this is my favorite?

I enjoyed hearing a Greek song, Ton Eafto Tou Paidi.

Non Sara was nice, but one of the less exciting songs.

Hijo De La Luna was pretty good, too.

Okay, wow, I was just creeped out a bit by the beginning of Night Wants to Forget! LOL That's certainly different. I have no idea how to describe it to anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about. It sounded like men's voices, but sort of sounded like the aboriginese didgeridoo. Then, the pop beat plus the flute reminded me of that '90s song, Sadness, by Enigma, but just at the very beginning.

The last 2 Italian songs were good, too.

Haha, I guess my some of review isn't very descriptive. The Italian songs, while very pleasant, start sounding the same after a while. Probably after I've listened to the album several times, I'll start remembering what they all sound like. Maybe.

I don't normally enjoy operatic style, but there's a clarity to his voice that most other real operatic singers don't have. Their voices are usually too harsh for my ears, or a little too deep and dramatic. His voice has just the right amount of operatic power (for me), yet still sounds pleasant to the ear. I feel like I can actually enjoy operatic arias with his type of voice. I can with Andrea Bocelli, too, but even he doesn't have the clarity that Mario has, though his voice is certainly more powerful and commanding, I guess. Josh Groban doesn't have that clarity either, and he's not an opera singer, anyway. Not even classical really, but he does sing really good Italian and Spanish songs.

On a side note, I just realized that we can add Spanish to the languages Hayley has sung in, in Naturaleza Muerta.

[comet]

Apr 27, 2013 5:18:33 GMT Libby said:

Nights in White Satin was amazing, as usual. I did think that Mario had a that much more conviction in his voice in the live performance, but just a little bit. Justin Hayward was every bit as good as the live version. It almost sounded the same, actually! He's a really good singer! I even thought in the parts where they were both singing, some of the time I thought he almost sounded better than Mario! Until Mario got back to his more powerful notes, of course. Again, I was surprised that the song was over 5 min. long, but it really didn't seem long at all. Part of it is that some of the instrumental parts take up some time, but they're very enjoyable nonetheless. Can you tell this is my favorite?

Justin was probably the main driving force behind The Moody Blues

In many ways it was probably Justin and Decca / Deram who saw the potential for what we now describe as "Classical Crossover" way back in 1967 with the album Days of future passed.

I'm sure MartinDn is well aware of their history.
Another wonderful album was by Justin Hayward and John Lodge called Blue Jays in 1975.. hard to believe that is almost forty years ago

[Libby]

I notice that there is very little English on the album, it's mostly Italian songs, with a little Spanish or Greek mixed in. That's fine, but I think more English songs would have balanced things out a little. But there's plenty of English on Beautiful Things. I haven't listened to that CD yet, but that's next on the music agenda!

Oh, and thanks John for sharing my "review" with the Mario FB fan page!

For me, Mario's initial appeal was his wonderfully pleasant songs, and then, yes, he does have a very good voice.

[Libby]

So, I've realized the odd sound at the beginning of Night Wants to Forget is more like the weird sound Buddhist monks make, not a didgeridoo.