Friday, October 4, 2013

Forte's Heartfelt Delivery

This year was my first time watching America's Got Talent; I don't know if I'll watch again next season, but for now I enjoyed seeing the variety of performances. Magic and dancing can be fun to watch. Although Brandon and Savannah didn't go as far as I expected, I picked up their single on iTunes and a couple more songs on their website. But you know who I was rooting for in the finale? Forte, of course.

Back when I was first discovering what kind of music I like, I listened to a lot of classical and classical crossover music on iTunes and YouTube. That's how I discovered Hayley Westenra and Emma Shapplin. But you find a lot of people who either can't sing as well or don't have a particularly expressive delivery. What I love about Forte is that they have both, all the way. 

I melt listening to them sing. They hit all the notes, but it isn't just about hitting notes. Each time I hear them sing a song, it's as if I'm hearing it for the first time. And that's how it should be. Their first single came out on Monday, with a full album coming next month. I've heard "Caruso" before, but never with such clear enunciation and such a turning of angles that blend together your mind and heart. It's interesting: I'm most used to Josh Groban's version of the song and while he seems to grow in intensity as the song goes on, Forte begins it on a powerful plane. Just the first couple of lines are enough music to live off of for a while.

Now I am beginning to look up the individual members of the group: Sean Panikkar, Josh Page, and Fernando Varela. There are two videos on Josh's YouTube page that I have trouble keeping away from: his duet of "The Prayer" with Jackie Evancho and his cover of "To Where You Are." In fact, the last song has had tremendous influence on me, from a creative standpoint. Sometimes it helps to have a message pass from artist to artist, something to remind you of the value of what you are doing.

These are three people that I want to watch succeed, three people whose art I want to continue to support. 

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