Aussie sensations the
Ten Tenors reconvene for their most ambitious outing yet on
Here's to the Heroes, a stirring collection of movie music adapted for the classically trained singers. The project is the brainchild of prolific film composer
John Barry -- whose credits include numerous James Bond movies, as well as such epics as
Out of Africa, The Cotton Club, and
Dances with Wolves -- and his soaring themes take wing in the tenors' hands. Their combined voices add a potent emotional heft to the title track, along with several other grandly scaled numbers like "Who Wants to Live Forever?" Other more sensitive songs, such as "Les Choristes" (taken from the charming French film of the same name), serve to lighten the mood and set the more exhilarating tracks in relief. Also on board the project's team is lyricist Don Black, a longtime Barry collaborator on several James Bond theme songs (versions of two of them are included here), while conductor and arranger Nicholas Dodd provides still another Bond connection. With all that cinematic talent, it would be surprising if this album didn't deliver the expressive goods, and it certainly does, often thrillingly so, with the mighty London Symphony Orchestra supplying a grand instrumental backing. (The hard-working French horn section almost deserves a starring credit of its own.) It all adds up to some inspirational listening from the popular dectet, a rousing reworking of Barry's most memorable music for the silver screen.
