Operatica

Born and raised in the UK by a stage actress and film producer, Lord Vanger has artistic blood running in his veins. After living in France, Switzerland and England, Lord Vanger headed west for New York. Enrolled in Columbia University, Vanger earned a B.A. in English and then decided to pursue his first passion, music. Relocating to L.A. he formed B5 Atomic, a commercial music and design company with Hein Hoven (Grammy nominated producer for Sade, Stray Cats).

He is credited with music production for national commercial spots, including a Superbowl spot featuring Grammy award winner Phil Collins. Vanger has also worked with the film industry as music supervisor for "Jane Doe" a film starring Calista Flockhart and Trimark’s "After the Storm" starring Benjamin Bratt and Armand Assante.

A few weeks after Lord Vanger dreamt up the idea of combining opera and electronica, he went to see the cult sci-fi film "The Fifth Element" starring Bruce Willis. Halfway through the film is a scene where an opera diva, Inva Mula, brings the house down with a truly staggering performance of opera and techno. "It was like being punched in the stomach," Vanger recalls. "Someone had beaten me to it."

Since then Vanger’s "Operatica "O" Vol. One", released in the fall of 2000, has become an instant classic.

The lead track, "Mon Amour", on the new "Operatica-Shine" is sung by none other than that same opera diva from "The Fifth Element" herself -- Inva Mula. The question is: how did Lord Vanger come full circle to the person who had momentarily brought his whole world crashing down?

After the success of "Operatica "O" - Vol. One", E-Magine Entertainment CEO Christoph Ruecker suggested that it would be interesting to add a Middle Eastern flavor to the concept of combining Electronica and Opera. He encouraged Vanger to keep pushing the boundaries in order to make this an exciting series that did not rest on its laurels.

Initially, Vanger was only looking for a legitimate way to make the bridge between East and West, but then he heard "Concierto De Aranjuez" -- made famous by Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain."

This famous and beautiful melody has been recorded under many different guises and when Lord Vanger was introduced to a version called "Mon Amour" sung by French 60's pop icon, Richard Antony, he knew he had something that embraced all the elements he was looking for. "Operatica-Shine" would make the bridge from the Middle East to Europe via southern Spain," explains Vanger.

Enter Inva Mula. Performing as Musetta in The New York Metropolitan Opera's production of "La Boheme", Vanger contacted her and she agreed to try a recording session. She gave a stunning performance. "It blew me away," said Lord Vanger. Inva recently starred in "La Traviata" at the grand reopening of La Scala in Milan to international acclaim. She will follow that triumph with an engagement later this year at London’s famed Covent Garden Opera House.

In addition to the traditional Opera Diva, Vanger also needed to find a true Middle Eastern Diva. Lord Vanger was introduced to a singer named Shakila. "What I heard was a very haunting classical Persian folk song ("Kokab"), that seemed to fit into the ‘classical' canon of music. I had never heard anything quite as beautiful before. Even though I could not understand the words, the music had a huge impact on me and I could not stop playing the song over and over again."

Shakila became the true Middle Eastern voice of "Operatica-Shine" and, in addition to "Kokab" which means, "Star" in Farsi, she also contributes another haunting classical Persian piece called "Khodaya," which loosely translates as "O Lord."

Taken from the official E-Magine Music web site

CD: Operatica - Shine