Nostalgica – The Ten Tenors

Good songs never grow old. At least, that is what this collection of 12 classic songs wants us to believe.

The Ten Tenors are one of Australia’s most successful touring vocal ensembles. In the past two years they performed 135 shows across 65 cities in the US.

No, they may not write their own songs, but what they do offer are spectacularly unique renditions of the songs you know and love.

One of the most recent additions to the ensemble is Queensland-based vocalist and Bridgeman Baptist Community Church member Steve Sowden. To find out more about Steve read our feature article about him.

The Ten Tenors have had enormous chart success recently with Tenology and Here’s to the Heroes. Their latest album Nostalgica is currently enjoying strong sales and it’s not hard to see why.

What is hard to believe is how ten such powerful voices do not dominate one another as they each sing their section of the vocal score. throughout this album you often forget you are listening to ten voices singing in unison, such is the precision with which the vocals are performed.

The Ten Tenors have chosen numerous songs for this collection that offer some worthwhile food for thought.

Their cover of Nat King Cole’s ‘Mona Lisa’ muses about the famous woman with the mysterious smile and asks, “Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa? Or is this your way to hide a broken heart? … Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa? Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?”

It may seem fruitless to spend too much time examining what the life of the real Mona Lisa might have been like. But it does pose interesting questions about appearances and the way we deal with love. How often do we use our appearances to manipulate those we want most? How often do we try and tempt those we ought not to? Why do we put up defences to protect ourselves from people when what we really need is to let people in to help us?

‘What a Wonderful World’ is also covered, a song Louis Armstrong made famous in 1968. Originally intended as an antidote for the increasingly racially and politically charged climate in the U.S the song details the singer’s delight in the simple enjoyment of everyday life. For the Tenors to sing this song in 2008 when racial and religious differences still cause tension and conflict is a timely reminder of humanity’s inability to heal itself all the while still longing for ultimate peace on earth.

“I see skies of blue.....clouds of white
Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.
The colours of a rainbow.....so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces.....of people going by
I see friends shaking hands.....saying how do you do
They’re really saying......I love you.”

The racial barriers that this song sought to break down echo the racial barriers that the good news of the gospel breaks down. Romans 10:12 reminds us that “there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’.”

The reference to the rainbow reminds us of the symbol first used by God as a covenant with Noah and all the living creatures on the earth in Genesis 9 following the great flood. It was a symbol of God’s mercy in the midst of his divine judgement.

The overall idyllic picture this song paints will only be brought to completion when God ushers in the new heaven and the new earth written about in Revelation 21.

The Ten Tenors’ rendition of ‘Cheek to Cheek’, first performed by Fred Astaire in the movie Top Hat in 1935, is a picture of the joy that dancing with one’s lover brings.

“Heaven, I’m in heaven
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak
And I seem to find the happiness I seek
When were out together dancing cheek to cheek”

You don’t have to get too far into Song of Songs to see that the Bible upholds a picture of a committed husband and wife enjoying each other intimately. While it may not literally be heaven in the way Christians understand it, marriage and the joys of love and intimacy experienced within this union, is indeed a picture of Christ’s love for his church (Ephesians 5:22-33).

The Ten Tenors have made excellent choices in performing songs with enduring meaning on this album. Other notable classics include ‘Danny Boy’, ‘Moon River’ and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. With Christmas coming up soon, this is one stocking stuffer that is sure to please most people.