OPERA BELLES

MANILA, Philippines - Even if your act has everything to offer, fame is no guarantee. Thus it’s better to be safe than sorry.

This seems to be the logic behind Opera Belles, a young trio of classically trained girl group, singing a Tagalog song for a debut single. The number, “Sundo,” a revival hit from the band Imago, finds itself in quite an awkward position as the last in the all-but-one English track list of covers.

“We believe ‘Sundo’ can touch everybody, the youth especially,” noted Jam Valdes, who started taking voice lessons at age seven and affiliated herself with Repertory Philippines’ summer workshops for seven years.

Opera Belles, formed by the Philippine Opera Company and signed up by Sony Music, is tapping mainstream listeners who love a touch of classical music. The group put audiences in awe when they launched their self-titled album March 4 and 11 at the Eastwood Open Park and Venice Piazza, McKinley, respectively.

The two other members are Allison Tanner, who learned opera music at the UP Extension Program, and Lara Maigue whose musical influences include Andrew Lloyd Webber and Michael Bublé. All three are still college students.

“Both my parents are musicians and teachers at UP College of Music, my dad a composer and my mom a soprano,” shared Lara, espousing her deep musical roots.

While “Sundo” may not be the finest tune in the album, its choice as introductory radio piece is to some extent practical especially that the album hopes to target even common rock fans.

Operatic arrangements are more evident in the English covers, notably in their take of “Like A Prayer” (Madonna). The rest of the choices are girl-songs – somewhat a collection of signature songs: “Love Story” (Taylor Swift), “The Only Exception” (Paramore), “Breathless” (The Corrs), “Heaven” (Bryan Adams), “Sleeps With Butterflies” (Tori Amos), “Only Hope” (Mandy Moore), “Burn” (Tina Arena), “Officially Missing You” (Tamia), and “I Turn To You” (Christina Aguilera).

Lara added, “You can’t always fuse music and that’s one of our challenges while recording the songs.”

Instantly billed as the country’s first pop opera group, Opera Belles is an experiment poise to begin a fad. Their celebrity looks, crowd-pleasing high voices, and their radio-friendly cover choices should be a big help for that to happen. Add to the plot their strong, confident personalities based on how they talked to the media.

Although even fortunetellers cannot predict what and who will become the next big thing, the music industry is experimenting.

The Opera Belles obviously has a good shot coming.