The following review is by singer Anastasia Lee. Anastasia has performed with Josh Groban, one of Amira's favorite musicians, and the originator of one of the songs Amira sang in the concert.
Here is my review of Amira Willighagen’s online concert, “This is My Dream”. Originally it was titled “Dream With Me”, but that caused far too much confusion as Jackie Evancho, another young classical crossover singer, had a CD and DVD of the same name. I do have Covid right now, so I’m writing this when sick. I’m sorry if my grammar is poor.
Okay. My first few thoughts. The presentation itself was lovely. Amira is 16 years old and so we have to take that into account when reviewing this. Usually it takes Amira a long time to learn new songs, so to hear so many new songs all at once was wonderful. It’s obvious she worked very hard on this production.
Set List:
1. You’ll Never Walk Alone
2. Senza Catene (Unchained Melody)
3. Somewhere Over the Rainbow
4. You Raise Me Up
5. Moon River
6. Gira Con Me
7. Caruso
8. I Feel Pretty
9. I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls
10. Barcarolle (Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour - Afrikaans)
11. Nelle Tue Mani
So as you can see, the set list was quite varied. This is good for any entertainer.
The best song was easily Gira Con Me (originally by Josh Groban). I’ve listened to Josh perform that song live in concert (prior to my singing with him at the same concert), and Amiras version is definitely as good as his. The red dress she wore for this segment of the show was also the best of the night. Hands down. It gave off very strong Judy Garland vibes.
Speaking of Judy Garland, while I prefer contraltos singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Amira’s soprano version was also quite lovely.
I Feel Pretty - this was my second favorite song in this production. Mainly because she really showed a lot of personality during the performance. And her older brother Fincent’s appearance at the end was quite special.
My third favorite was Caruso. Her Italian was very good here. Most young female singers that record this song seriously struggle, but Amira was fantastic.
Okay, now for my critiques: Amira sang several of the lyrics wrong in Moon River. She also stuttered several times in speaking before songs. Since this was prerecorded, they should have been able to re-record those parts I think?
And Barcarolle should have been recorded as a duet. Not a solo. Part of what makes Barcarolle magical is the play between the soprano and the contralto voices. The harmonies therein. To me, it just felt like there was something missing in singing it as a solo. I also felt that the Afrikaans version just didn’t compare with the original French. But that is my personal opinion.
The only thing I couldn’t “handle” throughout the recording was the lack of modulation. She never got quieter vs. stronger in any songs or in any part of the songs. Her volume always stayed the same, which removed much of the potential emotion from the performance. Though that could have been the sound persons fault too. Who knows. We certainly don’t.
Overall, it was a beautiful performance. 4 dresses, great lighting, candelabras, the piano, the violinist, etc. And her high notes were lovely, as per usual. Well done Amira.
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