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Friday, November 13, 2009

Nessun Dorma

Giacomo Puccini began working on the opera 'Turandot' in 1920. The opera's final duet was all but finished in 1924 when he was tragically struck with throat cancer. Travelling to Belgium to see a specialist, he died as a result of the surgery and never got to hear his opera including the finale, 'Nessun Dorma'. The song became famous when Luciano Pavarotti belted it out during the World Cup in Italy in 1990 as the tournament's theme song. Pavarotti's performance of the 'Nessun Dorma' is now further immortalized by the great tenor's sudden demise on September 6th, 2007.

Nessun Dorma, meaning 'Nobody shall sleep', is one of the most difficult songs to sing as it contains two of the highest notes in the tenor range - B4 followed by A4. This fantastic song is made to sound ludicrously easy by Maestro Pavarotti, the man from Modena. His unmistakable face is the facade to an even greater unmistakable voice, a distinctly unique and thrilling tone that has delighted millions with absolute awe and wonderment.

Those who blindly mumble lyrics sung by popular artists who barely know how to sing without the help of machinery, really can't appreciate genuine talent. The racket of today's pop songs is an awful (and ever-increasingly, immoral) show designed to lower standards of morality and virtue. I need mention just the disgusting 'Pussycat Dolls' or 'Lady Gaga' and you soon get what I mean.

Luciano Pavarotti's rendition of Nessun Dorma is real music, uplifting, touching, spiritual, classical, timeless. As you follow the link to observe his 1994 performance in Los Angeles, you will feel the ultimate passion in his voice, on his face, in the applause of the crowd.

This is the real music. The real singing. Nothing else matches up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VATmgtmR5o4


2 comments:

  1. "Nessun Dorma" was made famous for your Dad and me during our courting years 1975-1977. It was made immortal by a man by the name of Martin Harvey, the lead singer in a Leicester group called "The Mint" (one of the members lives on Glenfield Crescent-Jodie Jones' Dad. He sang it in a most amazing way and whenever I hear the song, I'm transported back to my teen years when I first met your Dad :)

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  2. Well that's a nice story. "The Mint" did sing it before Pavarotti. It's great when something carries extra personal meaning!

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