What’s your favorite vocal performance from any genre?
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
I’m tempted to try to find a YouTube clip of a Sinatra tune, but the first thing that popped in mind on reading the title was Ricky Skaggs - Talk About Suffering and I’m not all that big a fan of the genre. But perfection in singing can’t be far from this one!
Hard to top Patty Griffin singing “Heavenly Day”: Heavenly Day - YouTube
Annie Haslam probably. Or maybe Cleo Laine. The hard part is picking the performance. I’ll start with “Prologue” for the former, from the “Live At Carnegie Hall” album, and maybe “Summertime” for the latter, from the version of “Porgy & Bess” she did with Ray Charles.
Way too geeky, but here goes: Aminuddin and Nasiruddin Khan Dagar’s dhrupad performances. I’d have a hard time choosing a specific one because everyone I have heard has been mindblowing.
I love this rendition of 'Master of the House’from Les Mis with Armstrong and Galloway. I love the visual performance combined with the vocal.
Do you have a link to a performace? I tried youtube, but I could only find Ustad Wassifuddin
Yup. Wasifuddin is very good too, as are Fariduddin and Mohiuddin Dagar. Come to think of it, the best dhrupad performance I have heard live is probably Sayiduddin Dagar (and yes: they are all related).
It might not be for everyone, though, and I have learned not to expect people to appreciate it as much as I do. It might sound simple or even monotonous to some, but I assure you that these vocalists are extremely talented and well-trained. The degree of musical understanding (both theoretically and practically) needed to sing dhrupad at this level is absolutely mind-boggling.
NETA: Wrong names in my first post above (too many Dagars!) I meant Nasir Aminuddin and Nasir Moinuddin Dagar - the ones in the video. (I have heard them on various private recordings, too - it can be very difficult to track these down). Their father’s name was Nasiruddin…
Me too. They have a lot of fun with it, don’t they? Their version of Beggars at the Feast is great, too.
What started out as a fascination with Bollywood movies has me exploring the roots of traditional music and dance of the region.
I have always loved this song, I Believe in You, by Don Williams.
Pavarotti singing his signature “Nessun Dorma”. Literally unbelievable.
Not the finest, but the one that affects me the most: from Dark Side of the Moon – Clare Tory’s “Great Gig in the Sky”
The all-time master of Fado, Amalia Rodrigues, singing “Uma Casa Portuguesa”. Not her most famous work, but very lively and demonstrates the power of her voice.
my favorite nessum dorma is by placido domingo.
of course, caruso’s pagliaci.
One of my favorites. That it came together that well is a wonder to me, as I’ve seen interviews where it’s claimed they didn’t give her much direction, and she left the studio thinking she’d blown it. Really a wonderful, inspired performance, and it does get to you.
Yeah, I’m boring, since I post this everytime someone asks about favorite songs, but it’s Over the Rainbow done by Eva Cassidy:
I’ll see your tenor and raise you two by La Stupenda.
Bel Raggio Lusinghier, from Semiramide. This one is recorded live at La Scala in 1962. It is literally (and I mean that literally) breathtaking. At one point I actually forgot to breathe. (This is a bit long, if you want to skip the instrumental and chorus work, her part starts at about 3:12).
The Prayer Scene from Maria Stuarda. She holds one note way past the time when anyone else’s wind would have run out, then she goes up a few notes and continues on for a while. Total 21 seconds on one breath, by my count.