# Favorite vocal performance.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 30, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765 "2011-05-30T16:28:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/1 "2011-05-30T16:28:17Z")
What’s your favorite vocal performance from any genre?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/2 "2011-05-30T16:58:16Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/3 "2011-05-30T17:19:07Z")
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](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMGbCUXqWN0) and I’m not all that big a fan of the genre. But perfection in singing can’t be far from this one!
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/4 "2011-05-30T17:51:21Z")
Hard to top Patty Griffin singing “Heavenly Day”: [Heavenly Day - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWzuLAHnGBQ)
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/5 "2011-05-30T17:52:31Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/6 "2011-05-30T17:57:11Z")
[Bobby McFerrin doing J.S. Bach’s “Air on a G String”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUKFFYoG1Iw).
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### Author:  [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/7 "2011-05-30T18:22:22Z")
Way too geeky, but here goes: Aminuddin and Nasiruddin Khan Dagar’s [dhrupad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhrupad) performances. I’d have a hard time choosing a specific one because everyone I have heard has been mindblowing.
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### Author:  [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/8 "2011-05-30T18:23:34Z")
I love this rendition of ['Master of the House’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFPsEwV38Q0&feature=related)from Les Mis with Armstrong and Galloway. I love the visual performance combined with the vocal.
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### Author:  [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/9 "2011-05-30T18:31:40Z")
> [@Panurge](#):
>
> Way too geeky, but here goes: Aminuddin and Nasiruddin Khan Dagar’s [dhrupad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhrupad) performances. I’d have a hard time choosing a specific one because everyone I have heard has been mindblowing.
Do you have a link to a performace? I tried youtube, but I could only find Ustad Wassifuddin
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### Author:  [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/10 "2011-05-30T18:45:53Z")
[Yup](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQmVonVuws4). 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.
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### Author:  [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/11 "2011-05-30T18:53:42Z")
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…
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/12 "2011-05-30T18:54:41Z")
> [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](#):
>
> I love this rendition of ['Master of the House’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFPsEwV38Q0&feature=related)from Les Mis with Armstrong and Galloway. I love the visual performance combined with the vocal.
Me too. They have a lot of fun with it, don’t they? Their version of [Beggars at the Feast](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN5yewE1Yso) is great, too.
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### Author:  [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/13 "2011-05-30T18:58:03Z")
> [@Panurge](#):
>
> [Yup](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQmVonVuws4). 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.
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](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyCvb6njdmI).
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/14 "2011-05-30T19:41:01Z")
Pavarotti singing his signature “[Nessun Dorma](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VATmgtmR5o4)”. Literally unbelievable.
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/15 "2011-05-30T21:32:46Z")
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”
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/16 "2011-05-30T23:55:19Z")
The all-time master of Fado, Amalia Rodrigues, singing “[Uma Casa Portuguesa](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghuKNhR7oec&feature=related)”. Not her most famous work, but very lively and demonstrates the power of her voice.
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### Author:  [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/17 "2011-05-31T00:19:22Z")
my favorite nessum dorma is by placido domingo.
of course, caruso’s pagliaci.
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### Author:  [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/18 "2011-05-31T00:30:05Z")
> [@Zoe](#):
>
> 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”
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.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/19 "2011-05-31T00:31:05Z")
Yeah, I’m boring, since I post this everytime someone asks about favorite songs, but it’s _Over the Rainbow_ done by Eva Cassidy:
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccCnL8hArW8)
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### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-vocal-performance/583765/20 "2011-05-31T01:56:23Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#):
>
> Pavarotti singing his signature “[Nessun Dorma](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VATmgtmR5o4)”. Literally unbelievable.
I’ll see your tenor and raise you two by La Stupenda.
[Bel Raggio Lusinghier](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3uL7N301fU), 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](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXaSlKI6hHY) 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.
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