Did you know Aretha Franklin once stepped in ...

... for Pavarotti… and sang Nessun Dorma?

By ClassicFM, London

By Lizzie Davis

24K

At the Grammys in 1998, the legendary soul singer stepped in – at the last minute – for Pavarotti, who had been due to sing his trademark piece, Nessun Dorma. So obviously she went ahead and performed that aria.

'Nessun Dorma' is one of the most impressive of tenor arias – with an astronomically high top B at the climax of the aria.

It's also an operatic tenor role. Aretha Franklin is, clearly, neither an opera singer, nor a tenor.

What is Aretha's full vocal range? >

But that did not stop her performing the aria at the Grammys in 1998. Well, it would have been a shame to send the choir home. 

This might be the most Aretha Franklin thing that has ever happened. 

Here she is performing the piece a few years later, at an event in Philadelphia in 2015. Just **listen** to how she ad libs on that top B. 

Well.

What are the lyrics to 'Nessun Dorma'?

By Classic FM, London

What is Pavarotti really singing about in Puccini’s aria? We translated the Italian lyrics to find out...

‘Nessun Dorma’ is an incredibly emotional aria, that for the passion and precision he poured into it, we have all come to associate with the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

The slight problem with that, is that we get so distracted by watching Pavarotti in his element, that we forget to pay attention to the lyrics.

So, does anyone *actually* know what Pavarotti is singing about?

Listen to Pavarotti’s complete vocal range in one minute

Puccini’s aria, from the opera Turandot, includes the lyrics: “None shall sleep, even you, oh Princess, in your cold room”, “watch the stars that tremble with love and hope”, and the monumentally cheery “no one will know his name and we must, alas, die”.

Positively jovial, eh?

Here are the full lyrics:

None shall sleep,
None shall sleep!
Even you, oh Princess,
In your cold room,
Watch the stars,
That tremble with love
And with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
My name no one shall know,
No... no...
On your mouth, I will tell it,
When the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!
(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win!
I will win!
I will win!

And here are the original Italian lyrics:

Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o Principessa
Nella tua fredda stanza
Guardi le stelle che tremano
D'amore e di speranza!
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me
Il nome mio nessun saprà!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dirò
Quando la luce splenderà!
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà
Il silenzio che ti fa mia!
ll nome suo nessun saprà
E noi dovrem, ahimè! Morir! Morir!
Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò!
Vincerò! Vincerò!

Watch Pavarotti's full performance here:

13-year-old Laura Bretan's NESSUN DORMA raises deep concerns

13-year-old Laura Bretan’s Nessun Dorma ‘raises deep concerns’ says singing teacher

By Elizabeth Davis, CLASSIC FM LONDON

A 13-year-old singer has wowed audiences with her performance of Puccini’s iconic aria – but some in the classical world have a very different view. Now opera singers and music specialists have voiced concerns over a promising young singer forcing herself to mimic much older voices

Since the clip of Laura Bretan singing Puccini’s famous ariaappeared online a few days ago it has been viewed millions of times. But it’s fair to say it has divided the classical music world.

Laura this weekend won Romania's Got Talent and is still in the running to win America's Got Talent.

Here's the clip that has caused such controversy:

While some cheered to see classical music reaching a mass audience – and to see millions of people sharing and enjoying Puccini’s music, others raised concerns over Laura’s technique and her choice of repertoire.

An open letter from an opera singer

Opera singer Heidi Moss wrote an open letter to the young singer on Facebook saying: “There are things I heard in your sound that concern me. True classical training takes years of hard work, and forcing a sound that isn’t truly your own is dangerous.

“Over time, the irritation of singing that way can cause swelling or even worse, nodes or popped vessels.”

 

A singing teacher's point of view on Laura Bretan

Claudia Friedlander, a voice teacher from New York, took a more positive approach in an article on her blog and soon to be published in Classical Singer Magazine . She said: “Bretan delivered an earnest, authentic outpouring of passion, and she allowed it to flow through her voice with steadfast courage and commitment…

“But a young singer’s instrument is not yet even a fair facsimile of the voice they will late access as an adult. Thus there can be no true operatic prodigies. The young voice simply has not physiologically matured to the point that it is capable of projecting a healthy, balanced sound over an orchestra.

“This is why Bretan’s performance raises such deep concerns for experienced opera singers and voice teachers. She possesses both a promising voice and strong musical instincts, but most of the sounds she is producing are the result of effortful, unsustainable manipulations of a body that is not yet mature enough.”

Are they just jealous?

But Claudia goes on to say that jealousy may partly account for the classical world’s knee-jerk negative reaction to Laura’s performance – after all, this clip has made the news around the world precisely because it's rare to see an audience react so enthusiastically to a performance of an opera aria.

She asks: “Does our desire to correct Bretan’s fans about the nature of opera make us snobs?”

Meanwhile, one opera fan has started a crowd-funding campaign to raise money to ‘Send Simon Cowell to the Met’ …

Luciano Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma