Music: “Nessum Dorma”

Here's something a little different for this blog, something not so serious.

Do you like music? Are you open to listening to different kinds of music, trying it at different stages of your life?

When I was growing up, my father was a salesman by day, musician at night. He played piano, organ and accordion and was in a jazz combo in North Carolina playing clubs, weddings, any gig that came along. He was a wonderful musician and could take any song, change up the tempo, rhythm, interpret it differently each time. He loved jazz, pop and show music, and seemed to be open to any kind of music. My mother enjoyed this, too, and she also listened to opera and classical.

I loved my father’s music, but I also loved rock. Opera was just not for me. Not until a few years ago.

I saw the Three Tenors on public television and just loved their sound. It didn’t matter that I did not understand the words. Brian Boitano’s winning skate in the 1994 Olympics was performed to “Nessum Dorma”, an aria from Puccini's Turandot. The music was so moving I could not get it out of my head. Many skaters have used this aria – Meno and Sand, Sarah Hughes, and now Shizuka Arakawa in the 2006 Olympics, again a winning skate.

Interested in learning more about this aria? You can read an article putting the aria in the context of the opera.

If you click here, you can read a little more, read the translation, and hear the aria.

Amazon has a couple of free downloads of this aria.

Many famous singers have recorded Nessum Dorma, but an out of left field singer was Aretha Franklin substituting for an ailing Pavarotti at the Grammy Awards a few years ago. The crowd gave her a standing ovation and I had chills. What a singer, what an aria!

I realize her version wasn’t for everyone, but I consider music as living, breathing, open to interpretation.

Give it a whirl, try the links I’ve provided, and let me know what you think of the music.