Nourishment for the Mind and Soul

Music has always been my first love (apart from human love, that is) and the ultimate means of 'tending to myself' when I need to nurture my emotional/spiritual life and find respite in my mind from the pain and disappointments of life.

My first love in music was Gospel Quartet singing, as most of you know by now. But I have a wide variety of musical tastes. I don't talk about it much, but the great classical compositions and singers are at or near the top of my favorites, along with the great Gospel Quartets.

I have not been in a good place the last couple of days for reasons I have described here. So, this evening, as I always eventually do, I turned to music. And when I did, I found myself drawn to a piece of music that, in my estimation, is one of the greatest compositions ever written, and performed by one of the greatest singers of all time.

The great Luciano Pavarotti took what is known as 'classical music' to the masses and achieved rock-star status. But in his case, the accolades and the attention were very well-deserved. When he was at the top of his game, there was none better, ever. His was the best voice in the history of music, in my opinion.

And his signature song, which I have provided below in the video, is in my opinion one of the greatest and most emotionally-charged compositions in all of history. The melody, the pathos, the soaring high notes, the dramatic ending, are all classic trademarks of what is considered to be the pinnacle of musical composition.

Here Pavarotti sings 'Nessun Dorma' from an opera written by Puccini entitled, 'Turandot.' The song is an aria that is found in the 3rd act.

Pavarotti presents this deeply moving rendition of the piece in Paris before a live audience. I have heard the great Luciano sing this aria many times. This one is by far the best. Notice the emotion in his eyes. And note the ultra-soaring high tenor note at the end, which he holds seemingly endlessly and effortlessly, climaxing in a dramatic ending that sent the Parisian audience into cheers.

If you have never seen this, I present it as my gift to you. I hope you are as moved by it as I am. Here is the link to the video. The original one I posted has been removed from YouTube. This one should work fine.