# Non-operatic artists you enjoy



## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

I don't know if this thread has been done before, but if it has... forgive me.

I'll start anyway. 

*Jan Werner Danielsen (1976 - 2006)*
Probably my favourite singer in the world, for more reasons than I can explain. He was very young when he started recording (12) and then got a push when he was a little older (17). His life ended five years ago - "why" is officially a big question mark (but not really).

*You raise me up*




He toured with Secret Garden after Brian Kennedy got sick.

*Holy diver*




This was done as a challenge because he usually did "soppy love stuff" - so he doesn't know the lyrics, but fakes it quite well - hehe.

*The problem with you*




*7th clown in heaven*




Quite eerie lyrics - recorded when he was 20.

*Radio Ga-Ga*




Brian May asked him to audition for them for the lead in "We will rock you" (the musical) but he was already commited to another show once the offer did come.


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## Curiosity (Jul 10, 2011)

Graham Bonnet, of The Marbles and Rainbow fame. The most powerful voice there is, I think.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> I don't know if this thread has been done before, but if it has... forgive me.
> 
> I'll start anyway.
> 
> ...


Thank you operafocus. I have to admit I'd not heard of him - he has an amazing voice. What a sad loss.

My own favourite is early Bob Dylan. All up to & including John Wesley Harding; I don't like the rest.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

sospiro said:


> Thank you operafocus. I have to admit I'd not heard of him - he has an amazing voice. What a sad loss.


Happy to be of service  I think he deserves to be heard outside of his birth country (Norway) and thanks to Youtube it's slowly happening  Apparently he had a 4 octave range and then some. I heard him live, doing "Courtyard Lullaby" with the highest notes I'd ever heard live, done by a dude. I was so moved by his passing I didn't know what to do with myself for months afterwards.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

I don't recall any such thread so thanks for coming up with the idea.
I am an almost exclusive opera fan (e.g., I don't do musicals) except that I do enjoy lieder and other forms of vocal classical music. But I think the spirit of your quest is rather one of highlighting non-classical singers that we enjoy (correct me if I'm wrong - I didn't really click on your YouTubes, I'm just posting a speedy contribution - so I may be totally off here). If this is the case, I'd have many singers to add to the list.

I'll look for YouTube clips later (if this is indeed the spirit of this thread), but just to give you an idea of what I enjoy - some very extraordinary singers and poets - some of them don't have a good voice but have a lot of poetry):

Edith Piaf
Amalia Rodrigues (Portuguese fado)
Jacques Brel
Georges Brassens
Paolo Conti (Italian jazz)
Leonard Cohen
Caetano Veloso (Brazilian tropicalism and other genres of World Music)
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong (American Jazz and Standards)


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

OK, I clicked on some of the clips, they're definitely not classical, so I'm entitled to posting clips of the people I've listed above. Let's proceed one by one.

Edith Piaf


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

> Last edited by Almaviva; Today at 19:43


Neil Armstrong :lol:

Yes, in my defense, I edited it before your post.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Amalia Rodrigues - arguably the best non-operatic singer out there (except that she's dead). Attention, folks, this is a treat. This is outstanding. This is extraordinary. Be prepared.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Jacques Brel


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Georges Brassens - the extraordinary lyrics of this song are available by clicking on "more." He composed this when he was terminally ill, and he played with his own death. This is goose-bumping stuff.


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## GoneBaroque (Jun 16, 2011)

Tenor Joseph McLaughlin was born in Ireland 23 March 1917 but in London his name wouldn't fit on the theatre marques so it was shortened to Josef Locke. Under this name he went on to a successful career which lasted until he reached his late 60s. He died 15 October 1999.


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)




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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Paolo Conte - oh wow, this Italian has some swing!!!


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Leonard Cohen...
Democracy... it's coming to the USA (meaning, it's not here yet)
Sorry for the stupid advertising (kind of ironic) but it's only 12 seconds


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Caetano Veloso, singing in Spanish for a change (his mother tongue is Portuguese) in a scene of spectacular Almodóvar movie Talk To Her (Caetano is one of Pedro Almodóvar's best friends - not that Caetano can't hold his own, with several Grammys to his credit)


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

And back to opera... Ella and Louis


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

My absolute favourite rendition of "Hallelujah".


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

OMG! Almaviva listed all my favorites! I freaked out! I love them all!


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

I already talked about them, but they better belong to this thread, it's about the Italian group Il Volo. I find them amazing!
Gianluca, Piero, and Ignazio






In this video they were 15-16 years old.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sabrina said:


> OMG! Almaviva listed all my favorites! I freaked out! I love them all!


 Nice, Sabrina, glad to share similar tastes.


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## ooopera (Jul 27, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> Jacques Brel


Almaviva, did you see that version?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)




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## ooopera (Jul 27, 2011)




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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Not that I like this singer this much, but her lips on this clip drive me crazy (yes, this may surprise you, but boobs are not the only thing I notice in a woman's anatomy) as well as her sexy accent:


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

ooopera said:


> Almaviva, did you see that version?


 Wow! She is extremely attractive!!! Thanks for posting!:clap:
I don't particularly like Roberto's version, though.


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## larifari (Sep 5, 2011)

I may be dating myself, but Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Rosemary Clooney and Peggy Lee do it for me whenever I desire something less than classical.


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Going back to one of my favorite singers, Amalia Rodrigues:


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

One amazing song and a few interpretations:

*La vie en rose*

Des yeux qui font baiser les miens,
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche,
Voila le portrait sans retouche
De l'homme auquel j'appartiens

Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.

Il me dit des mots d'amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ca me fait quelque chose.

Il est entre dans mon coeur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause.

C'est lui pour moi. Moi pour lui
Dans la vie,
Il me l'a dit, l'a jure pour la vie.

Et des que je l'apercois
Alors je sens en moi
Mon coeur qui bat

Des nuits d'amour a ne plus en finir
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place
Des enuis des chagrins, des phases
Heureux, heureux a en mourir.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.

Il me dit des mots d'amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ca me fait quelque chose.

Il est entre dans mon coeur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause.

C'est toi pour moi. Moi pour toi
Dans la vie,
Il me l'a dit, l'a jure pour la vie.

Et des que je l'apercois
Alors je sens en moi
Mon coeur qui bat
*
Edith Piaf*





*
Louis Armstrong*





*
Amalia Rodrigues*


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Edith Piaf singing Autumn leaves, in her lovely sexy English






Padam, padam






OMG, what a voice!

Sous le ciel de Paris


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Caetano Veloso singing with Pavarotti






Roberto Carlos e Caetano Veloso - Garota de Ipanema






Caetano Veloso - Você é linda






A beautiful song, Sonhos


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

This amazing trio and their beautiful music:

*Paco de Lucia, Al Di Meola, John Mc Laughlin
*





*Paco de Lucia *- Entre dos aguas (1976)


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)




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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)




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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)




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