# Christmas Contest: Panis Angelicus. Granca, Pavarotti/ Sting, Bartoli



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

My last contest was a bust because Youtube led me to believe I was posting an aria by one artist when it was in fact by another and I couldn't chage the voting section. You win some you loose some. This has more contemporary contestants.





"Panis angelicus," - César Franck From the Adventskonzert at the Dresden Frauenkirche. 




 Panis Angelicus (Live In Modena / 1992 / Remastered 2013) 

Luciano Pavarotti, Sting




Voices of South Africa Opera Singing Competition Bartoli sings Panis.....


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Surprise surprise. Look at me chosing "the aspirated lady" because she left that part by the wayside and came up with the most heartfelt rendition of all three.
I love Garanca but she didn't show the emotion.
As for the other two -- never mi-i-i-ind!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The oft-infuriating, oft-reviled, oft-mocked Cecilia Bartoli here offers the most exquisite rendering of this slice of angel cake I've heard in ages, or maybe ever: delicate, concentrated, fervent, and accompanied by an equally sensitive conductor. Garanca is her usual very palatable self, which is not quite enough, unless perhaps your name is Shaughnessy. Pavarotti and Sting - not so palatable, or even comprehensible - had to be shut down at 1:27, or soon after Mr. Sting began to make vocal sounds.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I hope ya'll will forgive me. I have been a big Sting fan since the Police and I liked his grown up choir boy sound with Pavarotti's very different sound. I thought it worked at least for me. Sting writes some of the most intelligent lyrics in pop. Some are on the level with art songs. I forget most of you avoid pop music. I listen to a mixture of both and love the variety. 
I felt Bartoli was the best but I wanted to include Garnaca for those who like pretty current artists.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I don’t like the juxtaposition of an operatic voice with a pop singer; it just sounds wrong. Garanca is a very beautiful lady with a smoky voice, but she doesn’t do much with anything, but she makes pleasant sounds.
I detest Bartoli normally, unless she’s singing slow music, which is applicable in this hymn. She still sounds hyper - I guess one has to accept that with her. But she sounds sincere and is the best of the three (or four).


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> I don’t like the juxtaposition of an operatic voice with a pop singer; it just sounds wrong. Garanca is a very beautiful lady with a smoky voice, but she doesn’t do much with anything, but she makes pleasant sounds.
> I detest Bartoli normally, unless she’s singing slow music, which is applicable in this hymn. She still sounds hyper - I guess one has to accept that with her. But she sounds sincere and is the best of the three (or four).


Faint praise is still praise, dammit.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I heard a version of this by Carreras recently that I really liked, but I don't have any particular favourites (Hampson and Hendricks are good in Christmas rep too I've noticed).

I like Garanca and I like her here. I associate the piece with tenors (don't ask my why, that may just be who I've heard sing it more often or a personal preference). 

I like Pav, but this is late Pav and the arrangement is... well interesting! This one isn't a winner, not for Pav, but Sting just doesn't work here.

Mmmm, not sure about Bartoli singing this. I don't really like her either...

Garanca wins by default.

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Well here's a surprise. I normally can't bear Bartoli, but here she sings the most beatiful, heart felt version of this popular piece (I've sung it a couple of weddings myself, once with children's choir and once with string quartet). She easily took the prize for me. It's nice to be reminded that she can sing simply and beautifully at times. 

Pavarotti and Sting is an interesting experiment that doesn't quite come off. (I do like Sting doing his own material), but at least it wasn't dull, and I'm afraid I thought Garanca dull.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I felt Bartoli was the best but *I wanted to include **Garanča** for those who like pretty current* *artists*.





Woodduck said:


> *Garanca is her usual very palatable self, which is not quite enough, unless perhaps your name is Shaughnessy.*


Both the words "current" and "artists" are completely extraneous in the first sentence above - Just stopping at "for those who like pretty" is _more than quite enough_ for those of us who believe that _looking_ as if one has talent is even more important than actually _having_ talent.... which, come to think of it, is _exactly_ the kind of sentiment which would be expressed by someone_ whose name, oddly enough, just happens to be Shaughnessy_... Wait... What?... Kind of walked right into that one, didn't I?... _sigh_...


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

No vote. Bartoli was the least bad but still nothing to write home about, and I don't really want to vote for a vocalist without a voice.


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