Signore, ascolta!
Time for a Friday lunchtime end-of-the-week kind of a post. This is the great Montserrat Caballé singing the beautiful aria Signore, ascolta! from the Opera Turandot by Giacomo Puccini. As the title suggests, you should listen to the whole thing because it’s lovely, but be prepared for something truly astonishing from about 2.16 onwards as the singer demonstrates unbelievable control by holding that final high note in a way that doesn’t seem humanly possible..
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In the Dark 
October 4, 2014 at 10:06 am
Amazingly beautifully sung – one of my favourite singers. Ann pointed out that it’s interesting that she doesn’t actually sing the right word at the end (pieta), rather just hanging on to ‘ha’, which might well make it easier to achieve the effect she does.
October 4, 2014 at 10:28 am
She didn’t sing it like that in the live performances I’ve heard, so this is a bit artificial I suppose, but how she holds the note for so long and also achieves a beautiful diminuendo is absolutely astonishing to me.