Many thanks to Mike in San Francisco for mentioning Aretha Franklin's version of Puccini's area "Nessun Dorma" (from TURANDOT of course). Despite being a great Aretha fanatic (see my posts on her, at label) I had not heard of it. It was never released here in the UK and was not on any of her albums I knew, included that recent DIVA CLASSICS. Seems it was on a three-track CD single released in the USA, the live recording plus two tracks from her "A Rose Is Still A Rose" album: "Here We Go Again" and "In The Morning".
I duly ordered the cd single but it never turned up, as occasionally happens, but the seller sent a replacement by first class post and it arrived yesterday. I was a bit unsure how Aretha would cope with this, but I needn't have worried - she lets rip and nails it. 'Vincero' indeed! This was in 1998 and she replaced an ailing Pavarotti at very short notice, as detailed in that recent biography on her "Respect" by David Ritz - which I reviewed here, Aretha label.
Now I discover it is also on YouTube! Wish I had known that while I was waiting for the disk to arrive! Enjoy:
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