I found out today that my high school English teacher died of cancer. I recall that Mrs. Sharpe was always fond of Tennyson, and this poem came to mind after I heard the news. I remember reading it in her class.
"Crossing the Bar"
Sunset and evening star And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark;
For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
Ok, so in response to demand from my adoring public (ha!), here's the first post in a little over two months. I was going to just post a picture of a bunny or cheese or something and be like "Happy now?", but that was before this video.
It's from the show Britain's Got Talent. Take a moment and watch it. And make sure you have the volume turned up.
Ok, time for me to make a few comments about this.
1) I love the look on everyone's face as he's starting. They look about like I did when he started. "He's going to sing what?"
2) Take note of the worried little old ladies at 0:51. The one on the left is shown wiping away a tear at 1:33. Nice touch.
3) I wish I could hear the entire performance. There's more to Nessun Dorma, but they slickly edited it for television. Take a look at 1:07-1:08 — there's the cut. As the strings ascend, you see him take a breath for the next phrase, then the camera cuts and his face is different as the main theme begins. The audience's reaction is another clue. They clap for him after he's gotten less than 10 words out of his mouth if you assume they didn't edit this clip.
Here comes my main point about this video: what was your reaction? I'll go ahead and tell you what mine was. I choked up like they just shot Old Yeller. Even before he reached the emotional peak of the piece, I had tears in my eyes. I can watch The Notebook and be ok, but show me a video of a pasty, middle-aged British cell phone salesman who desperately needs a good dentist singing Nessun Dorma, and all of a sudden I'm like Sally Field after the funeral in Steel Magnolias.
But why? Let me become cynical for a moment. Was it a good performance? Yes. Was it a great performance? Sure. Was it a legendary performance? No. This guy's not Pavarotti. As some critics have pointed out, if you just heard his version on the radio in the car or on your stereo at home, would you still be moved? Ehhhhh....
Thinking more about it, most of the emotional impact of this comes from the setup. Here's this guy who seems kinda down on his luck. He sells cell phones for a living, but he'd much rather be singing. He's not very easy on the eyes. He's going on a show where 99% of the people who audition are horrible. They even put his comment about not having a lot of self-confidence right before he started singing.
Then... he opens his mouth to sing and out comes this voice. You were scared at first, but the first note changes all that. Suddenly, you're rooting for the guy. It's unreal.
After at it from a different perspective, do you feel cheated or manipulated? I don't really. Music doesn't take place in a vacuum. It's one thing to put on a CD and hear a song. If you find a really good song or something hits you at just the right moment, you might even be moved a little. But hearing the story behind the song, what was going on in the songwriter or artist's life can put it in a new perspective and give it that much more impact.
Technically, was it a great performance? Eh, it was ok. But music is not notes on a page. It's emotion. Here's this guy, not terribly self-confident, up on stage in front of hundreds of people and three judges singing his heart out. Who cares if the next to last note was a little sharp? He was giving it all he had, and it showed. To fully appreciate what you just saw, you have to know the backstory there. That's what makes it so great.
Oh, and a note about the title of this post. "Vincero" is the final word of the aria, and it translates to "I shall win" in English.
