Stabat Mater Dolorosa
One of the most beautiful pieces of music I know of is Giovanni Pergolesi’s 1735 masterpiece, "Stabat Mater”, based on a 13th Century sacral hymn about Mary mourning the crucifixion. The best-known movement is the first one, “Stabat Mater Dolorosa”. Here is my favorite version, performed by the two leading ladies of metal, Simone Simons and Floor Jansen. The piece is written for soprano and contralto. Jansen, who normally sings in the soprano range, takes the contralto line here, without any loss of power or clarity.
They did this in the middle of a thunderous show by Simons' symphonic rock band Epica. Watch them reduce a stadium full of amped up metalheads to stunned silence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqdvFPBGN0c
Beste Zangers Finale: Phantom of the Opera
Henk Poort played Erik in the first European productions of “The Phantom of the Opera”, and was said to be Andrew Lloyd Webber’s favorite Phantom. Rumor had it that Jansen agreed to do Beste Zangers only after hearing Henk was on board, because she wanted to sing “Phantom” with him. Fans went crazy speculating whether they would do it. Not to worry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plCScjvDOJM
Nightwish: Ever Dream
You’ve seen Floor do opera, classical, ballads and more. Here she goes full-on metal and blows the roof off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xi4n8dJcF8
You saved the best for 3rd. I enjoyed all of these, and am putting them on heavy rotation. Skibsted
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