If you are not a fan of opera, give this a quick listen anyway. I saw the movie “Life is Beautiful” again a few days ago, which if you have never seen… do yourself a favor… watch it! I had the privilege of seeing it (captioned) in the theater when it was released, and it is a very moving story. It won an oscar, and unlike most oscar winners… I thoroughly agreed.
Anyway, there is an aria from an opera they used as a theme in the movie, which was very appropriately chosen, and well used. I had to go find it, and now I share it with you. What a piece!
It’s the aria Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour from the opera Les Contes D’Hoffman and is composed by Jacques Offenbach. It’s clearly the most celebrated aria in the opera, and you should agree it’s worth the honor. The main part is sung by Beverly Sills, (who, sadly, died last year) and she rocks it… despite having a higher pitched voice than other performances I have heard. I kindof like this song with a deeper voice.
The intro is pretty quiet to begin with… give it time to get going…
Listen, and be moved unless your soul be hewn from stone.
I told you I’d “branch out” 
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1 comment so far
Thanks for sharing this beautiful duet. As we draw near to the first anniversary of Ms. Sills’ death, I especially appreciated hearing this. Do you happen to know if it was this exact recording (with Beverly Sills and Susanne Marsee) that was used for the film’s theme song?
June 25th, 2008 at 12:26 am
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