Ruin your day: Jennifer Hudson sings Nessun Dorma

Ruin your day: Jennifer Hudson sings Nessun Dorma

Opera

norman lebrecht

August 22, 2021

The pop singer and actress joined the New York Philharmonic for a Central Park concert for 60,000 people.

The conductor is Marin Alsop.

 

Comments

  • Pianofortissimo says:

    Neither I coud sleep well…

  • Scott says:

    Thank you for telling us what the aria was. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have recognized it. a;though it is my favorite Italian aria.

    • Robert says:

      What should the title be for someone who recognizes her face AND knows the aria?! ‘A person sings a song’?
      It’s not guessing that people won’t know one of the most famous and ridiculously over-performed aria. It’s informing you that this article is about that person singing that aria recently.

      By the way, if this is your favorite Italian aria you probably call them noodles instead of spaghetti and you probably put ketchup on them, so tame that unnecessary and unfounded snobbery you attempted to exude.

      • Robert Solow says:

        This traumatic experience sent me rushing to the Garrard (always on stand-by) to play a 78 of Jussi Björling’s sublime exposition… despite the antiquated technology involved it was the proper antidote and I have made a reasonable, though not full, recovery.

        Ms Hudson had the face, the dress, and the orchestra… but not a trace of insight into personal insufficiency.

        The mere fact that this aria is ‘over-performed’, quite often by persons under-qualified, does not detract from its qualities, and the references to noodles and ketchup reveal the true snob.

  • Scott says:

    The Florence Foster Jenkins of our time.

    • that’s unfair to Ms. Jenkins who at least understood what she was undertaking. I cannot listen to yelling now matter how well-intentioned

    • José Bergher says:

      Sorry. Nothing and nobody can ever equal Florence Foster Jenkins. She was unique and shall remain unique forever and ever.

      • Roland says:

        Let´s be honest and not sarcastic: Florence Foster Jenkins was a great patron, but just a tragic comic figure when she sang. And that comic figure remains unforgotten. She had one of most terrible voices ever heard in public.
        Jennifer Hudson is one of the best singers of our time and everyone who loves music and knows about music will confirm it. In Germany we say “Schuster bleib bei deinen Leisten” which means “stay with what you know”. She can´t sing opera – now we know it – , but she still remains one of the greatest soul singer of our time, a genre in which opera singers would sound too artificial and not authentic (e.g. Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and so on). These are just two different worlds of singing and it seems impossible to switch between these genres and sing both of them in perfection.

        • Le Křenek du jour says:

          > » In Germany we say “Schuster bleib bei deinen Leisten” which means “stay with what you know”. «

          Not quite.
          Yet another case of loss of context leading to a loss of understanding.

          The German proverb, and indeed all its many European variants, can all be traced to one single ancient source: an anecdote about the Greek painter Apelles of Kos (4th century BCE) retold by Pliny the Elder, an ardent admirer, in his Natural History (XXXV, 85).

          Apelles used to expose his work in progress to public viewing, listening to the comments of the passers-by, “rating the public as a more observant critic than himself”.
          A sandalmaker noted that the sandal on a painting would not hold in real life, as it was missing a loop. Apelles stepped forward, acknowledged his mistake, and rectified it.
          Enouraged, the sandalmaker went on to criticise a detail of the leg. Apelles haughtily rebuked him: enough was enough, a sandalmaker must not judge above the sandal. “Ne svpra crepidam svtor ivdicaret,” writes Pliny. (Literally, ‘crepida’ is the ‘last’, the wooden foot-shaped form used in shoemaking; same root as ‘Leiste’.)

          But the story does not end here: next, Pliny tells how Alexander the Great, visiting the painter’s shop, held forth about the art of painting in such a grandiosely incompetent way that Apelles advised the irascible Macedonian monarch to drop the subject, lest the boys who were grinding pigments in the back-shop have a belly-laugh at him.

          In one sweep, Pliny signified that
          a) no matter what one’s social status was, no matter how low or how exalted, only factual competence was decisive;
          b) the artist was not above and beyond criticism from the lowest rungs on the social scale of a stratified society;
          c) even the greatest painter in ancient Greece would seek and heed public criticism.

          Commentators remarked that even such an unusual amount of humility was inconsistent: the sandalmaker may well have known more about legs than a great artist, having seen many more of them at closer range, and may therefore have been able to tell Apelles a thing or two about them. “Ne svpra crepidam“, ‘not above the sandal — Bleib bei deinem Leisten’ — may still denote a display of unwarranted arrogance on the part of the artist.

        • Maria says:

          Check out Eileen Farrell , a fantastic opera singer and jazz singer .

        • Maria says:

          Eileen Farrell was a rare opera singer who was fantastic at both opera and jazz .

    • V. Lind says:

      Some things should be illegal. She is probably under the delusion that she is channeling Aretha (which with this particular piece of music is a bad idea anyway. He theoretically is supposed to know something about this music. Appalling.

  • Pulling no punches says:

    Absolutely horrible-words cannot express and what an ego! And yet, people today would give a standing ovation to watch a buzzard f**k if it made it on the internet or a so-called talent show – oh wait that already happened, didn’t it!

    • Claudia Siefer says:

      people are desperate for “entertainment” . I wanted to shoot the “circus ringmaster” who primed the audience. As one event-goer said, ” I didn’t used to like Opera. Now I do”.

  • JoshW says:

    Screaming her lungs out as usual – At a Covid super-spreader event. What’s not to like?

    • Anna Marques says:

      Puccuni (and my father) both rolled in their graves. Sounded like cat who’s tail got stuck in a door, except louder.

  • Mock Mahler says:

    Perhaps there’s somebody’s idea of a cruel joke here.

    At the 1998 Grammys, Aretha Franklin famously sang ‘Nessun Doma’ substituting for ailing Pavarotti on 22-minutes notice. Jennifer Hudson plays Aretha Franklin in the new movie ‘Respect’. I’ve seen the trailer for the movie, which highlights trite bio-pic cliches rather than Hudson’s impersonation of Franklin’s singing.

    • Larry says:

      I assume that’s the reason why Hudson sang it. It was awful. (Unlike Aretha’s rendition which was great.)

    • V. Lind says:

      I remember it well, and, at the risk of being lynched and against a LOT of popular opinion at the time, I thought Aretha’s rendition was ghastly. But it was angelic compared to this unspeakable garbage. And did you see the faces of some in the audience?

      Enraptured.

      Terrifying. I wish it were science fiction.

    • Phillip says:

      I didn’t find her very believable as Aretha Franklin in RESPECT, but I never thought a live performance of ‘Ain’t Nobody Sleepin’ would clinch it.

  • Patrick says:

    Christ on a bike…

  • JJC says:

    If Covid lockdowns would prevent the likes of this, then by all means let us return to them, fast!

  • James Weiss says:

    Embarrassing. Simply embarrassing.

  • Of course says:

    Of course the conductor is Marin Alsop. Who else would allowed this monstrosity to happen?

  • Of course says:

    One could argue that the fact that the conductor is a woman and the soloist an African American is the actual goal of this “performance”, and not the music making itself. We live in stupid times…

    • Mary Paterniti says:

      Why? Just why?! Pavarotti was rolling over in his grave. And so was Puccini.

    • Vanilla Sky says:

      Great, thank you for confirming that the nobility of classical music racists and misogynists hang out here. Somehow you’ve unfortunately come out of your cave. Please crawl back in.

      • Bone says:

        A logical observation is confirmation of racism now? Broad strokes there – but thanks for stepping down from your pristine pulpit to judge cave dwellers.

      • TREVOR LEWIS says:

        So you disagree with with the obvious. Best you crawl back into your black hole.

      • Of course says:

        Yeah, calling everything racist doesn’t make it true. Did you even listen to it? Or did your ideology completely possess you at this point…

      • Paul white says:

        Just had to say “racist” and “misogynist” didn’t you

      • Robert Solow says:

        If ever there were a perfect nom de plume for a white supremacist it would be Vanilla Sky… but that is by no means an accusation. It would be bad form to make a stupid assumption based on next to no evidence. Of course, that does not discourage everyone. George Carlin said: “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” The scoring for the comment above, currently +41/-45, suggests that George was really on to something.

    • Paul J Sekhri says:

      And there are also lots of racists among us… geez.

    • Patrick Gillot says:

      Exactly!

    • MWnyc says:

      The purpose of the performance was to promote the new movie in which Hudson stars (a bio-pic of Aretha Franklin, whose TV performance of this aria is legendary).

  • V. Lind says:

    &*^%@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Pourquoi!!! says:

      Hey, she tried – it’s the thought that counts. At least she didn’t soul-basterdize it with hystrionics the way Aretha did.

      • V. Lind says:

        You don’t think that … screech at the end featuring, as far as I could determine, the last two syllables of “Vincero” (what does “ero” mean? Doesn’t she know what the words mean?) was hystrionics?

  • Y says:

    You can either subject yourself to this, or you can choose not to watch.

    I know which choice I’m making.

  • R. Brite says:

    It seems to me a perfectly respectable tribute to Aretha, as was undoubtedly intended. She doesn’t do any worse violence to it than Franklin herself did, surely. But by all means, let’s bash everyone concerned.

  • Jimmie says:

    There needs to be an international law against this.

  • Anon says:

    Here’s the reason: trailer for the new Aretha biopic starring Hudson:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKLyXSgPVOg

    Aretha was an ardent opera fan. She was a frequent, albeit secretive patron of her hometown opera company. She was often spotted sitting discretely in the back of the balcony of the Detroit Opera House listening attentively. She knew the arias, the stories and the words.

    When Pavarotti cancelled just before his scheduled performance of Nessun Dorma at the 1998 Grammy awards, Aretha was in the audience. She stepped in & subbed for him at the last moment. No rehearsal. Video here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k33sINjn9o0

    • Michael says:

      Thanks for the link! Of course Aretha Franklin’s version was not classically operatic, but it was intensely musical and moving. I find only one word to describe Ms Hudson’s “version”: caterwauling (with an apology to all cats).

    • V. Lind says:

      God it’s worse than I remembered.

  • eric says:

    Ab Fab. Is she better than pavarotti?

  • Ann says:

    Oh such harsh comments. This seems to be the hallmark of the Covid era. Thanks Jennifer. The purists will always be challenged.

    • Sam McElroy says:

      If I threw liquid shit on the Mona Lisa, in the name of art, would you call my critics “purists”? Destruction is destruction, whether visible or audible. And this was at the nuclear end of art destruction. If you don’t get that, then you don’t get art. If it can be destroyed by anyone who wants to give it a go, what is the underlying value of it?

      • Thelma Brown says:

        White people been singing black people music from the beginning of time. Nobody complains. If you didn’t like it change the channel. Keep your opinion to yourself. Music is universal. Before you criticize an artist ask yourself can I do it better.

        • Haydn70 says:

          Wow, I don’t think I have seen so many logical fallacies in so few sentences! Brava!

        • Maria says:

          This is not about white or black . There are many great famous black opera singers , Jesse Norman , Leontyne Price , Grace Bumbry , Shirley Verrett , Angel Blue just to name a few . I love Jennifer Hudson’s voice but this aria was sung so badly it was painful to listen to .

  • RW2013 says:

    vin(gasp for breath)cero!
    And the awful conductrix!

  • Eric says:

    One of the most grotesque things I have ever heard.

  • La plus belle voix says:

    On another note, why was the audience apparently ca. 100% white? I’m just seeking a rational explanation, so please keep to demographics. There is only a single race, the human one. (And yes, her singing was excruciatingly bad.)

  • italiana says:

    Che incubo. As if Bocelli isn’t bad enough. Someone should have looked out for Hudson and not let her sing that.

  • SuzeeBee says:

    Awful, just awful!

  • Les says:

    I wish I had the words, there are none that I can actually think of. Well, there are, but, you get my drift! Simply horrific, there, I said it!

  • Michael C. says:

    By classic standards and operatic snobbery, there is a lot to dislike here. And if she were classically trained then we could hold her to those standards. She’s not. So, perhaps, we show some grace by overlooking the self-indulgence and admiring an attempt to sing something far beyond her comfort zone and to bring to a “popular” audience this showpiece (that many highly talented and classically trained singers have also indulged themselves in) which, who knows, might spark a few new people to come to and support opera? Purists will never enjoy cross-overs, but can opera afford to remain so patrician and elitist?

    The earlier reference to Aretha Franklin’s version is apt but I would proffer that Jennifer Hudson in fact does a better, while imperfect, job with Italian diction and pronunciation than Ms Franklin–the superfluous ” ‘cerò” notwithstanding.

  • Roland says:

    Many comments to Jennifer Hudson are simply stupid and show not only disrespect, but incompetenc regarding music in general. Without any doubt, this is one of the greatest voices of our time. Those who doubt it, should listen her singing in the movie Respect in which she has the main role, chosen by Aretha Franklin personally. Nevertheless, like no opera singer can sing Rock, Soul or Jazz authentic, Jennifer Hudson really shouldn’t sing opera – it jzst doesn’t sound – but keep on singing Soul or Jazz. This is the music she feels and the music she can sing like maybe no one else on this planet.

  • Uncle Sam says:

    Jennifer’s screeching inspired me to listen again to a real deal – from the tenor nobody knows. How about that last note, huh?! Now we’re talking!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5ETca71nu8

    • Ms.Melody says:

      This tenor should remain unknown. Big, colorless voice, no feeling and sticking fermata where it does not belong. Completely unmusical.

    • Miss Pam says:

      Holey moley Uncle Sam! Thanks for the link. What a beautiful voice that gentleman has. Would love to hear him sing Turandot in person. Love Puccini! Favorite is Tosca, then La Boheme, then Turandot. I’ve been fortunate enough to see all 3 at one time or another in Houston, San Francisco, New York and Vienna, where I saw Roberto Alangna sing Cavaradossi in Tosca, absolutely superb performance. Thanks again!

  • OneWhoKnows... says:

    If any one had the remote expectation that we would get something comparable to that of a classically trained vocalist, then it is in on you for having that expectation.

  • Robin Smith says:

    Put the cat out!

  • Darrell says:

    Jennifer always brings the house down. The epitome of being 1 of the best at what she does. Wonderful performance. And allows those who don’t know or understand the beautiful gift of opera, to be ushered into a new genre of music for their listening.

    Now as for these haters & their atrocious comments. Get a life, I’m positive not 1 of u is great at anything u do…. mediocre at best. Which is the reason u spew such hate into society. We all would appreciate ur useless thoughts being kept in ur useless head. By Felicia!!!!! Next!!!

  • Kathleen E King says:

    Farcial. This no talent female (a.k.a. “pop star”??) “singing” a tenor aria. When WILL someone admit that recasting things such as the national anthem or, GOD forbid!, music written for trained voices for “Blackness” is a betrayal of music.

  • Claudia Siefer says:

    Yep it made me cry . I don’t need to hear Jackie Evancho, Sarah Brightman, or Aretha singing Nessun Dorma. It’s now a top 20 “hit”. As for the argument that more people will come to like Opera, that’s a false hope. And I never want to hear people yelling including the ringmaster who primed the crowd before Miss Hudson came onstage

  • CYM says:

    I am seriously going to join a monastery and take a vow of silence for 2 months.
    – The New York Phil should be sued and
    stay on lockdown for 6 more months.
    – Waiting with horror for her rendition of
    the National Anthem.
    – Will listen to Heavy Metal with respect
    from now on.

  • Bassett Horn says:

    Where is the barfing face emoji when you need it.

  • Catherine says:

    My poor bleeding eardrums

  • Maxine says:

    Terrible terrible terrible

  • ThatPart says:

    And she still make the buck while you all sit home and cluck! Lmbo

  • Patricia Broussard says:

    I think Jennifer Hudson did a fantastic job. Those people comment on her performance can’t even carry a note or tune ever in their life. You Don’t know sing when you here it.

  • K. millard says:

    Jennifer Hudson – a brave attempt to be honoured! But adding an extra high note at the very end showed lack of respect for the genre, brought home that she does not belong with opera.

  • Lillian P Anderson says:

    Jennifer Hudson is extremely talent singer but that piece was not for her to perform.

  • Robbo says:

    I played this to my husky who immediately went into a howling frenzy and I agreed. It was a horrible rendition and Ms Hudson quite obviously has never had a singing lesson in her life; and she hasn’t a clue about what she is really supposed to sing.
    As for the ‘great’ Marin Alsop, any conductor who has to have their head in the score to conduct a one off aria like this is crap. Turn the sound off and watch her – enough said.

  • Opera Lover says:

    Put bluntly, terrible. There are many wonderful versions of this aria. My favorite is Joseph Calleja Prinsengrachtconcert 2013.

  • Anonymous Bosch says:

    I wish the hurricane – which cancelled this event before Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, or Paul Simon could perform – had hurried a bit more and obliterated the chance of this happening.

    Not only does it disrespect Puccini, it disrespects Aretha.

  • MyIdio says:

    Nessun Dorma is not a Pop tune. It’s Opera & has & will be immortalized by trained voices who comprehend the necessary nuances to execute its intent. Aretha – though her career was not that of an Opera singer – had a trained seasoned voice equipping her w/the ability to successfully deliver opera. Jennifer has confused her portrayal of Aretha with ‘her’ ability to actually be Aretha. I hope she never sings Nessun Dorma again. It’s sacrilegious.

    • JB says:

      Pretentious claptrap. Jennifer Hudson is not claiming to be an opera singer. Once in the public domain, music becomes public property and many many people do things with original versions that the composer would disapprove of. You were not forced to listen ( and you will only do so again if you choose to do so). Your reaction would have been predicted even by yourself before you heard a single note. Marin Alsop and Jennifer Hudson together create so many targets for racist snobs to rail against.

  • Tony Magee says:

    Appalling. The poor woman is trying to recreate, and failing dismally, what Aretha Franklin did in 1998, which I thought was superb. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k33sINjn9o0

    • M.Fitzgerald says:

      Yes, it was dreadful. And, Aretha Franklin had the good sense to sing it an octave lower, i.e. in the true tenor range, which technically more suited her more pop sound

  • sam says:

    If you want to see the future of diversity, inclusive classical music, this is it.

    The future is now.

  • justin says:

    If Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor can do Porgy and Bess, Jennifer Hudson can bloody well do Nessun Dorma.

    • Le Křenek du jour says:

      The validity of your statement is contingent upon the definition of the verb ‘can’.

      If by ‘can’ you intend ‘permitted to’, then yes, by all means, “Jennifer Hudson can bloody well do Nessun Dorma”. Not that she should, and if she could be persuaded not to, the fabric of harmony would be spared a cruel rip.

      However, if ‘can’ is supposed to imply or impute the tried ability, the technical capacity, the actual competence, as attested by available evidence at the time of this writing, then no, Jennifer Hudson bloody well can’t do “Nessun dorma”.

    • Pianofortissimo says:

      The difference is that Harnoncourt did ‘Porgy and Bess’ pretty well.

  • Zyiad Abu Gal says:

    It is impossible to decide which one is more harmful: the China Virus or this “rendition”. Puccini is lucky to be dead…May Allah safeguard us!

  • Anthony Lyman-Dixon says:

    Far from converting people to opera, this will make them flee in the opposite direction

  • Patrick says:

    We will never get anywhere criticizing each other’s art. She sang sincerely and she has every right to sing whatever she pleases. No, I wouldn’t listen again, but I know that life is too short to criticize anyone who sings with sincerity.

  • Denise says:

    For a first time I think Jennifer Hudson did a phenomenal job singing that Italian song.

  • Nicholas Ennos says:

    This is a very useful educational aid for how not to sing.

  • inaustria says:

    Sorry, but it gets worse. So.much.worse. A nine year old who delivers a “flawless” rendition of “Casta Diva”.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmFm3Su2vFM&list=RDBmFm3Su2vFM&start_radio=1&rv=BmFm3Su2vFM&t=45

    • V. Lind says:

      That’s pretty awful. I do not understand why these parents whose kid exhibits a good clear range when very young do not put them with teachers. Where they would learn about breathing, and what the vocal cords should and should not be doing at various stages of their physical development.

      And the wild enthusiasm of these generally pig ignorant “judges” for anyone who can hit a high C cleanly is absurd. Simon Cowell may have a pretty good record as a hit-making producer of certain kinds of popular music, but about anything else he is utterly ignorant — there is no other word.

      They end up pushing these kids forward into “pro” careers because they can semi-successfully mimic something they have heard on recordings. And voices with potential usually are washed up within a few years.

  • Sisko24 says:

    The producer of this ‘NYC Homecoming Concert’, Clive Davis, should have booked an opera singer for this event. What I’m presuming is that the idea of this performance was great in conception, but not in execution.

    Just a thought: I wonder what kind of impression will be made on someone who doesn’t know opera, who then goes to hear Turandot and hears how this should be properly sung? I wonder if he or she will be impressed or disappointed?

  • Graeme Hall says:

    Frankly, you’d be better off with Nina Conti and Monkey. Music starts around 2:05

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbd0FcnFfO0&t=124s

  • She’s surrounded by sycophants. Of course, they should have put her off. They didn’t. I feel sorry for her humiliation. But, damn, supposedly Alsop had a meeting/run through with her prior to the day rehearsal. That she didn’t immediately cancel her performance is a disgrace. She allowed that lady to humiliate herself. Forever.

    But, the real shame is with Alsop.

    • MWnyc says:

      You assume that Alsop had the power to replace Hudson. It’s very unlikely that she had that power: this was not her event or the Philharmonic’s; they were the backup band.

      I don’t know this for a fact, but I suspect that MGM paid a good bit of money to have Hudson sing this as a promotion for her new Aretha biopic — and that MGM’s money was crucial to paying expenses for the concert as a whole.

      If that’s the case, then most likely neither Alsop not the Philharmonic’s management nor Hudson herself had any choice but to go through with it.

  • Ceasar says:

    However you want to judge this performance, Puccini still wins. How many other arias have this much sway with audiences today and in public no less.

  • OperaPit Musician says:

    So much hate on this forum, about this performance. So sad. Have we learned nothing during this pandemic about kindness and understanding? I’d bet
    Ms. Hudson didn’t beg to sing this; her contractual obligations to publicize the movie and connections to Clive Davis may have forced her to take on this uncomfortable aria.

    For those castigating Marin Alsop for
    not refusing to conduct Ms. Hudson in this aria.. whatever MA felt about it, she
    was under contract to the production company to fulfill her obligation to conduct the NY Philharmonic and guests.
    I doubt she had any artistic “power” in this situation.

    And another thing… how do you know this won’t bring people to experience opera?
    If the opera companies gain even one new fan/donor from this, it’s a win.

  • Patrick Gillot says:

    That’s what the woke world of “diversity” is preparing for us!

  • M2N2K says:

    She tried rather bravely and she failed quite spectacularly – enough said. Speaking of Turandot, here is something you might find interesting and amusing:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrsD78hHGtI&t=106s .

  • M2N2K says:

    The link in my other comment does not work well. This is a better one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrsD78hHGtI .

  • WTF!!!!???? says:

    If our own practitioners are prepared to vandalized, mutilate and eviscerate our art form, how the fuck are we supposed to protect it from all the other ravages of the age? We’re well and truly fucked. This is all the evidence we need that we have become lobotomized by the brain-churning virus of stupidity. I have lost ALL respect for Marin Alsop. She joins my demolition squad of self-canibalizing imposters who have no place in the business of high art. And if you give this a thumbs down, you have no business contributing to a classical music blog! First Bocelli, then three-chord Einaudi, then Astanova, now this crock of vomit. Fuck! What next? A Mozart piano concerto with John Legend? How depressed this has made me, you can’t imagine. Why can’t we PROTECT the art form instead of selling it out to base crassness at every opportunity? It’s un-fucking-believable! Sorry, but no word in the English language other than FUCK! can suffice to capture my indignation. And to anyone who mentions race, you’re even dumber than this calamity of a project…

    • Pianofortissimo says:

      I understand your anger, but your use of that four-letter word belongs to the ’other side’ in this diskussion.

    • MacroV says:

      Alsop was engaged to conduct the Philharmonic; she probably wasn’t involved in programming this item.

      John Legend’s piano skills are pretty good, at least for a pop singer. He might be up to a Mozart concerto.

    • Haydn70 says:

      An excellent post…I agree 100%…thank you!

  • MacroV says:

    While I’m usually happy to take on the conventional, er, wisdom of the Slippped Disc-erati, I gotta admit that was pretty ghastly. But she is a great singer in her own lane. Still, probably no worse than the Three Tenors singing “My Way” or “Feliz Navidad.”

    • Haydn70 says:

      It was MUCH WORSE than the Three Tenors singing those tunes as they would sing them IN TUNE and with a beautiful tone. Your statement is absurd.

  • Spiceandice says:

    This woman has an extremely obnoxious vocal style. I don’t understand the hype. It’s all “look at me, I can scream at uncomfortably unpleasant decibels. Rah rah rah!” Whenever Jennifer Hudson appears on my television screen I rush to find the remote control.

  • Oh J. hud, leave the arias to opera divas. Aretha was a soul singer but at least her version was endearing, and showcased her love for the art. This was very….empty. She’s talented but should stick with Broadway tunes. That’s where J. Hud shines most.

  • Light says:

    The context must be understood. I saw Aretha sing this on an awards show. She had to step in for her good friend Luciano Pavarotti, who could not perform, due to illness. “Nessun Dorma”, was sung as a soulful interpretation, for the simple need to fill the time slot and because Aretha enjoyed Opera; she admitted to a lack of formal training. This performance by Ms. Hudson was an interpretation of Aretha’s artistic take on the aria. Personally, having studied Voice and having performed in, ” Die Walkure'”, by Wagner, “Suor Angelica”, by Puccini and others, having minored in Opera Theatre…let’s be kind. “Music is an expression of the soul”. This is of such, as that. This performance was a soulful musical expression, no more and no less.

    • SM says:

      Sorry. It was a screaming massacre of everything the art form stands for. Nothing can condone it or justify it. It was beyond hideous. And the horrendous bad taste in torturing us further by adding the final unwritten, two note screech added insult to injury by not only screaming the aria but rewriting it. Your minor in opera theater – irrelevant to the discussion – won’t convince me otherwise, anymore than my own biography authorizes me to state the plainly obvious. Crap is crap.

  • Mario sumilang says:

    I thought both Aretha’s and Hudson’s versions are not good.
    Their voices are not suitable for the song.

    • Sam McElroy says:

      It’s not a song. Yellow Submarine is a song. Happy Birthday is a song. It’s an opera aria which, by definition, requires an opera singer – and a damned good one at that – to bring it to life with the same integrity it inhabits on the page. That’s what the world seems to have forgotten, that not everyone is qualified to do everything, that integral to its success is the competence of the performer. Hudson is a great singer in a certain genre, just like Usain Bolt is a great sprinter. But that doesn’t bestow upon her the right to destroy an opera aria any more than Usain Bolt can claim the divine right to beat Kipchogi in the marathon on the basis of his well earned celebrity in the 100 meters.

  • adkirby says:

    Beautiful ‼️

  • adkirby says:

    Absolutely beautiful ‼️❤️❤️❤️

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