Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Luciano Pavarotti sings "La Donna E Mobile"



I have recently started listening to opera again. I have never really been an official "opera buff"; I can't list all the works of Puccini, or tell you who sang what part in a particular performance of Turandot in such-and-such-a-year, for instance. But I have always loved the sound of operatic singing; I'm not sure why, but there's just something about the sound that moves me and gets my blood racing in ways that other genres of music can't. And being somebody who used to sing in a choir, I really understand how much talent and sheer hard work goes into singing these pieces, which require great mastery of the breath and voice.

Breath. This is the one thing that singing and yoga practice have in common. Through his mastery of diaphragmatic breathing, a great singer can scale the heights of the greatest arias, in much the same way in which control of the breath and bandhas enables the yogi to move effortlessly through space and time.  Also, as you can see from this video, Pavarotti has some serious drishti going on :-)

The late Luciano Pavarotti is one of my favorite opera singers. I don't know much about his personal life, but I really feel that he has done a lot of good in this world and inspired millions through his work. In this way, the world is a better place because he lived. I think this is also what we aspire to as yogis and as human beings.

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