Sunday 8 May 2011

The voice of an angel

Nature chooses to bless some people in an out of worldly way. It gives a gift so rare and so amazing that other mere mortals can only watch in awe and wonderment. One such recipient of nature's blessing is Sissel - the gift of the voice of an angel.

This blogger is usually tone deaf and musical sensibilities do not invade his rather dour exterior. But occasionally he breaks out into a song , metaphorically that is, like he did here. Today is another such day, a tribute to the amazing voice of Sissel.

Sissel is a Norwegian soprano, who isn't as well known or as classically feted as many others. She is somewhat like Andre Rieu, the subject of the other post referred to earlier. She tends towards the T20 side of classical music rather than the purity of a Test Match. But boy; can she sing- one of the usual comments that I see in her You Tube videos is that if you close your eyes and heard her, you probably would think that you are in the presence of an angel. 

One of her amazing pieces is her contribution to the sound track of Titanic. Contrary to popular belief, Titanic is not all Celine Dion. Listen to this from Sissel and tell me  if you aren't haunted.

Or take this rendering of Silent Night. Gave me goose pimples.

Whatever may be his musical sensibilities, this blogger is a sports nut. In football a self confessed long time supporter of Liverpool. One of his cherished memories is his visit to Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC and swinging and swaying on the Kop belting out Liverpool's anthem - You'll never walk alone.  There are many famous singers who have sung this song. And then there's Sissel. Her rendition of this is on a different plane altogether.

Even if this is not your genre, listen to her. She is Something, with a capital S.

24 comments:

Vishal said...

Well, when you talk of music, it has to be Something (with a capital S different. :):) You take the music to a new height, in particular, the taste of mine.

You will never walk alone - awesome lyrics, remember listening to this song earlier, fantabulouslyfantastically sung by Sissel.

Silent Night - Soulful song - heard for the first time - thanks so much!

Titanic piece - a pleasant surprise, indeed mirthful!!!

Thanks for a lovely Sunday post. :):):)

gils said...

meejic..any form :) me always likes..languagey ilaati kooda verum rythm mattum irunthaalum porum...mind fills up its own lyrics...this lady is amazing...thala unga meejic tastelayum neenga thalanu prove panreenga

RS said...

:) Silent night is soooo soulful.

You'll never walk alone: Awesome lyrics and an even aweseome rendering

Thanks for sharing :)

Pranav said...

I have actually heard of her. She was a presenter at the Spellman awards (the Norwegian Grammies). She and Morten Harket (lead singer of a-ha) presented the award for best international artist to Robbie Williams (from Take That). I looked her up after that since I had no idea who she was at the time. I originally thought she was Morten Harket's girlfriend.

Anonymous said...

Normally not my thing, but trusting your judgment I went through those clips. I was listening to that Titanic clip and thinking to myself "ok, when is she going to start singing", then I realized about halfway, through, holy moly, that is a human voice! I've heard that track so many times over the years and I had no idea that someone was singing that. I thought it was being done on a 100 year old stradivarius or some unique classical instrument that I was unfamiliar with. Good stuff, thanks for the education on Sissel.

Liverpool man eh, knew you had to have a flaw somewhere! With our top yanks (Howard and Donovan) playing with Everton in recent years, I've become a Toffee man. Liverpool has been making some really nice changes this year in my opinion. I think next year finds LP in a legitimate battle for the EPL crown or at least a future UEFA spot.

Ramesh said...

@Vishal - Glad that you liked her music.

@gils - Much honoured. I know this is not music to your taste and yet you liked it. Wow.

@Pranav - Eeeeks. Morten Harket's girl friend ?? What a horrible thought :):)

@Hopfrog - Became a Liverpool fan in their glory days when they won everything. These days its not such a pleasant situation .... But I have to salute you - you must be the only American to be a Toffeeman. One day we should go to a derby together.

Anonymous said...

Wow..Really wow! What a way to end a Sunday.Heart stirring music!

Have heard the Titanic track many times and didn't realize it was not an instrument.Her voice is so... crystal clear and smooth.

The music and the words are simply divine,
Would stir a soul even hidden in a deep ravine;

Great taste and thanks for sharing.

Pranav said...

Why Eeeks?....Morten Harket is a major stud for his age. At the time of the Spellmans clips with Morten Harket that I saw, Sissel also looked younger. I thought they'd make a smoking hot couple.

Ramesh said...

@Hema - Thanks.

@Pranav - Sure, he is a stud, but can you take anybody who's group is called A-Ha seriously ??

Sandhya Sriram said...

I go with Gils.

Whether it is business or sports or music, or anything.... you just are a class above!!

I think i can only quote Arthur Schopenhauer

"In Action, a great heart is the chief qualification. In work, a great head"

Now he didn't know that once in a while, a fantabulous combination of both is formed and this combo is called "Ramesh"

J said...

Sweet voice and lovely smile. Somehow reminded me of Enya in Lord of the Rings - even though they are different. But you have to take these sweet voices in small doses.

Ramesh said...

@Sandhya -As usual I am completely floored :)

@J - All good things in life only in small doses :)

kiwibloke said...

5 days no new blog, boss you must be extremely busy?

The Million Miler said...

sorry didn't mean to hit the button thrice!

sri said...

Thanks for introducing her to us

sri said...

have listen to silent night many times but never sissel, what a amazing voice, I see what u see she is defn something with all caps :)

Ramesh said...

@Sri - Your comments got deleted by the famous Blogger outage; but I got an email notification. Delighted to have you back here.

@kiwi - Your comments got deleted too by the Blogger outage. No; I am not too busy - just getting lazy .....

Pranav said...

true...difficult to take a band with the name "a-ha" seriously. I didn't take them seriously until 16 years after they made their debut on to the music scene.

sri said...

I was wondering the same abt the comment in my blog as well. I am glad u got to read my comments Ramesh :)

Reflections said...

I feel so dumb admitting I'd never heard of her.....she is amazing, her voice not only gave me goosebumps but my eyes started reacting very strongly and this is inspite of steeling myself against the onslaught[well if u were recommending it, it had to be something soul-stirring].

Thanks Ramesh for sharing this!!!!!

Ramesh said...

@Reflections - Delighted to hear that you liked her singing as well. Look at who writes comments that make the blogger go Awwww :):)

Deepa said...

I have to whack my self to miss this one!

RamNarayanS said...

That was lovely and the voice so clear. I didn't know of Sissel Kyrkjebø before your post though the Titanic theme was very familiar. As HopFrog notes, I thought that some of the sections were probably a harp or some other stringed instrument. Amazing overture.

As you noted, some people are gifted and perfect and Sissel is one. Thanks for the pointers.

Ramesh said...

@RamMmm - Great that you liked her. I discovered her by accident too.

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