If you don’t know opera or are still wondering how to take the first step to appreciating this art form, here’s a list of our favorite arias (Opera for songs) that are stand-alone pieces or part of a larger work performed by unarguably the most successful tenor in history, Luciano Pavarotti. They are easy to listen to and appreciate.

We’ve also included a bonus video of The Three Tenors (Pavarotti, Carreras, and Domingo) covering Edith Piaf’s Sous Le Ciel De Paris. Enjoy!

Fact: Pavarotti holds the world record for receiving a stratospheric 165 curtain calls for his 1988 performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (see video #2). The audience applauded for 1 hour and 7 minutes.

By Issam Khoury

 

La Donna e Mobile – Rigoletto (1851), Giuseppe Verdi

 

Libiamo (with Joan Sutherland) – La traviata (1853), Giuseppe Verdi

 

La Danza, Gioachino Rossini (1835)

 

Caruso, Lucio Dalla (1986)

 




O Sole Mio, Eduardo di Capua (1898)

 

E Lucevan Le Stelle – Tosca (1900), Giacomo Puccini

 

Una Furtiva Lagrima – L’elisir d’amore (1832), Donizetti [you might recognize it from Woody Allen’s Match Point]

 

Nessun Dorma – Turandot (1926), Giacomo Puccini

 

Bonus:

Sous Le Ciel De Paris (Edith Piaf) – The Three Tenors: