The title sounds quite prosaic when translated but this is a sublime aria from the Pearl Fishers opera – a duet sung by David Byrne and Rufus Wainwright. (Although none of Rufus’s songs made it into my list, I’ll be writing more about his work in a separate feature before too long).

 I imagine it took some chutzpah for these ‘pop singer upstarts’ to dare to take on such a famous piece of opera. (It’s a long way from Talking Heads debut single ‘Psycho Killer!’) I don’t know anything about classical music but I gather there are some snobby opera buffs complaining about their voices, claiming that they are not up to the standard of real opera singers. All I can say is I find this to be one of the most moving pieces of music I’ve ever heard, I used to own the CD but somehow I lost it about five years ago. When I was compiling this list, I remembered how the last time I’d played this track I was sharing it with my brother and, rather embarrassingly, I was so moved that tears started rolling down my cheeks. When I looked it up on YouTube and heard it again for the first time since then the same thing happened!

So I know there are more worthy versions with great opera singers whose voices maybe technically better but to me this version is perfect and it’s the version I choose. See if it works for you.