Grammy Award Winning Soprano Sumi Jo Praised BTS V’s Vocal Skills After Watching His Rendition of Turandot’s “Nessum Dorma”

No one has to convince you that BTS V has the most complex, unique, beautiful, deep, soulful voice in the world. His voice is perfect. V has a baritone singing voice that has received positive critical reception, with particular praise for his vocal range and “husky” tone. When he released his solo song “Stigma”, He gained wider vocal recognition for the, and was praised for his falsettos that showed off his vocal range and unique musicality.

V’s music is heavily influenced by his love for jazz and classical music. Eric Benet and Ruben Studdard are among his inspirations. He also stated in his curated for ARMY room that he loves to listen to Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra who are known for their deep classical voices. Karen Ruffini of Elite Daily stated “V… has no problem producing super soothing, low tones that are a key element in the overall sound for BTS,”

Grammy Award Winning Soprano Sumi Jo on her YouTube channel said that she watched the video clip of V signing opera and was really impressed at the way he belted out those tunes so effortlessly. The opera that V was singing was “Turandot’s ‘Nessum Dorma‘” which is a difficult aria. Sumi was so surprised that V was able to sing without any musical or instrument accompaniment singing it acapella style.

Jo said that, “Taehyung holds the note accurately. Neither higher or lower on the pitch. That is called ‘absolute pitch’ he has such an amazing talent . Also classic singers like us pleases when artists in other area shows interest in the classical music like this, it makes us very happy indeed.”

Sumi Jo, (Jo Sugyeong) is a South Korean lyric coloratura soprano known for her Grammy award-winning interpretations of the bel canto repertoire with her light and expressive voice. She has received Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording and David di Donatello for Best Original Song

Aria of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, written by Richard Strauss in 1912, is a difficult piece with high notes over 20 minutes in length. Therefore, Strauss modified part of the sheet music because he thought it was impossible to sing. In 1994, however, Jo became the world’s first artist to sing the unedited original record of the song. She recorded the song with a Japanese-American conductor, Kent Nagano, in Lyon, France. Jo said it was the hardest record to sing ever.

In 1993, she became the first Asian soprano to win La Siola d’Oro. In addition, Jo won six international competitions for the first time as an Asian soprano, and was recorded as the first prima donna of the orient who starred in the world’s opera theaters.

She also added that she would love to do a duet with V,

“Taehyung has baritone pitch, capable of higher pitch (this song is for tenor) that’s why “wow” his ‘Nessun Dorma’ was really great. The duet from the opera it would be great to sing with Taehyung”

Sumi Jo performed Aegukga at the inauguration of President Park Geun-hye, February 2013. Jo has over 50 recordings to her credit, including ten solo albums for Erato Records, the French division of Warner Classics. These recordings include complete operas, oratorio, operetta, orchestral works and Broadway standards. Notable recordings include the voice of the falcon in Sir Georg Solti’s Grammy Award winning recording of Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten for the Decca label and the role of Oscar the page in Herbert von Karajan’s recording of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera for Deutsche Grammophon.

In 2019 Sumi Jo received the Order of the Italian Star and granted the Cavaliere title by the Italian government, 2008 Sumi Jo sang at the International Olympic Games in Beijing and that same year she received the international Puccini Award, in 1997 she won Best Vocal Album by French Cultural Critics, 1996 she had the Best Selling Album of the Year award by British Classic, Sumi Jo was Decorated with the Order of Culture Merit, South Korea in 1995 and in 1993 she was Winner of Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording (conducted by Sir Georg Solti, Deca label). That is just an 1/8 of her impressive awards.

So it is a major, MAJOR deal to receive such incredible commendations from a world class professional classical artist and Grammy winner!

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