Pavarotti sings ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ in Notre-Dame Cathedral in spine-tingling throwback video

16 December 2021, 16:43 | Updated: 17 December 2021, 18:07

Enjoy a spine-tingling vintage Christmas performance from the iconic Italian tenor.

As Christmas carols go, ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ is right up there with the most magnificent and rousing.

And who better to do the noble tune justice than the iconic Italian tenor, Luciano Pavarotti?

Lucky for you, we’ve dug out a vintage performance of Pavarotti lending his lungs to the Christmas favourite, to warm up your day (watch below).

Read more: New Pavarotti musical by ‘The Greatest Showman’ director is coming to the West End

In 1978, Pavarotti performed a televised Christmas concert at Notre Dame Cathedral in Montréal, with the Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal and Les Disciples de Massenet choirs.

His rendition of ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ with the choirs, conducted by Franz-Paul Decker for the occasion, is spectacular and frankly spine-tingling.

Pavarotti’s voice more than matches the full sound of the choir, organ, congregation and orchestra, replete with booming brass, and it resonates impressively around the cavernous cathedral.

Read more: What are the lyrics to ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, and who composed it?

Pavarotti’s Christmas At Notre Dame also featured Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’, Franck's ‘Panis Angelicus’ and other Christmas favourites, and the film won the Christopher Society of New York award in 1981.

You can forgive us for having the ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ from it on repeat. Chills, every time.

Listen to non-stop festive classical music with our Classic FM Christmas playlist on Global Player.