A French opera singer becomes the reference in the United Kingdom. This is the fate of Arnaud Kientz, opera singer and teacher in Paris. His version of “God save the King” became the only version of the new UK anthem after the death of Queen Elizabeth II last Thursday.
The 51-year-old Frenchman’s recording is one of the only ones available in an enhanced version suitable for listening on streaming platforms via smartphones. Because the Kingdom had not known a king for more than 70 years and the versions of the anthem that mentioned the queen had become obsolete.
It was in 2017 that Arnaud Kientz recorded a series of hymns, the Marseilles, the American anthem and the God save the Queen for the Music Gramm label.
The first results of the research on the platforms.
“The record company offered me to record God save the Queen, it was interesting. (…) In the studio we told ourselves why not record the version of God save the King,” says the singer this Thursday night for BFMTV, before singing the anthem on our set.
But the accession to the throne of Carlos III after the death of the British sovereign unearthed this new version. So much so that the recording in French appears in the first search results on the Spotify platform, and on Apple Music.
His version already accumulates thousands of reproductions on the platforms. The singer especially appreciates the anthem “it’s vocal, it’s lyrical, it’s interesting for an opera singer. There’s a solemnity and a noble side,” he confesses.
According to the Guardian, some record companies have already worked to modify the old versions of the anthem and update them. Others like the BBC have recorded new versions with the Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins, which are not yet available to the general public.
Source: BFM TV
