Can you make a critical comparison of Celine Dion's and Edith Piaf's renditions of "Hymn to Love"?

Robin Williams used to do a bit singing “Kind Of A Hush” as Ethyl Merman. It was hysterical.
Getting Celine to sing Piaf’s beautiful “Hymn To Love” reminded me of that. Piaf wrote that as a love song to her husband. Celine sings it like a bulldozer going through a plate glass window.

I prefer Edith’s voice and enunciation. You can’t really compare the sound of an old vinyl record to newer recordings, but if Edith had been singing the song today, I prefer her.

Maybe worth mentioning I don’t speak French, I’m just going by how it sounds to me.

I also will say that Celine Dion’s voice has never been a favorite of mine. It’s more how she enunciates rather than how she carries a tune, it often bothers me. It is easier for me to listen to her in French than English.

They both have very aggressive vibrato. Piaf has gravitas while Dion’s performance feels more melodramatic. But still, a great job. I prefer Piaf.

Thanks, that’s just what I was looking for. Although I pay a lot of attention to music, I don’t have musical training beyond piano lessons as a child, so I lack the analytic skills and vocabulary to talk about what I hear.

@JLeslie, I prefer Piaf too, but I couldn’t say why. I’ve played my old vinyl recording of her classic repertoire half to death. Even allowing for the fact that Dion was performing outdoors, with a huge audience and ambient noise, she can’t match the heart of Piaf’s performance. (I don’t know Dion’s work otherwise.)

Your description is so vivid, @filmfann: “like a bulldozer going through a plate glass window.” That puts it in terms I can understand.

@kruger_d, is it the vibrato, or is it the rolling, crackling, saturatedly nasal French r’s?