Posted on 01/05/2010 4:16:38 PM PST by EveningStar
Even though I guess I shall be glued to the screen, I can’t say I’m thrilled to see that ITV is about to launch (on January 15) a new “classical reality” show entitled Pop Star to Opera Star.
The basic idea isn’t a bad one - pop performers like Kym Marsh, Darius Danesh (now Darius Campbell), and Alex James will be trained and ‘mentored’ to sing opera arias...
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
ping
It is bound to be an utter disaster.
It’s in the UK - for now.
I don’t know anything about the singers named, or that show.
I do know that pop singers who started out doing religious and/or school choir/chorus singing are trainable to sing opera, even if they took a detour through the pop/country genre along the way.
Posture, breathing, diaphragm control etc once learned is not forgotten.
The show is in the UK.
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Might be interesting. There are some pop and country singers who have very nice voices, and if properly trained they could probably sing the classical repertoire creditably. Could they sing well in Italian, French, Russian, Latin, German . . .? Mmmm, that’s another question.
Isn’t there some kind of opera singer wannabe show on already?
Most “opera singers” can’t sing opera well. Pop stars?
Opera is the ‘extreme sport’ of singing. Most pop stars couldn’t shine the shoes of a trained opera singer. There are exceptions like Steve Perry, Mariah Carey, etc. have amazing voices and skill—but they have/had microphones. Try being heard without a mic in a 5,000 seat theater over a full orchestra.
If you didn’t know, opera is extremely high, extremely long and only a fraction of those who can sing, can sing opera.
This is why Pavarotti’s voice touched people so profoundly—it’s a sound that we don’t hear very often, it’s a one-in-billions voice.
If Grobin or Bocelli is your idea of an opera singer, and Phantom of the Opera is your idea of opera, then this might work for you.
To those who love opera this will likely be a bad joke.
These are opera singers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VATmgtmR5o4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oG4cLyigq8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PYt2HlBuyI
“Just like Palmieri.”
Bryan Hymel sings Di quella pira?
Talk about fach abuse.
Nice high notes.
Very good selection - i didn’t know that any Bjorling & Tebaldi “Boheme” was available on video at all.
It’s a pity that Pavarotti’s voice in his later year/recordings had (IMO) deteriorated so. I admit to being partial to Bjorling (and to a lesser extent Domingo & Corelli), but i must admit that Pavarotti’s Calaf in the 1974 recording of Turandot (with Joan Sutherland as Turandot and Zubin Mehta conducting) is absolutely superb.
Thanks for posting.
You’re absolutely right. Most so-called opera singers don’t sing opera well. I thought I didn’t like opera, having been to several local opera productions and not enjoying the singing at all. Then I stumbled on a CD of arias by excellent singers such as Kiri Te Kanawa, Placido Domingo, etc., and I was hooked in an instant. I realized then that I didn’t like BAD opera! LOL!
Sherill Milnes, “Tosca” (Puccinni), Te Deum
Wow! Just wow! Perfect for Milnes.
I love Tosca. The opera is great too.
Tom Krause, “Toreador”, Carmen (Bizet)
Awesome!
I loved Carmen once, before I killed her. Eh bien! damnée!
Me too. And many others.
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