Do you like the sound of an opera singer?

[SwapTheYforaD]

Generally.

I was in conversation with a young musician recently who admitted it's not really to his taste and I think I agree.

I prefer a 'purer', less wobbly sounding voice but am in awe of what pro opera singers can do.

Even the best opera singers: I'm impressed but not moved. If I am moved it's usually down to the orchestra.

Seeing and hearing a full operatic production is incredible though.

I can't stand opera. It's awful. I appreciate that the singers can sing amazingly well, I just don't like the sound at all.

God no. Can’t stand that vibrato. Wobbling over three or four notes, whoever thought that was a good idea?

Surely it depends. There are lots of great opera pieces. Also, if it's 'wobbly' there are plenty of non-wobbly songs.

They need the wobble for projection, I believe.

Maybe there's an opera singer among us who could educate us?

It's not the music that's wobbly, it's the voice quality/vibrato. Something to do with creating resonance in a relaxed body/vocal chords 🤷🏼‍♀️

Depends. Not all opera or all opera singers are the same. It's a little ignorant to say you don't like any of it.

On the whole I think it's sounds bloody awful.

I'm not a fan of opera generally, there are some opera singers who do have beautiful voices but the style of music isn't to my taste at all.

I too dislike that 'operatic' sound. I'd love someone to explain it.

I love some songs, probably the pathetic ones, but the full on 'give it a bit more welly and see how high/loud you can get' stuff really sets my teeth on edge.

I hold my hand up in ignorance! But people are allowed to say what they do or do not like, aren't they?

I like the style of the music, just not the quality of a huge vibrato voice, which you tend to hear in opera.

I'm talking about opera itself rather than lieder or more intimate settings.

No, I don't really enjoy it.

For some reason I have been gifted/cursed with an extremely accurate sense of pitch. I've tried a few online tests, including ones run by proper researchers, and score right at the top end of the population for being able to tell whether something is in tune, flat or sharp, even by tiny amounts that most people can't distinguish. (I don't have "perfect pitch", though, i.e. the ability to tell what note something is just from hearing it, or to reproduce a tune I know in the correct key without a reference pitch.)

To me, most of the time when an opera singer (or any other singer who uses a lot of vibrato) is singing, they're not singing anything anywhere near the note they're meant to be singing. They're rapidly oscillating between flat and sharp, and it's painfully discordant to me. (Incidentally, I can't listen to a live Adele performance for more than a few seconds because the woman cannot sing in tune even when she's not vibratoing the hell out of it. It actually hurts to listen, with my brain screaming "Flat! Flat! Sharp! Flat!" at me.)

Sadly, I'm not able to produce notes as accurately as I hear them, so my own singing bugs me too 😅

What's weird to me is that presumably, being professional musicians, everyone involved in producing operatic music probably has a sense of pitch at least as accurate as mine, but somehow the never-singing-the-actual-note thing doesn't bother them?

I find it more annoying when female pop singers screech and wobble to show off that they can hit high notes

No, I don't like it I prefer sacred choral music which can be really beautiful and inspiring. Opera sounds too intense for my liking, although some of the male voices are nice.

@HeadbandOverMyEyes Tarzan rock ya boat? 😂

Love it. And there are a ton of styles out there. At least it's not autotuned to death 💀 and is far less wobbly than R and B which I can't abide. Try a bit of Kathleen Ferrier: o , a gorgeous voice like melted butter. Or Emma Kirkby. This is a fun video too: d

Love Opera. Love good operatic singing and acting. Just as well since DS1 is training to be a repetiteur and his GF has a glorious operatic soprano voice 🤣.

@stbrandonsboat I think I agree with you in that I find male voices easier for my ears to deal with. The richer tones. Even a low female voice isn't, for some reason, as appealing.

Yes. I love opera done well. I have to be in the mood for it though.

Nope, it’s not for me. I can appreciate the talent but opera always sounds quite clinical and unemotional to me.

Give me a rock singer, plus guitar, bass and drums any day.

Yes I'd vote wobbly vibrato over auto tuned any day.

I love opera when done well. Magic Flute is less intense and more easy to listen to. It's not all warbling vibrato.

I don’t like any of it and have a music degree, so not exactly ignorant…

I appreciate the skill and musicality. I have just never found an opera I would choose to listen to. I don’t like the vocal style.

I feel the same about anything featuring an oboe.

I have a friend who is a professional opera singer so have been to a few operas and concerts where they sing songs from the operas. I'll be honest and say that I much prefer to listen to them sing other things.

I love it. I get really caught up with the whole thing - story, wonderful singing, music - it inspires great emotion for me.

I like opera, but my real love is Choral.

I like opera and I don't think opera singers are wobbly as you say at least not always vibrato is a technique they can use and I also think they do have very pure sounding voices. It might not be to everyone's taste but its not something people really explore before dismissing in my experience.