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Original poster

Do you like the sound of an opera singer?

124 replies

SwapTheYforaD · 21/04/2023 14:50

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.

OP posts:
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6
ZittiEBuoni · 21/04/2023 15:31

Great operatic voices are straight from the gods for me. The right combination of voice and music brings tears to my eyes every time.

sabrent · 21/04/2023 15:31

Jux · 21/04/2023 15:28

I like opera, but my real love is Choral.

I love Choral as well especially early choral music.

Oopstheregoesanotherrubbertreeplant · 21/04/2023 15:34

I love it. Diana Damrau especially. Her Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute was amazing.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Theatre
TreeByLeaf · 21/04/2023 15:37

I love choral. I’ve only been to a couple of operas, and don’t listen to them at home, so not a fan. But I do love “Barcelona”. Is that too low brow ?!? Her voice in that song is just amazing.

NashvilleQueen · 21/04/2023 15:37

It's on my bucket list to go to the opera as I never have.

In face my only experience of hearing opera sung in front of me (as opposed to a recording) was at a funeral and the sound was like nothing I have ever heard before. I thought that all of the glass in the stained windows would shatter. You could feel and almost 'see' the sound. It was amazing.

So I would like to go to the opera properly at some stage.

Spendonsend · 21/04/2023 15:37

I've only been to one opera. It was such a beautiful sound. I was truly moved.

So much better than on TV or my alexa.

I also love choral music but find it just as lovely on TV.

Always4Brenner · 21/04/2023 15:38

Most give me a headache sorry to say this but it does.

Always4Brenner · 21/04/2023 15:39

sabrent · 21/04/2023 15:31

I love Choral as well especially early choral music.

Show quote history

Now you’re talking love 11th 12th 13th 14th music .

xogossipgirlxo · 21/04/2023 15:40

I could listen to live opera to see the actual performance, but it's not something I would listen to at home or in the car. Much more prefer just instrumental music.

tailinthejam · 21/04/2023 15:41

TowerStork · 21/04/2023 15:12

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

Likewise.

33goingon64 · 21/04/2023 15:44

You might do better with early Opera (baroque period, e.g. Monteverdi, Purcell, Handel) - there's almost no vibrato (wobble). Some opera singers aren't very wobbly at all. I prefer male opera voices to female, richer and less likely to be shrill.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 21/04/2023 15:46

I can't claim to be an opera buff and have seen only one opera (I think) in the theatre, but I enjoy listening to it. Cosi Fan Tutte is wonderful and the Trio from Act 1 is my favourite piece of music in any genre. Here's one YouTube version.

Carmen is a marvellous opera and I don't see how anybody could listen to it and find it 'clinical and unemotional'. We have the Maria Callas version on CD. Fabulous.

Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten is one of the most affecting works of art I know.

Lots of great operas by Verdi, Puccini and Wagner.

WhatHoMarjorie · 21/04/2023 15:47

I'm no opera buff but I do sometimes enjoy listening to Maria Callas when I'm pottering about the house. I find her voice quite moving.

ChaToilLeam · 21/04/2023 15:48

I have friends who are opera singers, and while they they can do amazing things with their voices, I’m not generally a fan of that musical genre. Definitely more of a rock fan.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 21/04/2023 15:49

Dido and Aeneas! Forgot that one. 'When I am laid in earth ...' Here's Jessye Norman singing it. Stunning.

TonTonMacoute · 21/04/2023 15:52

Yes, I love opera on the whole. When I was younger I knew someone who worked at the ROH, and I used to go lots.

Having said that, there is a big variation in tone between singers, and some are definitely more pleasing than others.

Anyone who is not sure should listen to Bryn Terfel sing.

IAmTheWifeOfMaoTseTung · 21/04/2023 15:55

I love (some) opera. But the techniques required to be heard unamplified at the back of a two thousand seat auditorium over a full orchestra require some very specific vocal techniques: Bing Crosby style crooning isn't going to cut it, and if you don't like that then you're not going to like it.

I went to a talk once by an international calibre Wagnerian heldentenor. It was held in a smallish room that seated about 200 and he briefly gave us an example of what he could do at full force. The sheer physical power of the sound was genuinely shocking: it was like the old Maxell tape advert.

Do you like the sound of an opera singer?
MouthfulofMidwinter · 21/04/2023 15:59

bigbluebus · 21/04/2023 15:22

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.

Whereas that's one of my true hatreds listening to an operatically-trained voice singing pop or folk. Very, very few people can pull it off. (Likewise a choral voice singing other things I think you can always tell that Alexander Armstrong was a chorister because his vocal tics hark back to that even when he's singing 'Hushabye Mountain' or 'MacArthur Park'.)

For years I never 'got' opera, despite having heard a fair amount of it because of friends who were at the ROH or ENO in some capacity or worked in touring opera. Then one day at a rehearsal at the ROH I suddenly 'got' it for reasons I'm still at a loss to explain, and since then, I'm opera mad, although I no longer live anywhere within reach of London and am restricted to fairly rare touring opera and small festivals.

Agree with @33goingon64 that early opera usually involves a 'cleaner' vocal style, which might be worth exploring for those who don't care for vibrato-heavy styles.

And there are some voices you just don't get or like -- I'm not a Callas fan, for instance.

MouthfulofMidwinter · 21/04/2023 15:59

Sorry, accidental strikethrough.

MouthfulofMidwinter · 21/04/2023 16:01

IAmTheWifeOfMaoTseTung · 21/04/2023 15:55

I love (some) opera. But the techniques required to be heard unamplified at the back of a two thousand seat auditorium over a full orchestra require some very specific vocal techniques: Bing Crosby style crooning isn't going to cut it, and if you don't like that then you're not going to like it.

I went to a talk once by an international calibre Wagnerian heldentenor. It was held in a smallish room that seated about 200 and he briefly gave us an example of what he could do at full force. The sheer physical power of the sound was genuinely shocking: it was like the old Maxell tape advert.

Absolutely, this! You can nearly feel your hair blowing back at close quarters!

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 21/04/2023 16:06

IAmTheWifeOfMaoTseTung · 21/04/2023 15:55

I love (some) opera. But the techniques required to be heard unamplified at the back of a two thousand seat auditorium over a full orchestra require some very specific vocal techniques: Bing Crosby style crooning isn't going to cut it, and if you don't like that then you're not going to like it.

I went to a talk once by an international calibre Wagnerian heldentenor. It was held in a smallish room that seated about 200 and he briefly gave us an example of what he could do at full force. The sheer physical power of the sound was genuinely shocking: it was like the old Maxell tape advert.

I can vouch for this. I once made the mistake of sitting next to two parents who were both trained opera singers at the school carol service. Blimey! The sheer power was incredible and drowned everybody else out.

pickledandpuzzled · 21/04/2023 16:09

I think you can always tell that Alexander Armstrong was a chorister because his vocal tics hark back to that even when he's singing 'Hushabye Mountain' or 'MacArthur Park'.)

@MouthfulofMidwinter that's really interesting, what am I listening out for?

EustaceTheMonk · 21/04/2023 16:13

Elina Garanca. Most amazing and moving sound I have ever heard from a human voice. Wonderful, just wonderful.

WhatHoMarjorie · 21/04/2023 16:26

pickledandpuzzled · 21/04/2023 16:09

I think you can always tell that Alexander Armstrong was a chorister because his vocal tics hark back to that even when he's singing 'Hushabye Mountain' or 'MacArthur Park'.)

@MouthfulofMidwinter that's really interesting, what am I listening out for?

Alexander Armstrong did a cover of The Stranglers' Golden Brown and it was the most bizarre thing ever. Initially I thought it was part of a comedy sketch, but no, he'd included it on one of his albums.

CurlewKate · 21/04/2023 16:29

@MouthfulofMidwinter -yes, that chorister timbre is very pervasive isn't it? It amuses me when I hear it in voices like Alexander Armstrong's singing very unchorister material!