# Pop Singers who like Opera?



## obwan (Oct 24, 2011)

Just curious as to who some of the pop & rock & country and well known singers are from the various pop genres that are Opera fans. 

I remember reading that soul singer Aretha Franklin had always wished to be an opera singer, and later in her career, (this was about 10-15 years ago) she was reportedly taking lessons with a voice coach to train in opera. Don't know if anything ever came of it. 

Wouldn't it be almost something of a scandal if any of the major pop stars today were closet opera fans? Bet they'd have to wear a disguise or something. Their Agents and their managers would be PISSED! It'd be akin to driving a japanese car to job at a Ford factory in detroit. 

I wonder, in such a scenario, would it be better to get box seats or in the general seating? Box's might offer more privacy, but it would also be more conspicuos.

Lastly, who are some of the pop singers of past and present, from whose voice you can tell its evident that they have received much classical training?


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## mensch (Mar 5, 2012)

Probably not the most well known (at least not anymore) artist, but Scott Walker might fit your description. He was a member of The Walker Brothers (who weren't brothers) and were extremely successful with their sugary romantic ballads.

Scott Walkers solo output starting from the middle nineties is something quite different. Apart from the fact that it's rather experimental and hard to listen to, Walker now sings in a voice reminiscent of that required for classical songs. For a good example listen to the opening track of "Tilt" (1995) called "Farmer in the City". "Tilt" is a rather experimental affair so it won't be easy on the ear sometimes.


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## Grosse Fugue (Mar 3, 2010)

Rufus Wainwright comes to mind.


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## Dulcamara (Sep 22, 2010)

I seem to recall reading an article about how Freddie Mercury was a big fan of opera and ended up befriending Monserrat Caballe. I think they recorded something together, though I've never heard it.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)




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## GoneBaroque (Jun 16, 2011)

This one may be for the old timers, but Perry Como was a great opera fan.


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## obwan (Oct 24, 2011)

Wasn't it Perry Como that sung the pop song "Hey Campadre"... (imitating in very bad italian)
Hey campadre, ciua se nadre, dumdumdumdum (don't remember thos words) la violinu...
etc etc etc...?


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Linda Ronstadt actually sang a couple of opera roles later in her career -- but I'm not certain how successful she was at it. And, of course, there were the Placido Domingo-John Denver duets.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

obwan said:


> Lastly, who are some of the pop singers of past and present, from whose voice you can tell its evident that they have received much classical training?


Not sure if it is evident but Klaus Nomi did it before jumping into "glam" rock (heavily inspired by classical music)





Also a favorite of mine, After the fall:


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## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

While not technically a *pop* singer I think Nina Hagen fits as well. She was considered an opera prodigy by the time she was nine, but ended up as a punk singer instead.

exhibit A





And exhibit B...


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## GoneBaroque (Jun 16, 2011)

MAuer said:


> Linda Ronstadt actually sang a couple of opera roles later in her career -- but I'm not certain how successful she was at it. And, of course, there were the Placido Domingo-John Denver duets.


I know that Linda Ronstadt sing in Gilbert an Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. She did not do a bad job. I do not recall if she did any other operatic works. I always thought she had an attractive voice. She did an album of Mexican songs which I liked very much.


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## Desiree (Feb 11, 2012)

I think I read somewhere that Pat Benatar was initially classically trained.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

GoneBaroque said:


> I know that Linda Ronstadt sing in Gilbert an Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. She did not do a bad job. I do not recall if she did any other operatic works. I always thought she had an attractive voice. She did an album of Mexican songs which I liked very much.


I think she also sang Mimi in a production of _La Boheme_. I remember the album of Mexican songs -- I suspect we could find some samples on YouTube.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

obwan said:


> Wasn't it Perry Como that sung the pop song "Hey Campadre"... (imitating in very bad italian)
> Hey campadre, ciua se nadre, dumdumdumdum (don't remember thos words) la violinu...
> etc etc etc...?


As Perry Como was from an Italian family I doubt very much that his Italian was bad, any more than Dean Martin's was.


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Mireille Mathieu has recorded Una furtiva lagrima in spanish, hehe ... but not bad at all for a pop singer :










www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhKUIremrLA

Una furtiva lagrima
Un leve roce la voz
Sombra fugas que pasa
Se antiguas heridas de amor

Tiempo que siempre se va
Y que ya no volverá
Eso que llaman nostalgia
No es mas que un duende

Huye de los espejos
Porque se quiere esconder
Huye de los relojes
Y vuelve suicida al ayer

Memoria que miente a la razón
Recuerdos que matan la ilusión
Duende que vendes pasión
No me engañes con nostalgia a mi corazón

Duende que vendes sono decepción
No me engañes con nostalgia a mi corazón no
Duende que vendes pasión
No me engañes con nostalgia a mi corazón no
Duende que vendes sono decepción
No me engañes con nostalgia a mi corazón


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## notreally (Oct 25, 2011)

Andrea Bocelli.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

MAuer said:


> I think she also sang Mimi in a production of _La Boheme_. I remember the album of Mexican songs -- I suspect we could find some samples on YouTube.


The album is called Canciones de mi padre.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Cnote11 said:


> The album is called Canciones de mi padre.


She's also did a follow-up album - "Mas Canciones." Both are very enjoyable. Besides Pirates and Boheme she also did a vocal on one of Philip Glass' records. She's said a few years ago that if she could do it all over again she's prefer to be an opera singer.


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## obwan (Oct 24, 2011)

moody said:


> As Perry Como was from an Italian family I doubt very much that his Italian was bad, any more than Dean Martin's was.


I was referring to my own recollection of how the lyrics went.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

notreally said:


> Andrea Bocelli.


Zing!

Also, Patti Smith.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

If metal also counts as pop music (I guess it does), Eric Adams of Manowar did a rendition of "Nessun Dorma". Therion also performed some Verdi and Wagner on their album "The Miscolc Experience".


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

obwan said:


> I was referring to my own recollection of how the lyrics went.


Sorry, misread your meaning.


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## Desiree (Feb 11, 2012)

David Byrne is VERDI brave! Oh! I meant very brave...


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Desiree said:


> David Byrne is VERDI brave! Oh! I meant very brave...


OMG . . .


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## Desiree (Feb 11, 2012)

MAuer said:


> OMG . . .


Yes.  A cringe-worthy performance.


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Michael Bolton also recorded an CD with operatic arias. He was not bad...His Nessun dorma gave me goosebumps, though he is no Corelli, my beloved Calàf. 
He squeezed the vowels...still a pop singer venturing into this extremely difficult territory. I can't believe how difficult it is sometimes to go from English to a Latin language. He could not open up his vowels, I wonder if he had improved his pronunciation in the meanwhile. 
I respect him for his love for Pavarotti...


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## rsmithor (Jun 30, 2011)

Rocker Patti Smith... I spotted Patti Smith coming out the revolving doors (the Met Opera ticket window box office side of the house)... Wagner's "Parsifal" was playing that night.






Singer Patti Smith is interviewed by soprano Deborah Voigt before the 2010 Opening Night performance of Wagner's "Das Rheingold" at the Metropolitan Opera.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Therion also performed some Verdi and Wagner on their album "The Miscolc Experience".


yea, Chris Johnsson is a big opera fan. He's apparently busy writing his own these days. I hope he gets enough funds to produce it when he finishes it; it should be interesting, if only for novelty value


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

rsmithor said:


> Rocker Patti Smith... I spotted Patti Smith coming out the revolving doors (the Met Opera ticket window box office side of the house)... Wagner's "Parsifal" was playing that night.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow, Patty Smith, huh? She was the last one I'd expect to be an opera fan, but good to hear.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I'm assuming Pink Floyd's Roger Waters falls into this category seeing he's written one of his own.


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## FranzKroger (Apr 6, 2012)

elgars ghost said:


> I'm assuming Pink Floyd's Roger Waters falls into this category seeing he's written one of his own.


Correct - he wrote Ça Ira.

I'm curoius what will you say to this proposition, Amanda Seyfried well she's more an actress I guess, but I've recenty read that she's soprano ( don't know whether it's true or not ) , and this topic reminded me of that fact:


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## palJacky (Nov 27, 2010)

Dins said:


> While not technically a *pop* singer I think Nina Hagen fits as well. She was considered an opera prodigy by the time she was nine, but ended up as a punk singer instead.
> 
> exhibit A
> 
> ...


we all love Nina Hagen.
thank the space aliens for returning her safely.
she has recorded the part of the Mrs. Peachum in Weill's "three penny opera" for RCA.

my original input was to mention Rosanne cash is opera buff and discusses that as part of an interview she did with David byrne 20 years ago.

http://bombsite.com/issues/44/articles/1687

DB Do you get inspiration from other art forms?

RC I go to the opera, I go to museums. All art forms. I did love the opera, but it was a challenge.

DB I've never gone to a traditional opera. I've gone to some of the contemporary ones.

RC You should go. We went to see La Boheme.

DB I want to see one of the ones with lots of catchy tunes and lots of scenery.

RC Just going to the Met in itself is remarkable. I get inspiration from all of it. Do you paint or anything like that?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Not quite the same, but Bjork apparently performed Pierrot Lunaire once, but didn't want it recorded.

Also, Paul McCartney was a fan of Mahler's lieder.


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## Ralfy (Jul 19, 2010)

"Freddie Mercury: the great enigma"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/sep/27/freddie-mercury-great-enigma






"Sting attempts to 'open up opera'"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8271652.stm


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## Ralfy (Jul 19, 2010)

Bonus:


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Mahlerian said:


> Not quite the same, but Bjork apparently performed Pierrot Lunaire once, but didn't want it recorded.


Pity - that sounds interesting and a work that I suspect would suit her style well.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

elgars ghost said:


> Pity - that sounds interesting and a work that I suspect would suit her style well.


It says on Wikipedia that bootlegs exist, so if you know where to look...


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## tenoredigrazia (Feb 3, 2013)

Someone mentioned Pink Floyd. For what it's worth:


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## rborganist (Jan 29, 2013)

She also did Mimi in La Boheme. She took voice lessons to learn to sing the music without straining, and I believe she was reasonably successful, though she chose to stick with popular music. In one of his movies, Frank Sinatra sang "La ci darem la mano" with his leading lady (sorry, I don't remember who she was). Barbara Streisand put out a classical album called "Classical Barbara", though the reviews were poor. Actually, I thought she did quite a decent job. There was an extensive (5 or 6 disc) compilation back in the 1980s called "A Festival of Song" and it consisted of opera singers singing popular music. Salvatore Baccaloni sang "Bibbity Bobbity Boo", Ezio Pinza sang "Some Enchanted Evening", Giulietta Simoinato and Ettore Bastianini sang "Anything You Can Do" from Anna Prende il Fucile (Annie Get Your Gun), and Renata Tebaldi sang "All the Things You Are." There were, of course, many more, but those are the ones that come to mind. Hearing someone like Tebaldi sing "All the Things You Are" makes you realize that great popular music and great operatic music are both about beautiful melodies, and to hear a popular song sung with such a beautiful voice is quite a treat. (Look also for a recording of Die Fledermaus which includes a mini-concert in the middle of Act Ii at Orlovsky's party, and you can hear Birgit Nilsson sing "I Could Have Danced All Night" and cap it with a glorious high D flat.) My point, of course, is that it works both ways, though it is usually more successful when classical singers take on pop or jazz. (Leontyne Price is said to have had an excellent grasp of jazz style, and Kiri Te Kanawa recorded a jazz album, Blue Skies. I believe that Renee Fleming has done likewise.)


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

Mahlerian said:


> Also, Paul McCartney was a fan of Mahler's lieder.


Macca wrote a few oratorios of his own.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

ahammel said:


> Macca wrote a few oratorios of his own.


I wish I could forget....


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## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

jhar26 said:


> Wow, Patty Smith, huh? She was the last one I'd expect to be an opera fan, but good to hear.


Yes, in particular she's a fan of Waltraud Meier whom she called her "only living idol".


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## kaira (Mar 11, 2013)

I know the vocalist from Evanescence has had some training. Its some what evident when listening to her voice in some of their songs. Also, there was a progressive metal band ( not really pop) that had a classical singer they are called " Nightwish". Only the vocalist left due to a dispute and they hired a completely different voice, but most of their old music is redone. I don't want to bring up Sarah Brightman, but I'm going to. Emmy Rossum is also another. She is singing more light pop music, but I think she went to a music school as a child.


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## Orselina (Mar 16, 2013)

That's neat to hear about Benatar, because I was trained by her cousin 

Of course, Nomi and Wainwright are the first that come to my mind as well.

Is Wainwright's "Prima Donna" any good?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Seems like someone called Ricky martin, who seems to be a pop singer, is a fan. He's got all the opera singers in a tizz, posting pictures of themselves with him on their facebook:



















Really it should be Ricky Martin posting the fanboy pictures.


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## Amateur (Mar 21, 2013)

Frank Sinatra liked classical music and his crooning in the early '40s suggests to me that he listened to singers like Tito Schipa, but I can't confirm that.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Seems like someone called Ricky martin, who seems to be a pop singer, is a fan. He's got all the opera singers in a tizz, posting pictures of themselves with him on their facebook:
> 
> Really it should be Ricky Martin posting the fanboy pictures.


Well, all the opera singers as in father and son-in-law Hampson/Pisaroni.

But that is pretty cool, I must admit.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Aksel said:


> Well, all the opera singers as in father and son-in-law Hampson/Pisaroni.
> .


Hyperbole, Aksel. I does it.


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## PavelC (Oct 6, 2012)

I like the respect they have for one another, which can be easily observed:


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

"Andrea Bocelli" and "Sarah Brightman" as I remember.


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## eorrific (May 14, 2011)

Just found this today.




Surprisingly, that comes in an album entitled "Classical Barbra" and it was nominated for a Grammy in the "Classical" category for Best Vocal Solo.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

. Jeff Buckley, one of the handsomest pop/ rock singers with one of the most beautiful voices ever in that genre sang Purcell's Dido's Lament very beautifully. He also wanted to sing a Mahler Song Cycle in German in concert. Here he sings a Britten song in perfect counter tenor:


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

A band called Muse has an endless list of classical and operatic plagiarism. Those familiar with Samson and Delilah may want to brace themselves at 2:15


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> A band called Muse has an endless list of classical and operatic plagiarism. Those familiar with Samson and Delilah may want to brace themselves at 2:15


lolz, that's what happens when ambition >>>> skill. Some things are better left for the shower.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I'm a big fan of David Byrne (for many years), but oh boy that vocal sucked! So glad he didn't ruin an aria when I saw him last year.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

surprised no one has mentioned Aretha Franklin


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

obwan said:


> ...
> 
> I remember reading that soul singer Aretha Franklin had always wished to be an opera singer, and later in her career, (this was about 10-15 years ago) she was reportedly taking lessons with a voice coach to train in opera. Don't know if anything ever came of it.


Here is a clip of Aretha Franklin singing Nessun Dorma. She was substituting for Luciano Pavoratti on very little notice. I believe it was for the 1999 Grammy Awards.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

QuietGuy said:


> Here is a clip of Aretha Franklin singing Nessun Dorma. She was substituting for Luciano Pavoratti on very little notice. I believe it was for the 1999 Grammy Awards.


Phenomenal! Franklin should have been cast as Calaf, along with Ira Siff as Turandot, when the great traumatic soprano Vera Galupe-Borszkh was still active:






A unique opportunity was missed to explode the myth of Puccini as a retrograde sentimentalist and to show that bitonality wasn't the only "bi" this work was toying with. Such a production would also have revealed the justness of what for many is the stickiest point in the plot: our horror and anger over the suicide of Liu would finally have been replaced with a profound sense of relief that she'd gone to a better place. Much, much better.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Wow I'm on the floor.

Don't believe the 20 minute story for a moment and she struggles to do anything with the verse in Italian but I much prefer this to poorly trained singers without much of a voice who are record company fodder. 


She makes it her own at the end and though I'm not sure I'll ever watch it again,I'm glad to have seen this. Frankly I'm delighted she had the balls to do proper crossover and to my ears it works better than a big voiced Opera singer covering popular song.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Belowpar said:


> Wow I'm on the floor.
> 
> Don't believe the 20 minute story for a moment and she struggles to do anything with the verse in Italian but I much prefer this to poorly trained singers without much of a voice who are record company fodder.
> 
> She makes it her own at the end and though I'm not sure I'll ever watch it again,I'm glad to have seen this. *Frankly I'm delighted she had the balls to do proper crossover and to my ears it works better than a big voiced Opera singer covering popular song*.




I think that depends what era the popular song is from! It's impossible to imagine, say, Sophie Tucker substituting for an indisposed Caruso and singing the role of Radames at short notice, but ironically that would be _less_ incongruous than a female microphone singer as Calaf: at least the pop singers of a century ago knew how to project their voices, as opera singers still do!


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Couac Addict said:


> A band called Muse has an endless list of classical and operatic plagiarism. Those familiar with Samson and Delilah may want to brace themselves at 2:15


Hahaha! I like Samson et Dalila and have listened to the iconic Luccioni/ Bouvier recording maybe half a dozen times or more, but I wasn't sure whether I knew the opera well enough to recognize a subtle musical allusion to it in a pop song. Well, I managed to spot it... :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## anmhe (Feb 10, 2015)

I don't know for certain, but I think Henry Rollins may enjoy opera. He's always been musically adventurous in his tastes and urges kids to get out of their musical ruts and explore. He also has talked specifically about his love for Bela Bartok, so there's that.


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Only recently I discovered Katherine Jenkins. She surely loves opera. She has an angelic voice, but is so far from real opera it makes me wonder why did she sing Una voce poco fa, as this is no aria for beginners or pop opera singers. I only watched some youtube videos and interviews. She is really talented, but venturing into a territory too difficult for the level of training, could do more damage than good.
This is her cover of _Everything I do_-lovely






and this is opera O mio babbino caro(I won't post Una voce poco fa, as I find it too cruel)
BTW, these are old recordings...maybe she improved her technique.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

The Peels' novelty song 'Juanita Banana' combines mariachi with Rigoletto. Here's Tiny Tim:


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Once upon a time the divide wasn’t so obvious and Opera, at least the highlights, were popular music. Just look at the 3 stooges messing with Lucia Sextet on the current Film and Opera thread. They wouldn’t have done it if they thought the audience were totally unaware of the music.

IN the UK Music Hall aka Variety would often feature a Tenor or Soprano AND a comedy act parodying the form. Luis Armstrong used to warm up playing Operatic Arias. Etc etc. 

In my dreams I will do a doctorate to study how this divide became so rigorous. i.e. people seem to assume you like Classical OR Pop music. I find this thread slightly odd, why shouldn’t one of today’s musicians like both forms?


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

sabrina said:


> This is her cover of _Everything I do_-lovely


This makes me wonder whether the power ballad is to the late 20th/21st century what opera was to the 19th: populist, catchy, heart on the sleeve emotional extroversion. The movie that song came from would have been a suitable operatic subject. I presume the Italian translation is intended to demonstrate the 'classical' credentials of the music, since it obviously isn't for the convenience of Ms Jenkins, a Brit. If it's true that the Bryan Adams type of power ballad fulfils a similar role as opera once did, we should all try to gently educate the fans of Katherine Jenkins /Bryan Adams by showing them some proper singing of some proper music, if we don't regard those pop fans as totally lost causes.

I can't agree that either the song or the singer is lovely (unless we are talking about Katherine's good looks), I'm afraid. The original version was number one in the charts for about half a year when that film came out, and us schoolkids all wished Bryan Adams would get hit where it hurts by one of Robin Hood's arrows!


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Figleaf said:


> This makes me wonder whether the power ballad is to the late 20th/21st century what opera was to the 19th: populist, catchy, heart on the sleeve emotional extroversion. The movie that song came from would have been a suitable operatic subject. I presume the Italian translation is intended to demonstrate the 'classical' credentials of the music, since it obviously isn't for the convenience of Ms Jenkins, a Brit. If it's true that the Bryan Adams type of power ballad fulfils a similar role as opera once did, we should all try to gently educate the fans of Katherine Jenkins /Bryan Adams by showing them some proper singing of some proper music, if we don't regard those pop fans as totally lost causes.


You are young Grasshopper but I've given up believing that you can 'educate' taste in these matters. The TV is full of cookery programmes but people still eat burger, spag bol or a Korma all preferably with chips.

I like your idea about the dreadful power ballads that are everywhere but I suggest they have taken over from the big Operetta tunes that were so widespread until the radio came along. Operetta is a strange one for us to understand today, part high culture, part popular tunes. Near Opera if you like.

People are always asking me if I like Celine Dion or Bocelli or the latest no hope 'Opera' singer on Britain's Got Talent, to which I always reply: "Like is not the word..."


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Belowpar said:


> Once upon a time the divide wasn't so obvious and Opera, at least the highlights, were popular music. Just look at the 3 stooges messing with Lucia Sextet on the current Film and Opera thread. They wouldn't have done it if they thought the audience were totally unaware of the music.
> 
> IN the UK Music Hall aka Variety would often feature a Tenor or Soprano AND a comedy act parodying the form. Luis Armstrong used to warm up playing Operatic Arias. Etc etc.
> 
> In my dreams I will do a doctorate to study how this divide became so rigorous. i.e. people seem to assume you like Classical OR Pop music. I find this thread slightly odd, why shouldn't one of today's musicians like both forms?


Trouble is, popular and classical styles of music have grown too far apart. It's almost impossible for practitioners of one to cross over, with rare exceptions. Listen to Jane Froman as late as 1952:






The beautiful and beloved Ms. Froman trained to sing opera, but made her career in popular music. She didn't have far to cross over. Some of us are old enough, or old-fashioned enough, to regret the passing of singing like this in popular music, and of popular music that can be sung like this.


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