# Singers & Smoking?



## kg4fxg

Does anyone know if opera singers, or any singers you find in classical music (Lieder, Choral, Chant, Opera, etc) smoke cigarettes?

I know many conductors and composers smoked but was wondering about singers? 

Thanks

From Google

"...Do opera singers lead a particularly healthy lifestyle?

Some singers can smoke and drink to their hearts' delight, and it doesn't affect them as much as someone with a more delicate set of cords. Some people say, "I've got to live my life. Yes, I love my art and I want it to be the best it can possibly be, but I'm also a human being and I want to experience life."

I guess they are real people too? Feel free to discuss any unhealthy lifestyle. So what is the dirt on them?


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## Kuntster

I've known many vocalists that don't smoke cigarettes but will always smoke pot. Hmmmm...... Usually they won't smoke a week before a performance though.


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## World Violist

I'm sure that several singers back in the day smoked. Jennie Tourel, I'm pretty sure, was a smoker. After all, she was a really good friend of (in)famous smoking conductor Bernstein.


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## kg4fxg

*Btw*

BTW, I smoke and certainly take no issue with it. I can't sing so I can't comment if it would effect my voice.

I know Ravel smoked. I guess it was the inn thing and I am showing my age here.


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## voyaging

Kuntster said:


> I've known many vocalists that don't smoke cigarettes but will always smoke pot. Hmmmm...... Usually they won't smoke a week before a performance though.


Professionals or amateurs?


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## jhar26

kg4fxg said:


> BTW, I smoke and certainly take no issue with it. I can't sing so I can't comment if it would effect my voice.
> 
> I know Ravel smoked. I guess it was the inn thing and I am showing my age here.


Enrico Caruso was a smoker. In fact, he refused to sign a contract with any opera house that didn't allow him to smoke when he performed. He said that smoking made his voice what it was, adding to the rich texture.

BTW - I'm a smoker myself, but it hasn't had the same effect on me.


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## Mirror Image

Martha Argerich smoked like crazy. Isn't that right, jhar26?


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## Mirror Image

kg4fxg said:


> BTW, I smoke and certainly take no issue with it. I can't sing so I can't comment if it would effect my voice.
> 
> I know Ravel smoked. I guess it was the inn thing and I am showing my age here.


Yes, Ravel always had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.


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## jhar26

Mirror Image said:


> Martha Argerich smoked like crazy. Isn't that right, jhar26?


Yep - legend has it that people used to put packs of cigarettes in her dressing room instead of flowers. That story is probably tongue in cheek, but she definitely used to smoke a lot. I'm not sure if she has entirely quit smoking in fact, because I remember reading an interview from a few years ago where the interview was interrupted because Martha wanted to have a break so she could go outside to have a smoke. As a smoker myself I'm not holding it against her, but I wish she were able to quit because she's a former cancer patient. I don't think her cancer was smoke related, but my guess would be that given her health issues it's extra risky for her to smoke.

Martha smoking (5:37)....


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## Mirror Image

jhar26 said:


> Yep - legend has it that people used to put packs of cigarettes in her dressing room instead of flowers. That story is probably tongue in cheek, but she definitely used to smoke a lot. I'm not sure if she has entirely quit smoking in fact, because I remember reading an interview from a few years ago where the interview was interrupted because Martha wanted to have a break so she could go go outside to have a smoke. As a smoker myself I'm not holding it against her, but I wish she were able to quit because she's a former cancer patient. I don't think her cancer was smoke related, but my guess would be that given her health issues it's extra risky for her to smoke.
> 
> Martha smoking (5:37)....


Yeah, I saw this video. It's very interesting. She's kind of an enigmatic woman isn't she?

Anyway, not to change the subject, but did you see the picture of her on the first page of that new "Collection 2" booklet? Wow...she was good looking when she was younger.


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## jhar26

Mirror Image said:


> Anyway, not to change the subject, but did you see the picture of her on the first page of that new "Collection 2" booklet? Wow...she was good looking when she was younger.


Yes, I got to know her after I heard her play the (if I remember correctly) Tchaikovsky 1 concerto on the radio back in the day when I first got into classical music. When I got to the record shop to buy a few of her cd's and I saw those pictures on the covers of her albums I thought, "Wow - there's a nice bonus!"


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## Mirror Image

jhar26 said:


> Yes, I got to know her after I heard her play the (if I remember correctly) Tchaikovsky 1 concerto on the radio back in the day when I first got into classical music. When I got to the record shop to buy a few of her cd's and I saw those pictures on the covers of her albums I thought, "Wow - there's a nice bonus!"


I think she's one of the finest pianists of her generation (she was born in 1941 I think). I have heard nobody play the Ravel "Piano Concerto in G major" with more passion and intensity. I'm actually listening to hear play Lizst "Piano Concerto No. 1" right now. Simplely outstanding.


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## jhar26

Mirror Image said:


> I think she's one of the finest pianists of her generation (she was born in 1941 I think). I have heard nobody play the Ravel "Piano Concerto in G major" with more passion and intensity. I'm actually listening to hear play Lizst "Piano Concerto No. 1" right now. Simplely outstanding.


Well, I'm truly delighted that you're enjoying her playing. I always feel a bit uncomfortable recommending anything to other people, because I always fear that I might make them spend money on something they might not enjoy. I was pretty sure about this one though.

BTW - I've been playing the first two cd's of that Liszt/Masur set. Great stuff!


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## Mirror Image

jhar26 said:


> Well, I'm truly delighted that you're enjoying her playing. I always feel a bit uncomfortable recommending anything to other people, because I always fear that I might make them spend money on something they might not enjoy. I was pretty sure about this one though.
> 
> BTW - I've been playing the first two cd's of that Liszt/Masur set. Great stuff!


Well my first Argerich recording (I'm not sure if you remember) was this one:










And then I bought this one, which was autographed by her and Charles Dutoit:










The DG set is really great. It's amazing to hear, for example, how her approach has changed with the Ravel concerto through the years.

I'm glad you're enjoying the Liszt/Masur. That's a fantastic set!


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## kg4fxg

*Martha*

To me Martha is as beautiful today as she was young. I love that grey in her hair. And yes, I remember now that she smokes.

I saw it on the DVD Evening talks. She is incredible and mysterious too. Very interesting and I hear she signs no contracts. It is her option to show up and play at a performance.

I am sure many artists and composer have various little frables as I heard it mentioned. Horowitz I hear ate the same meal before he would play and spent hours moving the piano only inches on stage until he was satisfied with its position.

I love these little things, I don't feel so bad myself for being strange.


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## World Violist

I bet that tons of great singers smoked, especially back in the 18-1900's... and that story about Enrico Caruso solidifies it. So I really doubt that smoking absolutely kills one's voice. But I wonder what Caruso's voice would have been like had he never smoked... and how much longer he would have lived!


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## Sid James

I know some people who sing in choirs, so I'll have to ask them their views on smoking next time I see them. To my knowledge, none of them smoke, but this may have little to do with their singing...


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## kg4fxg

*Brand of Cigarettes*

I wonder what brand of cigarettes Martha Argerich smoked? That information seems hard to come by.....or any other famous person?

I guess those that have smoked it has not hurt there voice as it was popular way back. After all, you don't see many opera stars eating fruits and berries and doing yoga? Not that they are not health conscious, but I would not put them in the camp of those skinney gals with protein shakes.

After, all at the opera it isn't over until the fat lady sings? Or is that the skinney gal eating tofu?


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## jhar26

kg4fxg said:


> I wonder what brand of cigarettes Martha Argerich smoked?


She smoked gauloises cigarettes.


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## kg4fxg

*Jhar26*

Thanks. I'll sleep better knowing that fact. Terrible, but I can obsess about such trivial things until I find the answer.

One other thing, I admire the fact that she is a night owl. I would perfer to live that way too. I often get to work early and have my two cigarettes in the parking deck looking at the tall buildings in the heart of the city all lite up. Actually took the elevator to the top and had my cigarettes this morning with my coffee enjoying the dark and city lights.

There is no excuse for light. I gives me migranes.


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## Larkenfield

Smoking was considered 'cool' during the 40s, 50s, and 60s, even among a few opera singers:


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## flamencosketches

I'm a singer (rock & roll... definitely not an opera singer) and I liked the way my voice sounded better when I was a smoker. Couldn't tell you why. Might be a coincidence.


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## Rogerx

Smoking is bad for your health and it stinks .


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## wkasimer

One of my favorite ads from the bad old days, from a time long before we all understood the risks of smoking:


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## elgar's ghost

^
^

I'm always a bit sceptical of these ciggie ads from US papers and magazines. Up until the 1960s many baseball players endorsed various brands of cigarettes yet it transpired that many of them didn't smoke at all, they were usually paid a retainer just to allow their name and image to be used and have some 'quotes' written for them as if it were their own words.


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## wkasimer

elgars ghost said:


> ^
> ^
> 
> I'm always a bit sceptical of these ciggie ads from US papers and magazines. Up until the 1960s many baseball players endorsed various brands of cigarettes yet it transpired that many of them didn't smoke at all, they were usually paid a retainer just to allow their name and image to be used and have some 'quotes' written for them as if it were their own words.


I'm sure that you're right, but Melchior certainly smoked, at least the occasional cigar:









And a later generation of Wagnerians were certainly smokers:









From left, that's Thomas Stewart, Windgassen, Nilsson, Frick, and Hotter. It looks to me like Nilsson and Frick are the only ones who might not be smoking.


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## SalieriIsInnocent

Always thought Cesare Siepi's voice seemed smokey. 







Then of course Maria Callas, looking like an ad for Chesterfields. 








I know Pavarotti was a lover of cigars, and as an occasional smoker of them myself I do get the argument that you don't really smoke cigars as much as you taste them, fact of the matter is, you're still getting the smoke into you and on you.

I'd wager any singer from the era probably did. Onto pop singers, I know Nat King Cole liked to smoke heavily before he made a record, because of the quality it gave his voice. Frank Sinatra on the other hand was said to have taken a break from smoking and drinking when he had a session coming up, at least in the Capitol and Reprise eras.


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