# Eileen Farrell - arguably the best vocalist...ever/of the recording era?



## Baritenor (Dec 13, 2015)

I think there's a strong case to be made that she's the best vocalist ever since *she was basically the only one capable of singing both opera (arguably the hardest genre to sing) and popular music at elite world class level.*

Helen Traubel was capable of this too but, as far as I know, even though she was very good she was not quite in the same league as Farrell when it came to opera...or am I wrong? How do they compare when it comes to popular music??

I guess the counterargument would be that we haven't had many elite opera singers give popular music a go so we don't know just how big of a feat Farrell's versatility is. Renee Flemming and Angela Gheorghiu have tried their hand (voice) at it and, in my amatuer opinion, they were good technically but the performarce or 'energy' was not really there (unlike Farrell)....or am I wrong?


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## Baritenor (Dec 13, 2015)

For instance, in the case of Gheorghiu, to me this feels like carboard (sorry):


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Baritenor said:


> For instance, in the case of Gheorghiu, to me this feels like carboard (sorry):


It is a music video, so it is undeniably fake (lip-syncing).


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Baritenor said:


> For instance, in the case of Gheorghiu, to me this feels like carboard (sorry):


I've never heard the song (Romanian, I assume), but the arrangement is bland, glitzy and trite.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

You already made this thread last year!

https://www.talkclassical.com/63715-eileen-farrell-best-vocalist.html?highlight=eileen


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Traubel was a bigger opera star. She was the lead soprano at the Met in the 40's. Farrell sang opera but sang more concerts. She was also more successful at pop than Farrell, making twice her Met salary in pop. They both sang in movies. As to who is better that is subjective. I would say they are equally matched in pop, but Traubel was more limited to the styles of the 50's.


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## Baritenor (Dec 13, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Traubel was a bigger opera star. She was the lead soprano at the Met in the 40's. Farrell sang opera but sang more concerts. She was also more successful at pop than Farrell, making twice her Met salary in pop. They both sang in movies. As to who is better that is subjective. I would say they are equally matched in pop, but Traubel was more limited to the styles of the 50's.


The point was whether Farrell is a better vocalist than Traubel and not which one had a more succesfull career.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Baritenor said:


> The point was whether Farrell is a better vocalist than Traubel and not which one had a more succesfull career.


She had a great voice but not Diva enough for the people .


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Rogerx said:


> She had a great voice but not Diva enough for the people .


Exactly. When one listed the greatest Wagnerian sopranos of all time Traubel is always in the top 5 whereas Farrell is never in the list, partially because she never sang Wagner onstage, just in concert and on albums. Farrell was dumpy and very plain whereas Traubel was tall, glamorous and spent $300,000 to have Adrian of Hollywood design her gowns so she was glamorous. She gave the people what they wanted. With regard to albums, Traubel's were always 78 and Farrell LP, so Farrell's had better sound. I saw Farrell in concert and she was boring as heck and kept saving herself for the "last act" that never arrived. She never sang more than 40%. Traubel would blow you away on a regular basis. Farrell had a huge voice but saved it for big concerts like NYC, not Jackson, MS, where I heard her. What was extraordinary about Farrell was that she recorded quite a number of wonderful pop albums definitely in her twilight years, some after 70. These were all contralto in range.


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