Singers

Turandot is coming to the Utah Opera company.  It's not my favorite opera, but it has a famous aria called, "Porquoi me reveiller"...or something like that. It sounds so French that it probably needs liberating. I do like opera myself, though the cost is difficult to justify. I much prefer the type of opera called 'singspiel'. I'm not going to get into the finer points of singspiel beyond saying I hate opera (or musicals) where they sing EVERYTHING.

I went and saw Les Miserables around Christmas. I read the book when I was young and it changed my life. My daughter read it also. I am very proud of her Anyway, the movie sucked We had "Wolverine", "Gladiator", and that chick from 'Mean Girls' with fetal alcohol syndrome. They sang everything....and sang....and sang....and damn, isn't that "Catwoman" turning tricks?

Arggghh....back on topic. I love opera. The combination of acting, live orchestral music, and voice can be sublime. The same thing can happen with a good musical, which is just opera with easier songs to sing.

I took my wife and daughter to see "The Magic Flute" a few months back. The overture and one aria are the most known elements of it. It is one of my favorites because of the themes it covers. True love (even for the goofier people like myself), loyalty, selflessness, and redemption. It also helped that the 'Queen of the Night' in the production was smokin' hot!

My favorite opera might come as a surprise to many except my wife. It is "Three-penny Opera". (My favorite play is also by Bertolt Brecht). The opening song (not the overture, but opening song) is known to all. See it, and there will be many songs that you will sing afterwards.

What precipitated today's rant was a list I read earlier today. It was the top ten male vocalists. This particular list had David Archuleta on it. Yup, 'Gaspy' is apparently one of the ten best male vocalists alive. Of course, all this proves is that anybody can put a top ten list on the internet.

Now what makes a great vocalist? A number of things actually. Quality, range, timbre, uniqueness, and our personal bias towards certain musical genres. I am going to forgo a list, rather I am going to tell you who the best male vocalist I have ever heard and likely ever will. Luciano Pavarotti. He was bombastic, egotistical, repulsively obese (that means anybody fatter than me), and Italian. Nonetheless, when he opened his mouth....perfection.


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