Richard,
Interesting post. I've got to add that I think Sony is pushing Church HARD because the production costs of her recordings are relatively low (think about it--they don't have to employ a full orchestra, and at least in the beginning she could not have been commanding anywhere near the sort of recording fees that a legitimate operatic soprano--say Renee Fleming--would expect).
Sony's roster of classical singers is actually rather slender, although it includes some impressive names: Battle, Domingo, Carreras, Cortrubas, Curtin, Eaglen, Farrell, Fisher-Dieskau, Graham, Kirschlager, Upshaw and Norman. However most of the singers have only a few recordings listed (Domingo, Battle, Upshaw and Eaglen seem to have the most).
Interestingly, Charlotte Church rates a color photo and many paragraphs of copy (largely praising her "angelic" disposition) while artists of tremendous stature like Phyllis Curtin and Jesseye Norman rate only a sentence or two and no photo.
Anyway, I think that a very large part of the motivation to hype Church is Sony's push to be the best-selling "classical" label. It's strictly bean counters and spin doctors, and has nothing whatsoever to do with artistry.
Judy
PS--My consolences on the ghastly Brightman concert. I always thought she was very strange. And what's a click track?
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