> The sad (?) fact is that a serious opera career precludes the kind of > availability one has to have in order to become a public relations > commodity. Opera singers are just too damned busy learning roles, > coaching, taking lessons, travelling from opera house to opera house, > rehearsing, and performing, to be able to "play the game" in terms of > going on tons of TV morning talk shows, do stadium concerts, etc. Also, > serious opera singers tend to be quite concerned about their vocal health, > and thus (the phenom Placido Domingo notwithstanding) tend to avoid > overcrowding their schedules with irrelevent activities that don't > directly relate to their singing in the opera house or concert hall. They > also tend to have musical standards, developed through years of study and > exposure and experience, that often give them a slight revulsion when it > comes to devoting too much time to singing second-rate pop music.
Sorry, but I'm afraid this is just the kind of snobbish attitude that has pushed opera to the back of the queue regarding popularity. Pop singers, and rock singers, have no choice but to relentlessly market themselves. For them, there is no option of existing on a government arts handout ("Lottery" money in Britain). It is do or die. If anyone has ever read interviews or watched a music documentary one would see how hard pop acts are pushed early in their careers, and how they perform when ill in order to attain success. I am as cynical as the next man about pop music, but it is a still a business and I can appreciate the hard work necessary to create opportunities. I do not consider making sure that a concert or tour a singer is involved in is fully booked an "irrelevant activity", be that by giving interviews or making public appearances. As for travelling, taking lessons and learning how to hone their abilities, I can guarantee that a pop act looking to make a long lasting impact will be doing all of this. If a professional athelete were to say "Sorry, I'm just too damn busy training to sign autographs or speak at events" they could pretty well count on the fingers of one hand the number of seconds that elapsed before they lost their sponsorship deals, or the goodwill of fans. You cannot expect the public (unwashed or not, it's your opinion!) to give you time if yourself do not give them something first. Opera, as an entity is realising this, and this is a good thing because there are many arias and pieces that I (as a pop/rock listener) enjoy, but I would never have come across them without Pavarotti's "Nessan Dorma" during the 1990 World Cup.
Sinclair
|
| |