Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Elizabeth Finkler" <mightymezzo@h...>
"Elizabeth Finkler" <mightymezzo@h...>
Date:  Tue Oct 3, 2000  12:17 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist-temporary] 'opera singer' was junior, church


>From: Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
>From: Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
>Tako Oda wrote:
>
> > Don't get me wrong, I don't think A) Brightman is an extraordinary
>singer
> > or B) phantom is the greatest opera written in recent times. I am
>curious,
> > however, to know why you think the "electronic amplification"
> > automatically makes Phantom inferior to a "live" opera.
>
Though my personal
>preference is for singing without electronic amplification. I don't mind it
>in popular
>music, where the singing style is based on it, e.g., the jazz singer
>cozying up to the
>microphone in the dark nightspot, the rock'n'roll band where the entire
>sound IS
>electronics. But I usually hate it in Broadway-style shows, because it's
>too loud and
>hurts my ears and amplifies whatever bad singing is present. >

I dislike amplification in stage shows, not because I consider traditional
opera production the be-all and end-all, but because SO MUCH OF IT IS
DREADFUL! When I reviewed theater in Philadelphia, I sat through too many
shows that were a) amplified up to headache level or b) tinny or c) squeaked
and squawked at odd moments or d) all of the above. For a fuller
explanation, check out the S.O.B. Manifesto, posted on my web site at
http://home.earthlink.net/~mightymezzo.

For an example of a WELL-amplified show, Bay Area Vocalisters should check
out Saratoga Drama Group's current production of "Sweet Charity." If all
sound guys were as conscientious as Jon Wenger, I wouldn't have had to post
the S.O.B. Manifesto.

Elizabeth Finkler
http://home.earthlink.net/~mightymezzo/
mightymezzo@h...

"Virtue is triumphant only in theatrical productions." --The Mikado

"Quitters never win. Winners never quit. But those who never win and never
quit are just plain stupid." --anonymousse

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