Dear Mike and Chiris and Vocalisters:
I am not suggesting that classically trained singers should bring classical ideas into pops singing, only that to do so is less a violation of the pops form than if the reverse were done.
Pops music, by definition, is intended to be completed by the performer. That is one of its great charms; each pops artist is granted extensive freedom to perform the music as they wish and nothing they do can be considered incorrect in light of the musical concept that began the process.
But that does not mean that everyone will like any given performance. There is great discrepancy between the performances of a given song by two well respected and accepted pops-only performers but not everyone will appreciate each performers work on any given tune.
However, one of the characteristics of classic song or opera is a reduction in the freedom that a performer may assume in performing the song within a classic or operatic style. This is so because the creative work of the composer is considered complete and is not left to be completed by the performer as is the case in pops music. (I know someone will bring up the example of cadenzas in arias and concertos but these are exceptions that are limited to particular short places in the music).
If a pops performer sings a classic song or opera aria in a pops style, it is no longer a classic song nor an opera aria because a basic tenant of the style (the limited freedom allowed the performer because of the completeness of the composer's work) has been violated.
It is not possible, given the opposite quality of pops music to so violate a pops song regardless of our own personal feelings about who does it best. An example of how this can be misunderstood is the case of an older person who loved the arrangements of Glenn Miller being offended by a rock version of "Sting of Pearls". The personal choice is acknowledged but no violation has been done to the piece if it is presented in new clothes. And it is still pops music, rock or swing rendition.
But if "Nessun Dorma" is belted by pops singer it is no longer an opera aria. It is now a pops song.
Just differences in concept carried out to a logical conclusion.
>Mike wrote: > >I think you'll find that people who listen mostly to pop music would >not want to hear anything operatic in the singing of pop music. -- Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA Professor of Voice, Pedagogy School of Performing Arts Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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