Other crossover favourites of mine:
Lawrence Tibbett (seemed to shine in any music he turned his voice to)
Robert Weede (who moved from the Met to Broadway)
Robert Rounseville (ditto)
Nelson Eddy (began his career in opera, before going to Hollywood,
initially to get more exposure to help propel his opera career)
Bryn Terfel (at times, I think he's better in musical theatre rep than in
some of the operatic rep he undertakes)
Frederica von Stade (wonderful in musical theatre ingenue roles that she's
recorded, like Magnolia in SHOW BOAT and Maria in SOUND OF MUSIC)
Dawn Upshaw (I actually much prefer her as a pop singer)
Jerry Hadley (always delightful in his musical theatre renditions)
Thomas Hampson (a wonderful interpreter of Cole Porter)
Diana Montague
Placido Domingo (with the qualification that he does brilliantly with
Spanish and Latino popular music, but should steer clear of American pop).
Teresa Stratas
Not quite as uniformly successful in popular music, but still worth
hearing:
Rise Stevens
Dorthy Kirsten
Thomas Allen
Samuel Ramey
Ben Heppner
To my ears disastrous when crossing over:
Kiri Te Kanawa (a living advertisement for why opera singers should NOT
cross over)
Jose Carreras
Julia Migenes actually started her career on Broadway. She was the first
Hodel in the original cast of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, and also starred in
Charles Strouse's RAGS before "crossing over" into opera.
Eileen Farrell was one singer who was almost as well known for her jazz as
for her opera. Not a mere crossover to "legit" Broadway rep, but a
full-blown jazz chanteuse.
KM
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