Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Slide 2
Who
hasn’t
heard
of
the
saying,
“It
ain’t
over
till
the
fat
lady
sings”?
This
colloquialism
stems
from
the
perception
of
Grand
Opera,
more
specifically,
overweight
sopranos.
As
a
vocal
performance
major
studying
classical
voice,
the
common
response
when
people
hear
that
I
plan
on
becoming
an
opera
singer
is,
“…well,
aren’t
you
suppose
to
be
fat
to
do
that?”
Although
heftier
people
have
more
room
to
expand
their
lungs,
the
voice
needs
three
things
to
function
well:
a
power
source,
which
are
your
lungs,
articulators,
which
include
your
tongue
and
lips,
and
a
vibrating
valve,
which
are
your
vocal
folds.
Being
fat
is
not
a
requirement
for
one
to
be
able
to
sing
well.
Slide
3
Some
arguments
that
defend
being
hefty
as
an
integral
part
of
being
an
opera
singer
are
that:
*Opera
singers
are
fat
because
the
size
of
the
chest
wall
gives
more
room
for
the
singer’s
voice
to
resonate
making
it
louder
and
more
powerful
than
the
skinny
(or
skinnier)
singer.
*
Opera
singers
are
fat
because
the
type
of
mouth
needed
to
create
a
‘good
voice’
is
often
a
round
mouth,
which
incidentally
is
the
same
type
of
person
with
a
round
face,
which
also
incidentally
is
the
kind
of
person
with
the
round
body
type.
*Another
theory
that
Freud
would
be
most
interested
in,
is
that
Opera
singers
are
fat
because
they
are
oral
people.
They
give
so
much
out
through
their
mouths,
so
to
compensate
they
have
to
put
a
lot
back
in.
So
they
eat.
And
therefore
they
are
fat.
Slide
4
As
you
may
have
inferred
from
my
previous
commentary,
I
do
not
believe
being
overweight
is
an
integral
part
of
being
a
great
opera
singer.
This
stereotype
came
about
because
the
majority
of
the
most
talented
and
popular
opera
singers
up
until
the
21st
century
have
been
overweight.
It
goes
without
question
that
the
opera
singers
depicted
on
this
slide
have
exceptional,
world-‐class
voices.
Luisa
Tetrazzini,
depicted
on
the
bottom
left,
was
an
internationally
acclaimed
Italian
coloratura
soprano,
and
is
now
thought
to
be
eponymous
of
the
popular
American
dish
Turkey
Tetrazzini.
Deborah
Voigt,
depicted
on
the
top
left,
is
irrefutably
one
of
the
best
Brünnhildes
of
all
time,
while
Montserrat
Caballé,
depicted
on
the
top
right,
is
known
as
one
of
the
finest
interpreters
of
bel
canto
repertoire.
Luciano
Pavarotti,
depicted
on
the
bottom
right,
is
the
most
commercially
successful
tenor
of
all
time.
What
about
the
opera
singers
of
today?
How
do
they
compare
vocally
and
physically
with
those
in
the
past?
Slide 5
Deborah
Voigt
told
an
interviewer
that
she'd
been
booked
by
Covent
Garden
to
sing
the
title
role
in
Strauss's
Ariadne
auf
Naxos
but
was
then,
as
the
date
for
the
production
approached,
asked
to
stand
down
on
the
grounds
that
she
had
put
on
too
much
weight.
The
stage
director
wanted
Ariadne
to
look
glamorous
in
a
little
black
dress:
something
of
the
kind
Edith
Piaf
might
have
slipped
into.
In
the
memorable
words
of
Covent
Garden,
her
increased
girth
made
this
"not
such
a
fortunate
suggestion",
and
she
was
replaced
by
the
comparatively
wisp
like
Anne
Schwannewilms,
who
fit
the
design
concept
more
snugly.
Slide
6
Do
sexy
singers
sound
the
swansong
of
the
fat
lady?
So
is
it
true?
Is
opera
shrugging
off
its
old,
pub-‐joke
association
between
big
voices
and
enormous
bodies?
Has
the
curtain
finally
come
down
on
the
fat
lady
singing?
"I
can
only
say
that
if
I
were
running
an
opera
house
I'd
want
the
best
singer
for
the
role",
Voigt
says,
"whether
they
had
hips
or
not.
But
there
it
is".
And
as
she
knows
well
enough,
then
as
now,
this
is
an
issue
with
two
sides
to
it.
Slide
7
Opera
is
theatre.
And
for
at
least
the
past
30
years
it's
been
ruled
not
so
much
by
conductors
as
by
stage
directors
who
think
that
seeing
as
well
as
hearing
is
believing.
You
might
argue
that
the
tyranny
of
physical
appearance
is
already
well-‐enough
established
in
the
music
world.
Adolescent
singers
with
a
cute
smile
but
not
much
behind
it
tour
the
world
and
earn
a
fortune.
It's
depressing.
It's
unjust.
But
presentation
counts
sometimes
more
than
talent.
Slide
8
Anna
Netrebko
featured
on
the
left
and
Angela
Gheorghiu
featured
on
the
right
are
two
opera
stars
that
look
better
than
they
sound,
in
my
opinion.
Here’s
what
critics
have
to
say
about
Gheorghiu’s
new
album:
“This
new
album
from
Rumanian
soprano
Angela
Gheorghiu
is
a
mixed
bag
indeed.
…there
are
signs
of
technical
flaws,
the
repertoire
is
less
than
inspiring,
and
the
overall
impression
is
one
of
disappointment.
Angela
Gheorghiu:
Live
at
La
Scala
documents
the
soprano's
debut
at
the
great
Italian
opera
house.
The
singer
feels
that
it
was
brave
and
daring
of
her
to
appear
before
Italy's
most
volatile
opera
audience
for
the
first
time
in
a
solo
recital
rather
than
in
one
of
her
celebrated
operatic
roles.
Although
her
appearance
in
La
Scala
in
La
traviata
earlier
in
the
year
was
booed,
it's
clear
that
the
Gheorghiu
fanclub
took
up
residence
for
the
recital,
and
the
audience
seems
to
react
with
equal
delight
regardless
of
whether
the
singing
is
faultless
or
deeply
flawed.
Slide
9
I
feel
that
just
as
technology
improves,
and
strives
to
instantly
gratify
costumers
by
the
outward
appearance
of
their
products,
opera
is
also
headed
in
the
same
direction.
It
is
now
trying
to
instantly
gratify
its
audiences
with
their
performer’s
appearance
rather
than
voice
through
live
hd
broadcasts
of
performances.
The
recent
sacrifice
of
talent
over
looks
in
order
to
make
opera
a
trendier
more
marketable
performing
art
is
incredibly
unfortunate…I
do
not
mean
to
say
that
there
are
no
attractive
and
talented
opera
singers
out
there,
or
that
generally
hefty
opera
singers
sing
better,
but
rather
that
the
size
of
the
opera
singer
should
never
be
the
determining
factor
of
the
size
of
their
career.