| From: Karen Mercedes To: VOCALIST <vocalist> Subject: Re: Child Prodigies (was: Opera/Charlotte Church) Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Adelina Patti was 14 when she made her formal debut, and before that was known for standing on tables in her parents' cafe and singing arias. Not only did her career last at least another 50 years, but she was considered THE prima donna assoluta for many of those years.
I believe, however, to have sustained her career that long, Patti must have been doing something right technically right from the beginning. What I hear and see with Charlotte Church are some really significant technical flaws that, unless she manages to develop and exercise some self-awareness and intelligence, say "no" to the money-grubbers who want to exploit her, and devote five years out of the limelight to serious study while her instrument is still physically developing, I fear will sabotage her in the end and turn her into yet another of the 5-year wonders that the music industry seems overabundant in these days (you will note that I did not say "the opera world" - unlike the dreadful Andrea Bocelli, we have mercifully been spared Church's operatic debut - at least thus far).
I decided a while ago that Charlotte Church is to opera what paedophilia is to sex. There's something extremely distasteful to me about both phenomena.
KM ===== There is delight in singing, tho' none hear Beside the singer. - Walter Savage Landor ----- http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
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