1. The great Spanish opera singer, who is best known for her singing of bel canto repertoire, and who has the first name Montserrat has a last name that's spelled Caballe!
2. Somebody wrote that Bocelli studies with opera singer Franco Corelli. According to somebody who writes on the opera list who does study with Corelli, Bocelli has only have a few lessons with Franco, but has chosen to publicize the connection beyond what it really is.
3. As far as Bocelli singing opera. He has, in public, without microphone, for pay. The most recent gig I know of was the tenor and title role of Massenet's Werther at the Detroit Opera, opposite Denyce Graves' Charlotte. I heard a little on the web, and was not impressed. So I think we can call him an opera singer, at least on a part-time basis, but a not-very-good one (I don't think opera companies are beating down his door to come sing for them). I've read he takes his vocal work on opera seriously, so perhaps if we think of him as a promising member of a vocal studio we're a part of (so what if he's making big bucks!), his singing would be viewed in better perspective.
Mission Impossible: As to Charlotte, I challenge anyone on this list to listen to one of the opera arias she's recorded - let's say the Habanera, or O mio babbino, or the Jewel Song, and right afterwards listen to a really good opera singer's recording of the same, and then say she sings those arias at even close to the same quality, without accounding for any studio enhancement that may have occurred. Such as Tatiana Troyanos' Habanera, Kiri te Kanewa's O Mio Babbino, and Ruth Ann Swenson's Jewel Song. I just did a little of that at Border's, where they had Charlotte at the listening station. So your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to accomplish this task and report back to the list. This tape recorder will self-descruct in 30 seconds.....
Peggy
-- Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA "Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile" mailto:peggyh@i...
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