Mezzoid@a... wrote:
> And BTW, I'm not a classical snob. Some of my favorite singers include Renee
> Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, early Barbra Streisand, Julie Andrews, k.d. Lang, Bob
> Dylan, Thomas Hampson, Annie Lennox, Cher (!!!), Tom Jones, Bette Midler ...
> basically anyone who can interpret a song to my liking has a sound that
> attracts me.
Chris: yes, yes, yes! You are one of the few people I have heard say
something like that. Most of your favourites are favourites of mine too,
and for the same reason. We're singing a song at school[1] right now
that starts "Communication is the name of the game" and oh, it's so
true! I don't include Dylan in my list, but that's just a personal whim
(I had a clutch of young male pupils when I started who all idolised
Dylan and who all came to me exhibiting his worse characteristics -
flat, droning, sliding, parlando) which I couldn't shake out of them)
Love the message, though, but I preferred Joan Baez.
You can add to my list Freddie Mercury, Aled Jones, Bryn Terfel and Neil
Diamond in no particular order. And - shock horror - Charlotte C.
Now, I must explain, I have hardly ever _seen_ Charlotte Church, so most
of what I have to go on is by sound alone (BTW, does she spend most of
her performing time in the US? Most people on this list seem to have
seen her rather a lot) and I haven't been able to observe all the
problems with her jaw. I haven't heard her "live" for a long time, but I
do have the second CD, and if she were to be judged by that _alone_ I
would have said she is very impressive indeed for her age. I most
certainly didn't think, when I listened, oh, there is a flawed or
damaged voice. She's a _young_ singer and I teach young singers and if
any of mine could sing like her at the same age, I should be delighted.
I don't think things like the Jewel Song are appropriate for her age,
but Julie Andrews also sang this repertoire when no more than a child,
and I don't hear any of you criticising that in retrospect.
Whether she should be taking on the workload she does, for her own sake,
is a different question. She would appear to be tied to a record company
who are determined to get back their investment - there's business for
you - and she loves to perform, so unfortunately it would be hard
persuading her she should stop and review the situation.
Question to those who comment on her recent performances: if you have
heard her recordings, particularly the second CD, how does her live
singing stand up in comparison?
[1] I have just started teaching music at a local primary school (this
means age 5-11 in the UK) and I am loving every minute of it. My
previous school teaching experience was age 11-16 which I ended up
hating!
One of the first tasks I set myself was to improve the quality of the
singing in class, and in the second week, each lesson in turn, I had the
class stand in a circle, and with the help of their class teacher,
listened closely to each voice while they all sang together with me:
those who appeared to be in tune we touched on the head, those who
appeared not able to pitch - as yet - we touched on the shoulder, and
said next year many of them may also be touched on the head. Then I
always make sure I sit the "head" singers together and the "shoulder"
singers all round them, with the instruction that they were not to sing
so loud that they couldn't hear the centre group, then they too may end
up in tune; and the end result has
really startled me. I read about this method somewhere a couple of years
ago and it works so well!
--
Linda Fox, Cambridge
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