karen,
as you might remember from our jolly discussion on christa ludwig
singing 'candide', i cannot stand operatic singing in non-operatic music
(although, there are some exceptions).
i agree with you that bryn terfel does, at times, sound better singing
some of the operetta-ish musicals stuff. thomas hampson has a great voice
and an enviable technique but, i find his singing to be marred by his
personality.
speaking of hampson, the thing that bothers me about him also bothers me
about samuel ramey. they both talk, more or less, like ted baxter (remember
him, from the mary tyler moore show?), and that comes across in their
singing. sometimes, ramey sounds as if he has never uttered a word in
english before. this kind of nonsense isn't necessary for a 'continuous
vowel line', as proven by tibbett and robert merrill and others, while
singing in non operatic music.
i would guess that our requirements for succesful crossover differ in
that, from the list of people you like, it appears you prefer quite a bit of
the operatic technique to remain. would i be wrong in suggesting that you
would, in a crossover attempt, try to keep your technique as much the same as
possible, changing only what was absolutely necessary? (as opposed to my
approach, which would be to change entirely, almost as if i were not the same
person.)
thanks for picking up the thread.
mike
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