Vocalist.org archive


From:  Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...>
Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...>
Date:  Mon Jan 8, 2001  6:03 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] op. v. pop- the crossover factor


On Sun, 7 Jan 2001, Gina wrote:

> >
> > Another singer to add to my "avoid at all costs in crossover rep" list
> > is
> > Jessye Norman. Truly clueless when it comes to Broadway or pop
> > songs. Te
> > Kanawa is just dull. Norman is outright offensive.
>
> Hi Karen,
>
> In what way is Jessye Norman offensive? I haven't heard her cross over
> stuff.
> You can email me directly if you prefer.

1) Absolutely no sense of pop style. She approaches pop songs as if they
were opera arias, both musically and vocally. The one exception - her
"concession" to popular style - is that she does some truly bizarre things
with scooping from one note to another - not just crooner-type scooping,
which when done by a Dean Martin or Bing Crosby can be quite effective,
but more like unwritten notes with operatic portamenti up to the written
notes. It's a really scary sound.

If you want to hear for yourself, go to the Tower Records website and
search for Jessye Norman in the Classical Section. There are a couple
albums that, by title, you'll be able to identify immediately as her "pop"
efforts - one is a collection of songs by Michel Legrand; check out her
rendition of "What are you doing the rest of my life?" in particular on
that album. The other is an album of pop songs including "It might as
well be spring" - which is another disaster.

KM
=====
My NEIL SHICOFF Website:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html

My Website:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html

-----
Es en balde, majo mio, que sigas hablando
porque hay cosas que contesto yo
siempre cantando:
Tra la la...
Por mas que preguntes tanto:
tra la la...
En mi no causas quebranto
ni yo he de salir de mi canto:
tra la la...

- Fernando Periquet


emusic.com