Why do you like about Sarah Brightman as an opera singer?

Question

What's that about Sarah Brightman that just makes you keep listening to her songs again and again?

Answer 1

To cantila, del_icious & petrb:



What is obvious is that you all need to impress total strangers on the Internet with your vast knowledge of opera, because clearly we all care about your fatuous opinion.



Oh, wait, no we don't.



Yes, opera singers do not use microphones when they perform in an opera.



But Sarah isn't performing *in* an opera, she's singing opera, and she's doing it beautifully (La Luna is a great example). Again, you don't like it, don't listen. Apparently that is just too difficult a concept for you all to grasp.

Answer 2

What all of the previous answers are missing is that Ms. Brightman does not use the technique of an opera singer. She does not come close to the desirable voce chiusa, which is well balanced resonance that is even throughout the ranges. Any opera singer will tell you that she is not an opera singer. Those who claim that she is an opera singer do so out of ignorance. It is a common misconception that singers like Josh Groban, Charlotte Church, Andrea Bocelli, Jackie Evancho, etc, who do not readily fit in to the pop idiom, fit in the category of "opera singer." Operatic singers are often labeled as "snobs" for claiming that singers like this are not real opera singers. We are not saying that their art is wrong, just that we don t feel it is fair that they are ignorantly lumped in the category of "operatic," when it is obvious that they do not utilize true operatic singing technique. As lovely as People may find Ms. Brightman s voice to be, she would never be hired to sing in a true operatic production. What we need is a new category for this type of singer. Opera singers unfairly refer to the, as pop artists, while people unfamiliar with true classical technique unfairly refer to them as opera singers.

Answer 3

There is nothing I like about Sarah Brightman as an opera singer because she is NOT an opera singer. She is a pop singer with pretensions towards being able to sing a handful of operatic arias(which she does rather badly). This, however, does not qualify her as opera singer. Take away her microphone, her silly costumes and put her on the stage of an opera house (opera singers have to fill a massive opera house with NO microphones) and she would be laughed/booed off the stage in 10 seconds flat.



If you want to hear a REAL female operatic singers, go to YouTube and search for people like Natalie Dessay, Renee Fleming and Cecilia Bartoli.

Answer 4

Opera singers sing full-length roles in classical operas, in houses which seat thousands, and without the benefit of a microphone can be clearly heard in the back row of the uppermost balcony / gallery seats. They sing full-length recitals, in a similar venue, of unabridged classical repertoire.



Sarah Brightman has never done these things, and, being smart, never will, because if she did that work in those contexts, she would show as reallllly bad and plainly out of her league.



Brightman, Josh Grobin, Andrea Bocelli, Katherine Jenkins, and the similar likes of -- are all "Popera" singers. They've never sung an opera or an (oratorio) -- at least not without benefit of microphone -- in their entire lives.



http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/news/these-people-have-never-sung-an-opera-in-their-lives-6296320.html



So, I do not care for her voice, far thinner and less in tune than many a singer of oratorio, lieder and opera.



You might find you love the voice and musicianship of Elly Ameling...

Here she is singing Schubert's amazing " "Nacht und Träume"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TnK7tPTwHE

Ms. Ameling is still known and loved for Schubert, Mozart, Bach, etc. If you can find it, one of the finest performances of Bach's 'Wedding Cantata' - was with Ms. Ameling singing the soprano (with the additional attraction that was on period instruments and an overall fine performance:-).

From the Wedding Cantata, here is the aria, "Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten" as sung by Emma Kirkby,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRyoE1F0Fw4



But for me, Ms. Brightman??? Well, just listen to those links above :-)





Best regards.

Answer 5

Sorry, but she is NOT a proper opera singer. First of all, Phantom Of The Opera is a MUSICAL, NOT an opera, and it is NOT even proper classical music. True, she has sung things like O Mio Babbino Caro, but single arias here and there DO NOT make her an opera singer.

Answer 6

She's a great opera singer and I love her Mozart aria from her 1st album.

Answer 7

shes amazing.