Luciano Pavarotti

[jhetley]

Dead, of pancreatic cancer.

I'm not a big fan of opera, with long sieges of "Martha, take out the laundry" sung in embellished Italian and with dying consumptive heroines still managing to reach the second balcony.  But the man had a voice and a passion that even I could enjoy.

Comments

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that the majority of operatic sopranos could strip paint off a battleship with their voices alone.

That said, if I must listen to opera, I find Wagner more listenable than most, not because the opera factors are improved, but because his music is wonderful. I don't have any actual operatic recordings, and I usually skip the fifth movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony because the chorale from Schiller's Ode to Joy makes me wince, but I have have two CDs of Wagner overtures.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

>Not to mention that the majority of operatic sopranos could strip paint off a battleship with their voices alone.

I think that's because so many of the mediocre singers have to force their voices. It isn't just sopranos, though they take most of the heat.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

It isn't just sopranos, though they take most of the heat.

I agree it isn't just sopranos, but the sopranos are the most painful when they force it. A baritone or an alto pushing their range a bit can usually get away with it. A soprano pushing it can be like an icepick to the eardrum.
So they may take most of the heat, but it's deserved, IMHO.