I have kept this link for quite some time now since some marquee names are not afraid to speak up whenever they see something wrong. In this commentary that we have at the moment, I would comment on some statements that retired soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa mentioned about Britain killing talent.
Dame Kiri has taken some students to train in preparation for the next breed of opera performers. On the other hand, she’s worried about the short shelf life that most performers have
“These new singers last about five years and then the next tenor comes through. I hope I am not speaking out of turn here, but television talent shows have a lot to answer for: Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor. If you win, it is ‘zing’, there you are, and for five minutes you are famous.”
Boom! That was hard. On the other hand, she has a point. Did Paul Potts’ career take off? Did he take the plunge to the opera circuit? The internet made it easy to produce overnight sensations but come the morning after, is there still a career to speak of? According to Wikipedia, he joined some singing contests again. I hope it’s not because no opera company would take him.
I’m not against some opera singers that decide to dip their big toe into the pond called showbusiness. But when thinking long-term, it gets you thinking if it’s worth the eventual plunge. You earn money now, can you earn again tomorrow? It’s a constant conundrum for artists in their quest for fulfilling their passions. So it’s a calculated risk too. Perhaps it saddened Dame Kiri that some tenors with potential would leave the opera circuit for a taste of temporary fame.
“I get criticised for attacking talent shows like The X Factor, but people often ask me when the singers they have seen on television are going to make it on the opera stage. The truth is they have got to learn how to sing properly first, but it is very hard for them to get the right training and experience,” she said.
Seems like Dame Kiri is a purist with very strict emphasis on “how to sing properly”. Yikes! I think I’d be terrified of having her teach me how to sing. It’s one thing to know head resonance and chest resonance and it’s another thing to make this knowledge work for you.
But it’s the heat that you earn when you voice out your concerns about how public opinion is shaped through these reality shows when it comes to what is quality singing as opposed to the strictly operatic singing. Her era is very different from the current batch – the kind that is very reliant on technique apart from the richness of the voice.
And since Dame Kiri is really at it, let’s keep going
“They sometimes put slimmer singers on TV for productions. They may look good on telly and somehow get through it, but they can’t really sing, and then on stage they have to use a bigger, better singer. I have seen that happen”
I felt bad for the bigger, better singers that only get booked onstage as spare tire. As for those slimmer singers, I hope they did not subject themselves to crash diets. I hope they didn’t take the tapeworm route as urban legend often attributed Maria Callas’ slim figure to that parasite (ugh).
Anyway, back to the issue at hand, Perhaps it’s the biggest sign that the world is getting smaller and people see it easier by the power of high definition television if some performers on TV are getting big, like full-figured. In a society that put too much premium on appearances than talent, it can really reach a frustrating level every time you watch TV and scratch your head thinking “How did she end up here?” Wait, Dame Kiri said “They” so chances are it applies to the tenors and baritones too?
“There are great, dedicated young singers coming up all over the world, and yet there is no space. No jobs, because there are only so many places at the top table”
This statement perhaps is the best counter-argument to the mistaken notion that opera is running out of talented singers. There are talented singers but not all opera houses are willing to gamble on them. The talent pool is thin so those would were currently at the top of the food chain end up running thin as well. And it has taken a literal turn for Jonas Kaufmann, someone I view to be stretched out thin. Does he even turn down roles? He looked too thin.
Dame Kiri raised a lot of points that you can read by clicking here. I won’t touch on the rest of the topics that she tackled. I would leave them up for you to judge.
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