Voice of American Opera. Opera Article Critique

Stars today do not have the huge voices of the past. Even Wagnerian sopranos have more delicate tones, and schools try to produce these types of students, because of the demands of the industry.

Midgett also points a finger at the schooling of opera singers today as well as the economics of the recording industry, stating that singers do not get enough personal lessons and have too many distractions, including working to pay tuition. They are also taught by graduates of the system who can easily shape the worldview of young, impressionable singers. Singers without a distinctive sound or stage presence who will fit well into smaller parts or into a company are likewise favored. Young opera composers receive little training in the classics and tend to produce workers for lighter voices and smaller orchestras that favor the economical pressures that affect most new, American works of opera.The remaining 'great singers' want the 'great roles' of the past, not to sing these lesser, new American works.

What can make opera meaningful again? Midgett argues that for opera to regain its cultural significance, it must truly be 'opera' and not just American. It must have a size and vision worthy of the medium. However, as powerful as her arguments may be, a larger question arises: have all the 'great arts' grown smaller? Have epic, socially-relevant novels been replaced by blogs? Has epic theater been replaced by television? Recording and electronic medium has changed all aspects of modern art on a….....