Steven Schwartz wrote:

>It seems to me a lot of this barking is due to the larger size of halls.
>Pavarotti, of course, began as a wonderful lyric tenor.  His early
>recordings are full of subtle line.  But the roles he did then were
>different.  To me, he forced his voice to take on the heavier roles -
>really before he was ready - and lost a lot of musicality in the process.
>The money is so good for Calaf and Otello that many young singers succumb
>to temptation and blow out their pipes way too early.

I think, too, that singers are forced too soon into international careers
that demand huge repertoires.  I am a professional singer *and* conductor,
so I come at the singing profession from two angles.  There is a dearth of
truly fine singers these days (which is silly, because I have heard some
truly fabulous singers at the college level!), but it seems that no one
does an apprenticeship anymore.  Everyone is out touring all over the world
singing every opera under the sun, ready or not.  Look what happened to
Susan Dunn and Cheryl Studer.  Too much too fast and now who hires them?
In the olde dayes thinges were different!

Kevin Sutton, lyric tenor who will never attempt Calaf!