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Today's NY Times has an interesting story at once sad and refreshing about a singer too proud and principled to sing pop songs.

"I said, 'My crossover is to Handel,' " Ms. Millo said. "It's one profession trying to get another profession to modern up. And it's not going to work, not with this girl."
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This is an extremely bizarre situation. A rock promoter is "inspired" by a classical performance, gives the artist final say over the program, and then cancels the concert because the artist refuses to do a Celine Dion imitation?

My favorite line was,

Ms. Millo said she was delighted when Mr. Origlio proposed the idea in May. "Here I thought it would be the wedding of P. T. Barnum and Jenny Lind," she said.
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The fact that the house was nearly 1/3 sold on the basis of very little promotion (a small ad in the Bway/rock section of the NYT Arts & Leisure & a very late arriving postcard) certainly indicates that Ms Millo would have had a full house once the word had gotten around.

Where is Sol Hurok when you need him?

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One of the finest recitals of a soprano I have ever attended was Aprile Millo at Brooklyn College many years ago. She is still capable of extraordinary singing. I am sorry to miss the opportunity of hearing her at Carnegie Hall but admire her for upholding her standards as for what she feels is suitable for her voice. Brava!

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Of course, there's the argument that "cross-over" encourage audiences to seek out the real thing. For instance, the Three Tenors were said to stimulate people to purchase opera CDs and tickets.

Who knows if this is true.

A few years ago the Three Irish Tenors visited our parts, and several neighbors were quite proud that they were attending this very serious musical event. Subsequently, I conducted an informal poll. Not one had been motivated to explore further into the world of serious music. In fact, quite the contrary. They seemed -- almost to a man and woman -- to feel that they had done their cultural duty for the decade. No extra dollars for classical music in THAT group. :(

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There’s good crossover and bad crossover, well intentioned crossover and crassly mercenary crossover, and it’s always been that way. The sky’s not falling. I don’t think Elly Ameling, Eileen Farrell, Helen Traubel, Dawn Upshaw, et al. were/are sluttishly whoring after a different audience. Strictly speaking, Millo was going to sing pop, as she was apparently planning to include some Rodgers and Hammerstein. That’s not quite the same thing as Millo singing “My Heart Will Go On,” but it’s a question of quality and not genre. As Mel Johnson pointed out on another thread, some pop music has a way of becoming light classical with time, and after awhile the inclusion of “I Have Dreamed” with the encores raises no eyebrows.

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The whole "crossover" bit is a polite way for both parties to extricate themselves graciously from a recital to which 1,000 of a potential 2,800 tickets had been sold. No singer wants the humliation of facing a half-empty hall. Lack of publicity is a partial culprit, as are the ups and downs of Millo's recent performances.

Many serious voice buffs in NYC long ago wrote Millo off; she has her faithful fans but not enough to sell out Carnegie Hall. They should have scheduled it at Tully where she could quite easily get a full house.

Very few events can sell out one of the big venues these days unless they are attached to a subscription series. Interestingly, Renee Fleming - probably the only singer today who can sell out the Met on her name alone - is singing to some empty seats in her MANONs currenty running. So far nothing has sold out at the Met this season - many empty seats at the Bryn Terfel FALSTAFF - not even Saturday matinees. This is dire news for an organization struggling to hold its subscriber base. High ticket prices and rather lacklustre casting have made some long-term subscribers I know give up. Also subscribers were "expected" to add a specified donation to the cost of their tickets. Is it worth it to hear some of the over-the-hill and/or over-rated people singing there these days?

Speaking of crossover, apparently Peter Gelb has some quirky ideas of what the NY opera public will buy into. I imagine he will further alienate the dwindling base of hard-core opera fans.

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Well, there are Amici and Il Divo. From my perspective it seems that serious opera lovers think they are "crap"; the people who seem interested are people who think Sarah Brightman is an opera singer. For some reason, British tastes seem more accepting of this stuff. The declining classical/opera audience in this country tend to be musical snobs. I suppose I would include myself in that category.

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...the difference being that for Caruso, crossover meant Neopolitan songs and today crossover means "My Heart Will Go On".

I do recall Tebaldi singing "If I Loved You" as an encore at Lewisohn Stadium...but she sang it with her full support & technique, no crooning. In fact, she sang it as if it were a Puccini aria. Then there was Birgit singing "I Could Have Danced All Night" and Scotto's "Send in the Clowns".

One of the few really successful crossover singers was Dorothy Kirsten, imo.

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The "crossover" phenomenon and resultant snobbery go back to Enrico Caruso.

Yes, exactly.

I do recall Tebaldi singing "If I Loved You" as an encore at Lewisohn Stadium...but she sang it with her full support & technique, no crooning. In fact, she sang it as if it were a Puccini aria.

For me, that’s part of the problem. I don’t turn up my nose at crossover on principle, but even with singers who have a “jazz” background, their years of classical training tends to deprive them of the right style and approach for show tunes composed after the era of operetta. I don’t mean that they shouldn’t try if they wish, but most such efforts don’t work for me.

Of course, for singers like Callas, Puccini was pop. :)

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The "crossover" phenomenon and resultant snobbery go back to Enrico Caruso.

I wonder if it also had to do with John McCormack, who insisted on singing entire selections of Irish songs in his recitals, to the derision of critics -- particularly British critics who were not happy about his forthright Irish nationalism -- but to the adulation of fans.

I don't think anyone, though, accused Pavarotti of doing 'crossover' when he did entire sets of Italian art songs and Neopolitan songs in his early recitals. It was more during his 'Hey Jude' phase, particularly with the Three Tenors.

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The "crossover" phenomenon and resultant snobbery go back to Enrico Caruso.
I don’t turn up my nose at crossover on principle, but even with singers who have a “jazz” background, their years of classical training tends to deprive them of the right style and approach for show tunes composed after the era of operetta. I don’t mean that they shouldn’t try if they wish, but most such efforts don’t work for me.

It's interesting that you use that example, because I've been thinking of Renee Fleming, whom I like very much, but whose jazz singing, on brief hearing, struck me as stiff and mannered.

Also on the subject of crossover, browsing a record store yesterday I picked up a promo DVD for one "East Village Opera Company." Although the members interviewed on the disc seem to think they're doing something radical, and insist, as if this validates their music, that Mozart today would be writing for electric guitars -- and I suppose he would -- to my ears the excerpted arias are rendered in dully predictable arena rock-style. I don't hear anything imaginative here, and the drumming sounds especially silly. But other opera lovers may have other reactions. All of which reminds me of "Rent" (which I haven't seen or heard). I wonder how many audience members at the Met or the State Theater came to opera through "Rent."

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I never saw "Rent" but what I heard of the score sort of reminded me of Blue Oyster Cult, not my favorite group. I don't have high hopes for the forthcoming movie version, but again I didn't see the show.

Mozart might very well be composing for contemporary instruments, electric guitar included, but not that kind of stuff, I'm sure. :)

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I've been thinking of Renee Fleming, whom I like very much, but whose jazz singing, on brief hearing, struck me as stiff and mannered.

I wonder how many audience members at the Met or the State Theater came to opera through "Rent."

I confess to feeling the same about Fleming, who's captured my heart in the regular repertoire. I read a very positive review recently of a Deborah Voight cross-over disc which said that Voight had a real gift for it, contrasting her with Fleming and others. Despite that, I do know people who have bought opera tickets because they became first heard a big-name opera singer doing his or her own strange version of pop.

On the other hand, although I know a number of admirers of Rent, which toured down here two years ago, not one of them was interested in spending time or money on a top-flight performance of La Boheme the following season.

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