(“I Started a Joke” samples are below)

As opera singers, we spend a lot of time discussing technique. In fact, everywhere you turn someone has something to say about how Famous Soprano X shouldn’t sing that role because her voice doesn’t have the heft. Or Famous Tenor Y sounded a bit tired in his last performance. Or, why did Famous singer Z scream through that entire performance!? Yes… people have a lot to say about how singers are singing. You know when they shut up? (Usually) when they are struck right in the heart or the gut with the sheer impact of a performance.

To be honest, I was a late adopter of the love for Callas. I never understood the mass hysteria over her. I thought her voice a bit shrill and overly driven at times. I thought it downright ugly at other times. But moving away from opera, I want to discuss other singers one could easily dislike in other stills. Billie Holliday isn’t for everyone with her smoky/whiny sound. Tom Waits… I nearly threw something at my TV the first time he appeared on my screen in a video!! Why would anyone want to hear that? And Leonard Cohen!! My sweet young ears, a voice student at Mannes, could not for the life of me comprehend why anyone would want to hear that. That’s all changed since then.

Fast Forward… I get it now more than ever. As a singer and voice teacher, my job is to find the most efficient and effortless way of accessing the full range of the voice. To guide each person to play with all available colors and shades. To give each singer the greatest palette to sing with. That’s the ultimate goal. That’s why some singers are truly divine. They have so much to work with. But does that mean that the less-than-perfect have nothing to offer? On the contrary, there is something to be learned by listening to people who touch your soul even while their voices are not always what one would consider traditionally beautiful, or “imperfect” in some way.

Here’s an example, an ex student of mine recently sent me this performance by Robin Gibbs of the Bee Gees. Then she sent me a cover by a lovely singer, Renee Maurice. Listen to the two. They’re both really great. But, for me, while Renee’s vocals are fluid and lyrical and truly lovely, I prefer the more “honest” and slightly choked up version delivered by Robin Gibbs. What are your thoughts on this? No one is wrong. In the end, it all comes down to what draws you to a performance.