One thing that will probably never cease to irritate me is when I tell someone that I am an opera singer, they respond with, "OOH i LOVE Josh Groban!!" Not allowing my shock to show, I kindly inform the person I'm speaking with that Josh Groban, while a very talented singer, is not a classically trained opera singer. He is what I would more consider a POPera singer. Urban Dictionary defines "Popera" as: "A merging of the musical terms and styles of "pop", or popular music, and opera. A genre that has been created for Josh Groban; A classical-crossover sound." Josh Groban is not the only artist involved in this genre. Other artists include: Sarah Brightman, Susan Boyle, Charlotte Church, Katherine Jenkins, and I would even consider Andrea Bocelli to be among these ranks (although he has more opera chops for sure).
There's something about training to be an opera singer that is very satisfying. There's an extreme amount of pride that goes into the amount of training opera singers undergo. Years of voice lessons, coachings, learning the musculature involved in being able to project, unamplified, over a full orchestra in a theater that could seat up to around 4,000 people! Singing opera is like the marathon running of the performing arts. That is not to say that other mediums of performing arts are any lesser, but there is so much discipline put into training and patience needed to be a legitimate opera singer.
I will not lie, there were many years when I was very offended that people did not know the difference between popera and opera. I did, in the past, view popera as a "lesser" genre. I was an absolute opera purist, and felt as though singing legit opera was superior to almost any other form of singing. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE jazz, musical theatre, some sensible Lady Gaga....but I felt that opera was best.
Living in New York, we get spoiled with the absolutely overwhelming amount of culture surrounding us at all times. The highlights of social calendars among the wealthy elite typically revolve around opening nights: The Met Opera, Avery Fisher Hall, broadway shows and plays, and the list goes on and on. Manhattanites love opera, or at least view it with the utmost respect. Living in New York, it is easy to lose sight of how "relevant" the arts, and opera in particular are in the "real world." Until I lived here (and really until recently), I never realized that there could be any value in the popera genre....why would someone want a "watered down version of a truly meaningful art form." Until recently I didn't realize just how arrogant I was being....
As I've mentioned before, a lot of people view opera as a dying art form. Again, I completely disagree; if people are even talking about it, then it must have some sort of relevance, right? But in reality, all this talk of opera as an irrelevant dying art form has made me think....how can we let the masses see the beauty of opera? Now I know a lot of you are going to say, "Oh COME ON," but hear me out in my next thoughts....please. We all remember a lovely little album that came out in June 2010 entitled "Dark Hope." It was the first time, really in history, that a major superstar in the opera world had released a "legitimate" pop album. Now this is what I would consider reverse popera. Basically, Renee Fleming (love her!), released an album of indie rock covers where she actually altered her classical vocal technique to sing more authentically like a pop singer....in this case the result was oddly reminiscent of Cher (does that mean Cher could have been a FIERCE opera singer???). This album came out to mixed reviews - it was a huge gamble on Fleming's part. Indie Rockers hated it....opera purists hated it. Who was this album appealing to?
Those of you who know me know that I am an undying Renee Fleming fan. It's not just her gorgeously warm soprano, her sense of musical style, her amazing diction...Fleming is, and always will be a student of her craft. She is also a fearless business woman who is wildly intelligent. She has made her career hand-picking roles to sing, holding off on certain things until the timing was just right. She has said herself that she is EXTREMELY weary of relinquishing any and all control in her life, especially when it comes to her voice and her technique. Everything in her career had made a natural progression as far as roles, fame, and business choices. But then there was Dark Hope. Why on Earth would arguably the greatest living operatic soprano release an album like this? What on EARTH could she be thinking??
A lot of people laughed the album off. They made snide comments about how she was just doing it as a means of laughing at the music industry...."I'm Renee Fleming....I can do whatever I want!" But my instincts were completely to the contrary. There had to be a reason. A possible idea dawned on me one day at work. I don't know if this is the exact reason, but in my mind, everything started to make sense. Renee is, as previously stated, wildly intelligent. I'm sure she is aware that opera may not be as publicly popular as it once was. An album like this generated an enormous amount of publicity - I think I saw coverage and mention of this CD in practically every newspaper and news brief on TV that I came across. People may have disagreed with it on many levels, but it got people talking. It put another iron in the fire of the opera industry. The more I thought about it, the more I tried understanding what the bigger picture of this album was, the more I began to think of things differently as far as opera, popera, and even "reverse popera."
In an art form that is so unbelievably specified, one that most people can't understand, what if this album is able to get even one more person interested in opera? Sure they're not going to listen to the album and immediately run out to see the nearest Ring Cycle, but maybe they'll go to a broadway show, maybe even branch out to a La Boheme or a Carmen....pretty soon, you might have a convert on your hand.
The more I've thought about this, the more I have actually begun to appreciate it. The more people are exposed to even what some people might consider amateurish popera, the more these audiences will know some operatic sounds, melodies, etc. Who am I to pass judgment on someone like Josh Groban or Sarah Brightman? For so long I thought I was SO cultured and enlightened....why? Just because I sing opera? In a time when opera is "dying," why would we pass up any opportunity to spread the awareness and appreciation of it?
So here I am now. A few years older...several years more mature....I am beginning to see the bigger picture, not just in opera but in life. While I may not be rushing to my itunes to download all the popera I can find, I definitely have a new-found appreciation for it, and even a deep respect for it. It's NOT opera, but it's not necessarily trying to be opera. It is it's own beautiful genre of music that has its own very legitimate place in this world. If you had asked me 5 years ago what I thought of Josh Groban, you probably wouldn't have wanted to hear the answer....but now? I say rock on with your bad self.
Now the ironic thing is....who ever would have thought that the very genre that we thought was "cheapening" our blessed art form could possibly be just the very thing that saves it....
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