Thread: Loveliest Soprano......?

Certainly Pettibon brings more personality to the opera than anyone since Maria Callas... and both were quite unique at that.

I usually spend more time thinking about gorgeous baritones, but...



Hei Kyung Hong - so cute as Zerlina in Don Giovanni.



Olga Guryakova (Lovely as Natasha in War and Peace)

And yes, it is about the voices, but I also enjoy watching physically attractive singers on DVDs. Aren't we genetically inclined towards physical beauty?

I cannot resist adding Jessye Norman here, because I think that she can indeed be described beautiful, also. Perhaps impressive would be more accurate, but she really knows how to carry her weight with authority. And with a voice like hers, what else matters?

a singer should be pretty right? that's the basic qualification for the industry and market demands.

I am sure, that I would have missed a lot, if I hadn't had the possibility of hearing the late Birgit Nilsson, for example, although I cannot see her having posed on the cover of Vogue.

Christine Schäfer's voice is so entrancing to me that she get's my vote everytime.

Originally Posted by jurianbai

a singer should be pretty right?

Not necessarily. But mention the words 'pretty' and 'classical musician/singer' in the same sentence and people will all of a sudden act as though the two don't go together. It's as though it's a crime to be pretty or attractive and we're only allowed to take classical artists seriously when the're fat, bald, ugly and have a look on their face as though they never had a day of fun in their whole life......I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean.

Besides, in lieder, oratorios (or opera cd's) and such it doesn't matter whatsoever how a singer looks. But although opera is first and foremost also about the singing, it's not the only important ingredient. Opera is also a form of theatre. And just like in regular theatre or the movies it's important to cast people who look the part. This should never be the most important consideration, but it shouldn't be entirely ignored either. Maria Callas herself lost weight and improved her physical appearance because she realized that it would be appropriate for many of the roles she sang.

Originally Posted by jurianbai

a singer should be pretty right? that's the basic qualification for the industry and market demands.

Flicka


Theresa Berganza


Can I just say that this thread is just a bit of fun. If you want a discussion on looks in opera there is this thread Do opera singers have to 'have the look' now days to make it?

Originally Posted by Argus

hey, that's why she made the news.

Kathleen Battle



Barbara Hendricks

Cyndia Sieden.........not only 'next door' lovely , but also the most wonderful Mozart interpreter (for my taste).

OK, I've refrained long enough.....gotta include our local Leslie Mauldin of Opera Idaho, Boise

How did I ever forget the ravishingly exotic Danielle de Niese? Of Sri Lankan heritage de Niese is not only a talented singer but she is also a fine dancer and can act (something a good number of operatic singers are not so good at) and exudes pesonality:



de NIese was absolutely marvelous... and stunning as Hebe in William Christie's production of Rameau's Les indes galantes:



At the end of the opera Hebe/de Niese acts as something of the "ringleader"/master of ceremonies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_nUt66IvIY

Danielle de Niese was already in my first message here, the second picture. I just didn't reveal the names. The first is Miah Persson.