Your favorite "under the radar" opera performers?

Okay so I've seen the buzz on Juan Diego Flores, Roberto Alagna (I know he's temperamental but what the hell his voice is grand), Natalie Dessay, and Bocelli.

What about those "under the radar" performers that you like? Maybe they've won an obscure competition, maybe they've performed only at local opera houses -- but they stir your heart and you feel goosebumps when you hear them.

Who are they? And why do you like them? And can we get them to perform in my area (okay this is a facetious question).

Your favorite "under the radar" opera performers?binoculars

A few things...first off, Andrea Bocelli isn't an opera singer. He's a pop singer who couldn't cut it in the classical world and thus started doing 'crossover'---the last time he tried to actually do an operatic performance he was booed out of the house. His voice isn't that great, and it's definitely not big enough to actually get over an orchestra in an opera house. Hence, he does popera---singing opera arias etc with microphones in studios, and the pop world doesn't know the difference. So he's not an opera performer since...well...he simply doesn't perform opera.

Secondly, the term "under the radar" is relative. Yes, JDF, Robert Alagna, Dessay, Netrebko, Fleming, etc etc are your big superstars, but there are also quite a lot of good singers that are famous. Some singers may be famous in Europe, but not in the States, and vice a versa. So again, what one defines as "under the radar" makes a big difference---could someone be considered under the radar if they are not superstars, but have performed at the Met, Covent Garden, Vienna SO? And so on..

As per my definition of under the radar, there are a few I would go with. For the women, the German mezzo Anke Vondung has a glorious voice, and she will be singing at the Met this season and is becoming more valued. Another mezzo, Elina Garanca, has equally great talent, although I guess one could now call her above the proverbial radar. A more obscure performer would be the French soprano Norah Amsellem, who is now making a big name for herself and will be performing some big big roles in some pretty big houses over the next season and has been doing so over the past few years (Amsterdam, Berlin, Seattle, Covent Garden, Met, etc).

For the men....Mariusz Kwiecien has one of the best baritone voices I've heard in a long time, and could have been called a little under the radar until fairly recently. His Polish countryman, tenor, Piotr Beczala has one of the most incredible voices I've ever heard--check out this video of him singing "parmi veder" from Rigoletto in Zurich last year:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eGn-laa7z1g

He'll be making regular appearances at the major houses in the next few years. And two American basses---Kyle Ketelsen and John Relyea---who would have been considered "under the radar" a few years ago, are now getting some major contracts and expanding their repertoire in Europe and the States. Lastly, one that could be truly considered "under the radar" right now would be the American tenor Stephen Costello. He graduated from the arts academy in Philadelphia fairly recently and already has performed at some big houses. He's very promising, and I heard him live at a recital in San Antonio a few weeks ago: he is going to make it really big (is making his debut at the Met this year in Lucia di Lamermoor and is already going to be singing the Duke in Rigoletto in Berlin this season as well).

Hope that helps.

And remember---stay away from Bocelli!

Your favorite "under the radar" opera performers?violin opera theater

One of the great opera singers today is the British baritone Simon Keenlyside. He is a star in the opera world, but probably "under the radar" compared to media favorites like Netrebko, Fleming and Florez.

Mr. Keenlyside has it all: He has an incredibly beautiful voice and is a demanding musician of the top level. His singing is expressive and stylish and he can sing everything from extreme modern to classic Italian to light operetta with equal sincerity and believability.

On top of all that he is very handsome and one of the most brilliant actors in opera today.

He likely won't be in your town anytime soon since he sings mainly in England and Europe. But he will be at the Met this fall in "The Marriage of Figaro".

Check him out on You Tube! especially as Papageno in "The Magic Flute". And let us know what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO-h1sPcs...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8PPvpjiN...
Mario Frangoulis, he is a classical cross-over performer. His recordings include both classical and 'pop' selections because at this point he's trying to appeal to a wider audience. I've read however, that his true love is opera.

Here is a link so you can hear him:

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=lV0i6Tpfxm...
Dear Theresa, thank you for your note. I have taken another look at your question as you asked, and I really don't think I'd be that helpful. Though I have studied opera and written about it from time to time, I'm just not a voices 'groupie'. I only follow singers in relation to roles and/or operas I'm interested in or believe to be important. Consequently what's under my radar are not singers so much as works, characters and roles. Of course, I do come across singers unknown to me I rate highly, but these could be from performances of 50 years ago as easily as anything else. To be honest, most newcomers rarely have the maturity to really deliver on roles yet -- that's the nature of their youth in relation to the discipline, not a failing on their part -- so they may stay right off my radar until say 5-10 years time when they suddenly emerge with a view of a role that grabs my attention. Their just having 'a voice' as such, doesn't interest me in the slightest.

I'm sorry I really can't do more for you this time. :-(
Hi~

Even though I no longer stay close to the opera enough to listen to the younger singers, and frankly I really do not care to, I only wish to put in a word about Bocelli.

Anyone naive or foolish or whatever enough to think of him as an opera singer simply does not know what an opera singer is. To smash him by jumping on him with all fours, saying "ha, ha, he got booed off the stage" is completely gratuitous.

Why are people so happy to take pot shots at him, anyway? As if he is a plague which, left unidentified, will kill us all.

It is not necessary to tie your pajamas in a knot about him. Bocelli is Bocelli. He is disabled. He has a very nice voice. It is small, it is lyric, it is warm, and it is romantic. If you doubt it, why don't *you* just open up with Bacciame mucho (however it is spelled) the next time your bathroom is steamy (I'm giving you the *best* possible acoustic situation!)... and if you cannot keep the line as cleanly as he does, if you cannot inflect it with as much warmth, if you cannot let it all flow out what way, top to bottom, start to finish, if I cannot understand all your words and exactly what you are singing about from an interpretive point of view, do me a favor ... wipe the steam off your mirror, look in and tell yourself that you are hard on people. And ~ if I don't want to kiss you, you're sunk!

And try "It's impossible" .... try ... ok? Bocelli sings that nicely....it really is not even that hard ....so try it on for size and if you can keep a nice, warm sound, make us understand all the words ....

(I can just see it now: someone is going to post on Answers: "OK. I know I have to be able to sing so you can understand all the words, but I don't want a teacher, so guys, do you have any free information so I can get it all together? I really want a big career and if possible I need advice about how to make you want me. The first one with all the right answers gets ten points.")

Anyway, where was I? ...oh, yeah ...Bocelli .....well, let's skip to the fellow mentioned in Answer #3 here ... he sings both styles? From what I heard, I am terribly terribly touched to the very core of my heart to hear of his dreams, but I don't quite understand that if he does have a legit sound, how he slips out so much of his "supported sound" for want of a better, non-technical term .. he sounds so foggy. To be safe on both territories, he should be able to keep a spin at that dynamic....

("OK, Guys. I have always wanted to be a crossover singer, and I now know that I need to be able to keep a forward-placed little spinning sound in my voice that Marilyn Horne once said her teacher told her should be "in zee teets", but do you have any free advice to dish out?")

There is an amusing little video on YouTube with the late Perry Como...together with Regis Philbin... they are singing "It's impossible" .. Regis starts to sing, but very quickly Como stops him. "Not so loud!" he admonishes him. Do you want a voice lesson? That's a voice lesson! Como was a crooner, Philbin started pushing the sound...

But, back to Bocelli.

Years back Bocelli was a cafe singer.

That is how he got his start. He paid his dues. He is not a flash in the pan, nor is he to be scolded if he is not an opera singer. He is singer of popular music, and a very nice one at that.

Bocelli is *not* an opera singer. The fact that he can sing Nessum Dorma as effectively as he can tells us more about Nessun Dorma than it tells us about Bocelli. He simply cannot or does not choose to have more support. ... Perhaps he does not have the strength vis-a-vis health to support an operatic sound. I don't know. I am not his doctor.

The guys of Il Divo are not opera singers either. Not one of them. They all sing right up close to the mike, like Bocelli, they all have light voices, and in one case barely legitimate, and they all have serious vocal flaws or at least limitations. Personally I love them, I really do. Although someone quite square said she did not like their fancy suits and their slicked back hair, I love their fancy suits and their slicked back hair. I love their beautiful stage presences and their earnestness, their willingness to be heartthrobs. I love all the little catches and throbs, the gulps and the sobs, I giggle at the way their voices fly way out of control and wobble all over the stratosphere in the big climaxes which they love .... ...who could not overlook the vocal flaws? I know it is off the subject, but I recently worked my silly self over the Italian words of Ti Amero, one of the songs they sing ...... it really is a heartbreaking song ...it makes me sob .....but opera singers. Mais, non.....they are not opera singers....you can even see them giggle to themselves when any interviewer uses that term....they can hardly keep serious faces. It just shows to go you how little the general public knows in depth about opera. Fortunately, *they* know who they are, where they have come from, even if the general public does not.

With respect to goosebumps: be sure you don't suffer from goosebumps. Like gushing, another illness, goosebumps can be incurable.

And sometimes, an artist will give us goosebumps, not because the artist is intrinsically so great, but we can come down with goosebumps because we think we *should* come down with goosebumps. Later on, with more exposure, and more understanding, we can be aghast at an artist who once sent us sailing.

I have two last things to say, thank heavens, and one is: do not let yourself be pulled off track about stars, you have a life of your own and the second thing is that there are a lot of people out there who do make a convincing sound... but artists? Time will tell.