Interesting re-post at Voegelin View of Jay Nordlinger’s survey of the classical scene, a long time before COVID. Some quotes worth re-reading today from David Shifrin, Joe Polisi, Marilyn Horne, and yours truly.
“They’re marketing singers as opera singers who aren’t opera singers! Andrea Bocelli, Charlotte Church …Whatever else they are – and a person may like them – they’re not opera singers. I let out a yell the other day, because I was doing the crossword puzzle, as I do daily, and one clue was ‘Tune for Bocelli.’ It turned out to be ‘aria,’ and I went, ‘&*@!’ I wish him well, and he has a place, but please don’t call him an opera singer”