Due to a minor, but necessary medical reason, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is canceling her European Ariodante tour, which was to have started on March 4th. The self-proclaimed "Yankee-Diva" wrote on her Facebook wall:
Dear Wonderful Fans,
It is with supreme regret and sadness that I inform you of a cancellation. This is something that I have, fortunately, only rarely been called on to do. In fact, the only time I have ever had to cancel previously in my near 14-year career, was to return home when my father was in intensive care. So I absolutely do not take this lightly, and assure you that the decision was a very, very painful one to make.
Please do not be alarmed - while this is truly unavoidable, it is not a cause for alarm, and I appreciate you allowing me to keep the specifics private. I trust that each of you know that IF there had been a way for me to avoid this, I would have found it.
I would like to thank Il Complesso Barocco and Alan Curtis for their tremendous support of me through this complication (a nightmare for any organization), and the venues who have graciously elected to carry on the concerts with the tremendous artist, Sarah Connolly. I wish the WONDERFUL singers a tremendous tour, and it makes me very happy to know that Handel's music will be so well served.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your understanding, and treasure your support.
Whatever the situation, we wish the Yankee-Diva well and a speedy bounce-back. Be well, Miss Joyce.
So, when Yours Truly was a senior in high school, I campaigned for the office of Senior Class President. I ask you: does that make me a politician?
Every morning when our girl is getting ready for school, I do her hair before she leaves. I ask you: does that make me a hair stylist?
Sometimes, I make dinner ... even for dinner parties. I ask you: does that make me a chef or caterer?
If you answered 'no' to all of the above questions ... you win! TELL THEM WHAT THEY'VE WON, BOB!!!
Now, this morning, the Dancing With the Stars cast of stars contestants was revealed. And, I'm sure we all know that I'm going to be placing my votes behind Gladys Knight and Sherri Shepherd ... I mean, let's be frank: Melissa Gilbert? Gavin DeGraw? Jaleel White.... URKEL? My eyes were rolling so hard they almost got stuck facing the back of my head.
As I was working my way down the list... I came upon "Opera singer Katherine Jenkins, 31".
Wait one-hot-second ... back up the truck - OPERA SINGER Katherine Jenkins? Katherine Jenkins, OPERA STAR?
Thus begins my head spinning around like Regan MacNeil's.
This is so WRONG - and, let me break down why:
In order to be an opera singer, you have to sing opera. Having performed a number of operatic roles in my life, I can confidently say that, while I'm not currently contracted to perform opera, I am an opera singer. Why is that? Because I have trained and have performed operatic roles ... on stage ... in front of an audience. I am a singer who has sung operas - an opera singer. If someone called me tomorrow and said, "James, we need you to come and sing [insert bass role here] ..." I could do it.
In order to be an opera star, you have to sing opera ... and not just a little aria here and there. You have to be professionally starring in leading roles in major opera houses on an ongoing basis.
Correct me if I'm wrong - and, I know you will - Katherine Jenkins is none of the above. She is another one of those people who has an instrument which is manipulated to sound like it's open-throat singing -- Charlotte Church, poor little Jackie Evancho, of course Andrea Bocelli ... they're all in that boat. Although, to be honest ... even Bocelli has sung at least ONE operatic role.
Many times, these singers are called "classical crossover artists" - which, in itself, is quite a stretch. While I understand that "classical crossover artist" is harder to say that "opera singer", I do find it very misleading for people to call these singers "opera singers" - when clearly they're not. Regular Joe Q. Public doesn't truly understand that they aren't opera singers. I get that. And saying they are opera singers gives them a certain classy appeal. But, as an opera singer, I take offense when I mention to someone that I am an opera singer and they ask me, "You mean like Jackie Evancho... or Andrea Bocelli?"
Uh ... no.
But, how is Joe Q. Public going to know the difference when they're told that people like this Kathy Jenkins are opera singers?
And, don't even get me started on Bocelli. Remember after the 2010 GRAMMYS when I ranted about Bocelli being introduced as "legendary opera star Andrea Bocelli"? I said it then, and I maintain my position: his voice is faux. It's faux opera - it's fauxpera. And, it's true that some people wonder how I can like Il Divo and not like Bocelli - they're all "classical crossover artists" who are making their living in pop. Here's the difference - Il Divo's handlers (a.k.a. Simon Cowell), know where their place is - they're the new generation of Popera. And, while 3 out of the four members of Il Divo are actual opera singers (aka: having sung operatic roles on stage), they don't claim to be opera stars or "legendary opera singers".
Back to Kitty-Kat Jenkins ... is she a singer? Yes. Is she an opera singer? Hardly. Yes, she can haul out an aria (albeit in a much different key than the original) - but, again, that doesn't make her an opera singer. Let us not forget that a certain Aretha Franklin sang "Nessun Dorma" at the GRAMMYS in the place of an ailing Luciano Pavarotti. I think we can ALL agree that Aretha Franklin should stick to being the Queen of Soul ... And, I think Jenkins should stick to being ...
This has to be one of my favorite quotes by an operatic legend ... not to mention that it is oh-so-true.
"I still use a CD player and I'm not embarrassed -at all- to take my CD player out of my bag on the plane ... I take my CDs with me and I listen to them whenever I can.
I don't have an iPod and I try to explain to the younger people in my family to please not to listen to my voice on an iPod. There isn't enough bandwidth on an iPod to give me what I need, you know? So, listen to me in the room ... turned up all the way." - soprano Jessye Norman in an interview with Tavis Smiley
During the last two weeks of personal imbroglio and craziness, I've had some thoughts rolling around in my noggin ... and, you know I'm not afraid to share them.
As we all know, the music industry lost a jewel in it's crown when Whitney Houston died. Since her passing, much has been cussed-and-discussed about the decline of her voice. Whether from drug and alcohol abuse, smoking or miss-use, it was evident during the tour for her last album that her voice really was just a shadow of what it used to be. But, according to her mentor Clive Davis, she was working on getting it back. Speaking at her funeral, Davis said:
"... last week Whitney came to my hotel bungalow alone -- no bodyguards, no security, just Whitney and me. And she played her new cuts from Sparkle for me and I played some new music that I liked for her. It was like old times and she looked at me and quietly said, "I want you to know I’m getting in shape. I’m swimming an hour or two a day and I’m committed to get my high notes back -- no cigarettes -- plenty of vocal exercising -- Clive, I’ll be ready by August."
"I'm going to to hold you to it," Davis said.
She was getting herself ready for her second comeback ... or, so says everyone in the media. But, could her voice - that truly golden and natural voice - be rehabilitated? We'll never know.
We were privy to a different rehabilitated comeback recently, though. Adele, who had cancelled a slew of concerts and dropped out of the public eye for months, performed again for the first time publicly at the Grammys. The British singer received devastating news last year after hearing a "pop" in her throat during a radio show in Paris ... a benign polyp on her vocal cord had caused a hemorrhage which required her to stop singing and to seek treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Dr. Steven Zeitels, director of the Center for Laryngeal Surgery was her doctor (and also the doctor for singers like Steven Tyler, Roger Daltry, Lionel Ritchie, and Cher). In an interview with CBS Boston, Dr. Zeitels references the famously - and tragically - botched vocal surgery of Julie Andrews, saying in part:
“We have generally tried to advance the state-of-the-art of voice surgery over the last 15 years, developing instruments, laser technologies, and the ability to do things that simply weren’t done even 10 years ago, with very famous case of Julie Andrews."
Ms. Andrews has now had four procedures with Dr. Zeitels and currently works with him on a voice restoration foundation.
After hearing Adele's performance on the Grammys, I got into a discussion on Twitter with a few Tweeps ... one of which was soprano Deborah Voigt. (Not to name drop, or anything...) Miss Voigt started the convo by tweeting:
How lucky is Adele that her surgery worked??? Lucky that no matter how much u grind on cords inappropriately, modern medicine can"fix it."
— Deborah Voigt (@debvoigt) February 14, 2012
It is evident that Adele is indeed planning on using modern medicine again - she tells Anderson Cooper in their 60 Minutes interview (see below) that it's inevitable - saying blithely, "I'm sure it'll happen again if I tour."
So, as I do from time to time, I wondered aloud on Twitter:
@supersinga @busywriting @debvoigt look at Celine Dion. She ran into trouble yrs back & quickly learned how to take care of her instrument.
— James Newman (@JNewmanNYC) February 14, 2012
And, Miss Voigt responded:
@JNewmanNYC yep, she did. And I know what therapists and teachers she used. Let's hope Adele found her team!
— Deborah Voigt (@debvoigt) February 14, 2012
Now, not to geek-out on you, but I did some research into Celine Dion's vocal issues and rehabilitation. I am, after all, extremely fascinated by the technical stuff.
It turns out that Celine Dion found herself in a similar predicament to Adele's. In 1988, a 20 year old Dion had lost her voice. In her book Celine Dion For Keeps, Jenna Glatzer quotes Dion as she discusses this difficult time:
"The doctor gave me a shot, and I took so many vitamins, maybe steroids," she says. "I went on for the first song. The second song there was not voice coming out, and there was a guitar solo where I had to do a costume change. The guitar solo lasted about five minutes and I never came back," she says, still shuddering from the memory. "I couldn't talk. The people weren't stupid - they knew I couldn't sing. Rene [her husband and manager] went onstage and I was crying so hard in my dressing room. I heard Rene talking to them and the people started to sing a song to me. I remember hearing every seat of the house ... you know when you stand up at a movie theater the seats go click? I could hear click, click, click..."
A doctor in Montreal broke the news to Dion that she would need to have surgery to remove polyps from her vocal cords. For a second opinion, Team Dion consulted Dr. William Gould here in New York. Dr. Gould, then nearly 80, was a renowned voice doctor who had worked with Frank Sinatra, President John Kennedy and Walter Cronkite.
After 3 weeks of vocal silence, Dion's cords looked perfect. But, they were convinced that if she went back on tour, she would be right back in Dr. Gould's office. Therefore, Dr. Gould prescribed something ultimately less invasive but, infinitely more time consuming and difficult - Celine Dion had to learn how to be a singer. In other words, clearly she could sing - but, she also needed to learn how to care for her instrument. She had to learn that the first thing is not to do harm.
Where did Dr. Gould refer her? To a doctor who was also an opera singer.
Side note: mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick says that opera singers can make spectacular doctors and I tend to agree. Especially if they are able to practice what Zajick calls "kinesthetic empathy" - being able to empathize with what's going on with someone - kinesthetically. Unfortunately, there are many instances when opera singers become doctors without having the ability to empathize with a speck of dust. These are the singers who teach their students how to build the car - without any regard for teaching them how to actually drive it, too.
But, that's an entirely different post all-together.
Celine Dion's new vocal guru was (and, is) Dr. William Riley - whose clients have included Ben Vereen, President Bill Clinton, Liza Minnelli and a host of singers from Broadway and the Met (including Teresa Stratas and one-certain Deborah Voigt). Dr. Riley taught Dion that her main mission in life was to protect her fragile vocal cords as any working opera singer would. He showed her how to vocalize and how to warm up her voice every day. And, he also taught her how to manage many things in daily life; how to sneeze without making noise, how to cough lightly, how to keep herself well hydrated, rested and how to rest her voice when needed.
Later that year, after rehabilitating her voice and learning how to take care of it, Celine Dion went on to sing at the Eurovision Song Contest and won - launching her career.
Today, Celine Dion is still singing ... healthfully. Last March, her current show Celine began it's 3-year residency of 70 shows per year in Las Vegas. And, Dr. Riley still works with her - often flying to Las Vegas to do so.
Take note Adele: if you want to be singing 20 years from now (and, you know we want you to be), I hope you're learning how to take care of your instrument. PS: Congrats on the Grammys.
For your viewing pleasure, Friendlies - here are parts 1 and 2 of Anderson Cooper's 60 Minutes interview with Adele. You really must check these out ... if for nothing else, to hear about the day-job she took *after* she won her first Grammy ...
Singer Billie Holiday died at 44. Judy Garland died at 47. Dinah Washington died at 39... ... ...
And tonight, news broke that vocal legend Whitney Houston has died at 48. The singer was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead in her Beverly Hilton Hotel room. She was at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in order to attend Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy Awards party. The party went on as planned, even as Whitney's body remained in the 4th floor room in which it was found.
Real voices. Real stars. Timeless - but, tragically gone too soon.
On this day in 1927, Mary Violet Leontyne Price was born in Laurel, Mississippi. Happy 85th birthday to one of opera's greatest living legends.
To celebrate, here are some of my favorite pictures of Ms. Price - followed by a clip that is sure to produce goosebumps.
Happy Birthday, Miss Price.
Vintage Miss Price.
One of Miss Price's early TV appearances.
At a recording session with Maestro von Karajan
On the set of "Taming of the Shrew" with Elizabeth Taylor
Oil on Canvas by Bradley Phillips - National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian
At home with the above portrait gracing her mantel.
One hell-uv-ah headshot.
As Aida in 1984, her final season at the Met.
Soprano Kathleen Battle with Miss Price at Oprah's Legends Lunch
And for your added enjoyment - here is Ms. Price's final Aida at The Met. She has just finished "O patria mia" - and the audience thunders. You must watch the entire clip, though - Ms. Price tries her hardest to stay in character but, becomes overwhelmed by the enormity of it all and finally acknowledges the audiences appreciation.
Ms. Martina was born in New York City on this day in 1937. The younger of two children of Demetrio Arroyo, an immigrant from Puerto Rico, and Lucille Washington, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, Ms. Martina enjoyed much success as a soprano - but, it might not have been.
In 1957, a 20 year old Ms. Martina auditioned for the Met but was declined. Somewhat disheartened, she began working on a Masters degree in comparative literature at New York University. The following year, she auditioned again and won the Met's Audition of the Air competition which was a pre-cursor to the National Council Auditions. In March of 1959, she made her official debut as the Celestial Voice in Verdi's Don Carlo.
After an operatic career that spanned 30 years, Ms Martina retired officially from the operatic stage in 1987. Always candid about her perceived status as second-best to her colleague Leontyne Price; once, when a Met doorman greeted her as "Miss Price", she sweetly replied, "No, honey: I'm the other one."
Yes. Yes, they do [see right]. Ladies and Gents, it's time for us to tip our hats to wish Elaine Stritch a very Happy Birthday for on this day in 1925, the legend was born. Indeed, that would make her 87.
I'll drink to that.....
Elaine Bawson Stritch was born in Detroit, Michigan to Mildred, a homemaker, and George Joseph Stritch, an executive with B.F. Goodrich. Her family was wealthy and devoutly Roman Catholic. Stritch was a niece of Samuel Cardinal Stritch, the former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago.
I'd give you the run down of her career, but that would just be preaching to the choir, right? We all know this legend has been working her hysterical timing and brassy voice on stage, on film and on television since her stage debut in 1944 - some 68 years. And she's still going. Bless her heart.
Stritchy, here's to the Lady still lunching! Happy Birthday!
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