Voice of American Opera. Opera

¶ … Voice of American Opera." Opera Quarterly, 23 (1): 81-95. First published online: July 2, 2008. doi: 10.1093/oq/kbn005 According to Anne Midgett's essay "The Voice of American Opera," American opera is losing ground after decades of gaining respect and popularity. For many years, American operatic training was renowned throughout the world, after overcoming initial European reservations about the nation's ability to produce high-quality singers. However, American vocal training has devolved, rather than evolved and American singers have lost their famed versatility and power.

European schooling has grown more competitive; American training less so, particularly given the rise of opera companies that have fueled the growth of vocal departments in conservatories. The demand for 'recordable' voices have also produced a less expansive and powerful voice. Even what constitutes American opera itself -- the setting, director, composer, or source -- is vague. Opera houses seen reluctant to advertise themselves as such, fearing that they might be tainted with charges of elitism, and now often produce musical theater as well as the classical opera repertoire.

American composers may indeed be American, but tend to use relatively conservative artistic and musical techniques, and evoke an earlier sensibility rather than challenge it. This may also be a symptom of the need to create opera that is well-suited to the recorded medium. Many listeners are unwilling to commit to hearing a full opera. More domestic and harmonious operatic music, the kind that is listened to as a distraction, rather than as a source of emotional involvement, has risen in popularity.

Stars today do not have the huge voices of the past. Even Wagnerian sopranos have more delicate tones, and schools try to produce these types of students, because of the demands of the industry. Midgett also points a finger at the schooling of opera singers today as well as the economics of the recording industry, stating that singers do not get enough personal lessons and have too many distractions, including working to pay tuition.

They are also taught by graduates of the system who can easily shape the worldview of young, impressionable singers. Singers without a distinctive sound or stage presence who will fit well into smaller parts or into a company are likewise favored. Young opera composers receive little training in the classics and tend to produce workers for lighter voices and smaller orchestras that favor the economical pressures that affect most new, American works of opera. The.