Popera?

How would you categorise the latest brand of singing style?

I've been having a conversation with my work colleagues recently about the current rage for classical/pop "crossover" singing. Most of my opera singer friends are up in arms about it, mainly because they see it as a quick trip to vocal fame without the years of slog necessary to train in the projection and perfection of professional opera singers. I'm ambivalent about it - there is good and bad, as in everything. The best examples for me are Il Divo (superb mix of classical and pop styles) and the "Oh Mio Babbino Caro" and "Casta Diva" of Filippa Giordano.

We decided that these performers should really be listed under a new genre. Many of these singers sing with a classical or quasi-classical vocal setup. But although various singers are touted as the greatest-opera-singers-in-the-world-ever-honest-guv, most of them would not be able to sing unamplified over a full orchestra. So it's not really accurate to call them opera singers.

Russell Watson has never sung an operatic role, but what he has is a database of over 1,000,000 fans. And I'm definitely not knocking that - it's one of the deciding factors when a record company takes a risk on an unknown performer. Even the Opera Babes, who have both sung in professional opera productions, do not necessarily use their full operatic projection for their recordings - it's not appropriate. The new genre of classicalpop performers are essentially recording artists with the appropriate look or background, and some pull it off better than others.

Even in live performances they are using close miking and amplification. So please, by all means sing classical or classical/pop or classical music with a backbeat, but advertise yourself as an opera singer, or even (on one singer's latest album) the world's greatest voice?

So what to call this recording genre? Adam Lopez has just brought out an EP called Popera, and I think he has hit the nail on the head. He claims to be singing "the highest note ever recorded", and although he is not perhaps the most stylish singer in the world, I certainly agree with that claim. Check out his 'version' of "Nessun Dorma", complete with backbeat and Maria Carey-type scat. (Funny, don't remember that in the last version of Turandot I saw, but perhaps it might have brought the fun back into opera).

Actually, if you play three Lopez performances together, it really doesn't sound like the same person. We have his famous whistle register (yes, men have it too), his straight falsetto (check out his Magic Flute or Adagio) and you have his R&B with pop falsetto backing vocals, which sounds completely different. I find the popera stuff fascinating, although it has the touch of a circus act about it. However, I do like his R&B stuff.

Why does he do it? Because he can, of course. It's definitely worth a listen.

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