Diva Disappointment: "Firework" and "Edge of Glory"

Katy Perry's recent single "Firework" left me wishing the song had been written for a different diva. The message was in line with other recent work by artists like Lady Gaga and Pink, dealing with low self-esteem and encouragement (at various levels of empowering, like "Born this way" - more about that in a minute - or sappy, like "F***ing Perfect"). But the voice itself was lacking. With a wide range of an octave and a half, "Firework" requires strength, clarity, and a range of expression across the registers. (In my opinion, pop vocals usually play up the differences and uneven qualities of a wide range for expressive purposes, unlike classical vocals where we expect the voice to remain consistent in size and quality in all registers.) Perry's voice has plenty of bite and clarity in the low register, making the verse consistent overall with much of her trademark work (perky pop songs with an edge, like California Gurls). But where the verse begins to transition to the chorus, around "just own the night" her technique lets her down and the voice becomes spread and increasingly strained. The chorus itself is in the highest register Perry reaches and it is a painful reminder that, as tart and clever as Perry's persona is, she can never become the next Mariah Carey, Beyonce, or even...
(I hate to say it)
Lea Michelle.
Yes, the cover which redeems "Firework" for me comes from an all too likely source: Glee. As much as I can't watch Glee without deconstructing fervently the show's small-minded premise and biased plotlines, I have to admit that the show's star Lea Michelle has the voice that Perry lacks. (Artificial amplification and editing techniques aside, because of course both "Glee" episodes and Katy Perry performances and recordings are aided by technology.) Her rendition of "Firework" brought out the athletic nature of the rising line during the transition from verse to chorus with sophomoric perfection - this is, after all, a song to make the losers in you and me feel good about being ourselves - and gave the music all the timbral color and personality that Perry could throw at it. If she can get past having reached stardom for a teenage sitcom and get to Broadway, Lea Michelle seems to have the voice that it takes.

The title track from Lady Gaga's new album "Born this way" hit all the right notes for me. She mentions "transgender" and a whole host of other non-radio-friendly terms which need to be said (though admittedly, "transgender" would be hard to fit into any lyrical scheme - and Gaga places it where it has the most bite and sounds the most idiomatic, in a spoken break). And her main theme is one I support: you are who you are;  and because of her explicit reference to gender identity, among other things, this is not just a drinking song a la Ke$ha, but one that gets to the root of discrimination. Celebrating unique identity is different when you are channeling the average, typical, and broad-based appealing, versus that which doesn't usually qualify for airplay.
That said, the second single leaves the one element I am so attracted to of Gaga's music. Her electro-pop sound and distant allure keep her listeners questioning (even the ridiculous questions perpetuated this mystique, like "is she a man") and capitalized on the artificial nature of most modern pop. Rebecca Black used AutoTune and was rightfully laughed at, because the timbre created by her natural endowment and that of the engineers was laughable and strange in a bad way. Gaga's artificial sound remains attractive, even if also somewhat off-putting. "The Edge of Glory" closes the gap between artist, object (as in "Alejandro" or "LoveGame" - a person of sometimes unspecified gender who is being drawn towards Gaga's persona while we watch the seduction), and listener, and instead reaches for the tired cliche of love songs. The lyrics are easily paraphrased, but let me allow Enrique Iglesias to do it for me. "Tonight I'm loving you" - a sexy song despite its lyrics - exotic appeal is played up by Iglesias here, but not by Gaga in "Edge of Glory." Exotic appeal is the artistic element eschewed here, for basically the first time in the oeuvre of Gaga. We do not look to her for "Silly Love Songs" and I don't believe even Clarence Clemons' sax will boost "Edge of Glory" to the level Gaga usually reaches.

"Opera's Shakespeare:" why Verdi made one NYT critic's Top Ten

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/top-10-composers-hailing-operas-shakespeare-and-its-proust/ And I couldn't agree more!

John Adams on "Nixon in China"

http://www.earbox.com/posts/103
Read Adams' recollection of creating the roles and matching the singers to the music. He is self-effacing about his vocal writing and assesses his own music with a clear eye and a very approachable manner.