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 blog : Likely Impossibilities

http://likelyimpossibilities.blogspot.com/ A great read about all things opera- thanks for posting!

Prima la musica, dopo le parole; or Opera and Acting

Wort oder Ton: the great question at the center of Strauss’ last opera “Capriccio” beckons us to consider which is of greater importance in an opera – the words or the music. Even when not directly attempting to answer this question, opera singers confront it in their interpretations for the stage. Should the demands of the score take precedence over those of the script? Some of my favorite singers have weighed in on this question.

My portrayals are based entirely on the musical score. I cannot go beyond, or outside, what the composer has written because I feel a character right from the opening orchestral bars…[the music] immediately suggest[s] what lines your interpretation should take.  – Nicolai Ghiaurov, in Helena Matheopoulos Divo: great tenors, baritones, and basses discuss their roles.

Ghiaurov hailed from Bulgaria, as do so many other fantastic opera stars, and his voice is my #1 favorite of all basses (Rene Pape is my favorite living bass). His philosophy of acting is drawn organically from the score, painting his character with the colors of the instrumental and vocal writing provided by the composer. Ghiaurov sang most of the great bass roles and is best known for Mephistopheles (Gounod), Boris (Mussorgsky), and Filippo (Verdi). http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/opera/OFB/stars/ghi01.htm This site has several samplings of his long career – check out the Rachmaninov excerpt from 1956!

What [Tullio Serafin] said that impressed me was:  "When one wants to find a gesture, when you want to find how to act on stage, all you have to do is listen to the music. The composer has already seen to that. " If you take the trouble to really listen with your soul and with your ears — and I say soul and ears because the mind must work, but not too much also — you will find every gesture there. And it is all true, you know. – Maria Callas, BBC (April 1968) on Maria Callas : The Callas Conversations

Callas is of course renowned for her acting as much as for her voice. Her philosophy agrees with that of Ghiaurov, basing the interpretation of a role on the expressive content of the music. She stands in great contrast to other sopranos who shared her repertoire of bel canto music, who allowed the “beautiful” part of bel canto to carry the interpretation of roles such as Lucia or Anna Bolena. Callas knew the dramatic power of these operas could be tapped through a close look at the music and that a great opera singer is more than a songbird.

There are other theories of opera acting which rely more on the physicality of the actor than on the music. I personally agree with Ghiaurov and Callas, because their approach can be extended past vocal music into the instrumental repertoire. Not every composer has coded a dramatic interpretation into his or her non-vocal music, but observing what clues the composer leaves us and remaining faithful to them is a good philosophy for pianists and singers alike.