Mismatched by moonlight: Jackie Evancho’s Sony Classical adventure

Ehkzu says:

This thread conflates several distinct topics:

1. zombie duets (non-live ones), regardless of performer

2. making duets out of solos, regardless of performer

3. having duets in which one singer is singing operatically and the other is singing in pop style

4. this particular tenor singing with this particular soprano

1. zombie duets

Is this issue conceptual or real? After all, aren’t most recordings of operas processed via extensive human and electronic intervention? The reductio ad absurdum of this argument is that you should eschew all recordings and only experience music live. I’m not sure that’s even ideal. For example, my favorite Carmen is the movie by Franco Rossi featuring contralto Julia Migenes, whose voice wasn’t big enough for the live stage. Yet her Carmen is electric. And how many beloved opera/classical recordings stitch together the best parts of several takes?

All things being equal, obviously duets should be done with the duetters standing there looking at each other. On the other hand I’d rather listen to a zombie duet by superb singers than a real one by the kind of performers you hear on LaserLight recordings. Live-together duetting, therefore, is preferable but not dispositive.

I get the impression that with zombie duets, they aren’t just recorded separately and then patched together. One person sings “to” the other person’s performance. So there is blending in at least one direction. Most famous is Natalie Cole’s zombie duet with her dead dad Nat King. I always though this was more valid sentimentally than aesthetically, but it certainly would not have been possible any other way.

2. making duets out of solos

“O holy night” wasn’t written as a duet; so singing it as one usually involves two people mostly taking turns and/or singing in unison. This is innately artificial, as opposed to organic duets such as the one from Bach’s Cantata #78 (“Jesu der du meine seele”) or the Flower Duet, to name just two of many examples.

Consequently this “O holy night” duet lacks, well, duettiness. The real mismatch is between the music and the duet treatment, regardless of the actual singers involved. If a solo piece is rewritten as a duet, and rewritten skilfully, fine. Otherwise I’d prefer to hear solos as solos.

3. having duets in which one singer is singing operatically and the other is singing in pop style

That’s usually a mismatch, all right. But which is the mis? And who’s singing pop style? Jackie Evancho isn’t a pop singer. She’s a classical crossover singer, and has only worked in that genre since coming to widespread public notice. Vittorio Grigolo is the one who’s a pop singer–and a classical crossover singer–and an opera singer. He has done albums in all three genres.

So…which opera is O Holy Night from? None, of course. It’s an amped-up Christmas carol. It’s not a pop song, nor is it an aria. In fact it’s a perfect example of what’s now called Classical Crossover (i.e. light classics along with popular music sung in a classical–though not operatic–style). One would assume, then, that a classical crossover style–like that of Andrea Bocelli, or Josh Groban, or Hayley Westenra, or Jackie Evancho–would be the best match for the innate qualities of the song.

4. this particular tenor with this particular soprano

Vittorio Grigolo got his start at about the age Jackie Evancho did, doing classical-but-not-operatic music, again rather like Jackie Evancho. I bet when he looks at her he thinks “She reminds me of me” (apologies to John Wayne’s “True Grit”). And since they met when both were performing on Dancing with the Stars a few years ago, I’d imagine they’ve kept in touch on some level.

Grigolo performs his part of this duet more operatically than Evancho, which does sound somewhat mismatched to me. But as someone who loves opera, classical music in general, classical crossover, and pop music, I don’t have an axe to grind towards saying one should have been more one way than another. When Evancho performed with Sumi live last year in St. Petersburg it went better, which is an argument for saying that this duet should have been done live/in person if that were possible.

So I hope that at some point in the future Grigolo and Evancho are able to duet in person. I’d like to see if they can blend better under those circumstances. Their musical interests overlap, since he’s one of those opera singers who also likes to do stuff that’s in Evancho’s ballpark.

The implicit question is whether Jackie Evancho at age 13 should sing operatic duets with an opera singer. This may be answered in the future–she has expressed an interest in singing the Flower Duet at some point. So I wouldn’t categorically rule this out. But in general, since Evancho has said she is a classical crossover singer and not an opera singer–repeatedly, for years–I’m sure she would not be interested in singing any opera duets that couldn’t be performed in a Classical Crossover style–that is, in a classical but not operatic voice.

So the only opera singers I’d expect to see her duet with would be those who want to venture into Classical Crossover territory, singing duets that are amenable to such treatment.

Which probably leaves out anything from, say, Parsifal or La Forza del Destino. On the other hand I could imagine her doing the duet that ends Aida.

Alec. says:

I suppose that being an “Author, novelist, broadcaster, cultural commentator.” you must have interesting stuff to say otherwise you’d quickly sink without trace. You do seem however, to place over reliance on the old trick of being controversial for the sake of it.

You may or may not like a particular singer. We all have our favourites of course, but why is it you continually reserve your most negative comments for Jackie Evancho? To begin with you laboured the point about her not being an opera singer. (Thank you but ee are all aware of that fact.) I suspect you recognise there is something very special about Jackie that you can’t bring yourself to acknowledge. You are too far down the road to recant.

Come on, tell us really what you don’t like about the girl. Is it jealousy that she has talent in abundance? That she has achieved far more in life already than ordinary folks like you and me could ever dream of? What is it Mr Lebrecht?

Alec Ludlow.