'Obsessed opera fan' is stalking Katherine Jenkins
mainIt has to be true, because I read it in the Daily Mail. And she related it herself. But there’s something wrong with the description.
No self-respecting opera fan, obsessed or otherwise, would give more than a passing glance at Ms Jenkins who has never sang more than a three-minute aria without taking a break.
And no Katherine Jenkins fan, whatever his or her degree of obsession, would claim to be an opera buff. These are contradictions in terms.
Sadly, the English language is suffering a terrible defeat at the hands of synthetic singers who are marketed as opera divas.
Hail to you Norman, for implying that we still have aesthetic standards! Looking at this video I see your point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MyDIJTf6ZY
She is a particularly good example of what I have called “classical music with a pop sensibility” in this post:
http://themusicsalon.blogspot.com/2011/08/classical-music-with-pop-sensibility.html
Actually; based on that article, nobody is claiming to be a Katherine Jenkins fan as an opera buff. The stalker is HARASSING and “BULLYING” Katherine; not as a fan but as an “opera buff”.
It’s also rich that you say “No self-respecting opera fan would give Katherine more than a passing glance” when blogs such as this are writing posts on her; that in itself is giving her “more than a passing glance” and thus THAT is where the true contradiction lies.
I believe Mr Lebrecht’s blog also discusses how opera and classical music is treated in the media; in that sense, he does not talk about Ms Jenkins per se, but rather about the use of the term “opera singer”.
Whether you like or not, calling Katherine Jenkins an “opera singer” has strong implications for the classical music world, and clearly not positive ones.
Note that Ms Jenkins’ artistic performance is given only a passing glance; the bulk of Mr Lebrecht’s article is about the use of the words “opera singer” in relation to her.
As I often say, vibrato does not make you a classical singer.
One (of the many) recent articles (her publicists earn every penny – and if she hasn’t got one, she has very considerable talent in that direction) Ms Jenkins said she would give up her singing career to become a mother. I think it was in the Telegraph-
“I’d rather have “a wondeful mother who could sing a bit” on my gravestone than…..”
I say spot on – “sing a bit” – a flash of insight. Stand by – I can see it all unfolding in the story lines – about every twist and turn as she proceeds to (try to, with great difficulty ) have the said chikdren, agonise whether she should deny her many fans and be a full time mother. And then, how regrettably that day when she will perform in a staged opera (presumably that means from start to finish – perhaps more than once?) disappears into the distance because of the conflict with motherhood. . .
.