I must admit that I like opera but I don't like opera singers, or at least tenors and sopranos - they seem to be more concerned with showing off than communicating, and when I go to opera I go for the full experience - what's the point of Da Ponte or W S Gilbert's words if you can't hear them? For the same reason, unless it's an opera I know really well, I'm not too keen on just listening to the sound - I want the whole thing! Different musics require different vocal techniques. Some folk music can be sung with a 'big' voice - just listen to Bob Davenport for instance - but that would not be appropriate for delta blues.

I don't think classically trained singers are pretentious. They just sound that way. I didn't appreciate folk music when I was very, very young, because in those days Scottish music on radio was performed by the likes of Robert Wilson, Kenneth MacKellar and Calum Kennedy. It was only when I began to hear more traditionally sounding singers that I began to appreciate my national heritage.