It seems pretty obvious to me that Sawzaw has started a FLAME WAR against Bobert.

A quick check shows me that he has been posting on Mudcat since September or 2008, and out of over 2,600 posts, he has posted on a MUSIC THREAD

ONLY ONCE,
and that was to ask what the difference is between Steeleye Span and Steely Dan. Other than that, what, exactly, is Sawzaw actually doing here on a Music website?

Much of the time he has been here, he has fairly obviously been making it a special point to rag on Bobert at every opportunity.

It looks a whole lot like STALKING to me!

I suggest totally ignoring him. At least until, and unless, he learns to behave like a civilized human being.

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OKAY, EVERYONE! BACK TO YOUR CORNERS! IT'S TIME FOR A MUSICAL INTERLUDE!!

Hey, GfS! You still there?

My opinion, for what it's worth:

I don't think Puccini would disapprove, necessarily, of Jackie Evancho's performance of Nessun Dorma , and he certainly wouldn't be offended. I think he would identify her as a very promising singer, and one to keep his eye on as she grew and developed as a singer. He, and other opera composers, often wrote the parts in their operas with a specific singer in mind. For example, Mozart wrote the part of The Queen of the Night in "The Magic Flute" with a particular coloratura soprano in mind. He wanted the aria to be a show-stopper, and he knew the singer he was thinking of could hit all the high notes he wanted to put in it (practically dog-whistle range, and the highest note for a soprano in any opera written so far!).

But as to Jackie's singing that particular aria, I'm pretty sure Puccini would think pretty much as I did. That she did it very well, but other than singing it in a concert situation, she would never really be able to do anything else with it. She certainly couldn't sing it in the actual opera, because she would also have to sing everything else written for the part, wear the costumes, and act the role as well. Not real convincing if done by an eleven-year-old girl. And whenever she sang it in concert or recital (as a regular musical performance rather than being presented as, essentially, a child prodigy, the audience members who are familiar with it (and that would be almost all of them) couldn't help but think, "That's a tenor aria. Why is she singing it?" No matter how marvelously she did it, there would always be a noticable "clank!" there.

She would be far better off learning arias that she might actually be able to use later on if she goes into a career in opera.   Or musical theater. And there are quite a few songs and arias from both genres that she could sing quite impressively, without having to dip into songs written specifically for a male singer.


Puccini wrote operas that are quite popular with opera-going audiences ("La Bohème," "Madama Butterfly," "Tosca," "Girl of the Golden West," and a number of others), and beautiful and dramatic as they are, with a few exceptions, they are generally considered relatively easy on the voices of opera singers. In addition to o mio babbino caro from "Gianni Schicchi" that that Jackie burst into the limelight with, there is Chi il bel sogno di Dorettafrom his short opera, "La Rondine" ("The Swallow"). I think this would be within her abilities, but her voice teacher should be the one to make that determination.

Here's one of the world's great divas, Kiri Te Kanawa, singing it:    CLICKY.

I'm afraid I don't quite grasp the rest of your question. As far as writing songs for a specific gender or type of voice is concerned, I think who should sing the song and who really shouldn't depends on a number of factors.

It would be a bit odd to hear a male singer sing Nelly Forbush's song from "South Pacific," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair!" Would kinda make you wonder a bit (but let's not go there!). Or for that matter, a light soprano singing "Ol' Man River." Although I have heard female singers do "Some Enchanted Evening" and bring it off quite well.

A lot depends on the song and the context.

Don Firth

Okay, everybody! Back to your customary uncivilized behavior!!