Okay, folks. Time for another muzikul interlewd.

Hey, GfS, are you there?

No, GfS, I don't think Puccini would disapprove of or be offended by Jackie Evancho's singing of Nessun Dorma—nor of anyone else for that matter, be it another woman or, say, a baritone who wants to sing it in a recital and transcribes it to a lower key. In my estimation, he would probably think, "that's interesting—but a bit weird," and that would be about it. Except that I'm quite sure he would have thought that vocally, Jackie did it very well.

There are lots of songs out there, written for specific parts in operas, operettas, Broadway musicals and such, for example, "Ol' Man River" from "Showboat" that are written specifically for a bass (I think Paul Robeson was the first to sing it on stage, but I could be wrong;   at least he was well-known for singing it. But it would really be a bit weird to hear the song sung by a woman.

But there are a lot of songs written for a specific part in a musical where, outside the context of the musical, the gender or voice type of the singer doesn't really matter that much, and in which a few words may be changed to accommodate the gender of the singer and the song still works well. Many of these songs that started out as Broadway show tunes have been excerpted from the musical that introduced them and have become part of the standard popular music repertoire, sung by singers of either gender and all voice types. I don't think composer who wrote a song for Frank Sinatra would be at all upset if Peggy Lee wanted to do it as well (changing a word or two to accommodate her gender)—especially if the composer is receiving his regular checks from ASCAP.

But operatic arias, although frequently taken out of the context of the opera and sung in concert and recitals, are rarely sung by different genders or voice types. Mainly because no one wants to. They prefer to sing songs that are more suitable to them.

Why should I, a bass, want to sing an aria written for a mezzo-soprano when the bass operatic repertoire is so full of great stuff to sing?

I'll bet dollars to donuts that the choice of Nessun Dorma for Jackie to sing was made, not by Jackie, but by David Foster, because the aria is well-known from Luciano Pavarotti's having sung it a lot, not because it was suitable for Jackie. She did a nice job of it, but that's not the point.

Beware of people who want to advise you and guide your career, especially if they have dollar-$ign$ in their eyes.

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By the way, a bit of sad news:

Although I'm pretty sure I'd heard him on the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts on Saturday afternoons, I first became acquainted with Giorgio Tozzi when he dubbed the voice for Rossano Brazzi in "Some Enchanted Evening" in the movie version of "South Pacific." A couple of decades later, Seattle Opera included Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" in their season. Lavish sets and costumes, and an excellent cast of singers, headed by Giorgio Tozzi singing the role of Boris. I was familiar with the opera (I have a full-length recording of it with Russian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov singing the role of Boris) and Tozzi did an absolutely outstanding job, both singing and acting.

Here he is, singing a scene from "Boris Godunov." It's the scene in which a conscience-stricken Boris hears that Prince Dmitri is leading a march against Moscow. Can't be! Because Boris killed him years ago and took over the throne himself. Because his conscience has been nagging at him, Boris is not too tightly wrapped. When the clock chimes, he begins hallucinating, and sees the blood-soaked body of the young prince Dmitri pointing at him accusingly. The clip runs about 15 minutes. Sung in English (as he did it in the Seattle Opera production) rather than in Russian.    The Clock Scene.   (Video and audio quality not real great.)

GfS, when you mentioned knowing him, I googled a bit to learn more about him, and learned that he has just passed away, on May 30th, 2011, at the age of 88. He was in the hospital battling a case of pneumonia when he had a heart attack.

Obit.

I was really sorry to hear that.

Don Firth