| Operatic pop | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Popera |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early 20th century, United States |
| Other topics | |
Operatic pop or popera is a subgenre of pop music that is performed in an operatic singing style or a song, theme or motif from classical music stylized as pop. The subgenre is often performed by classical crossover singers and acts, although that field is much broader in the types of music it encompasses. "Popera" performances, such as those by the Three Tenors, have reached larger audiences and brought in greater profits than typical for operatic music. [1]
According to music historians, operatic pop songs became most prevalent with the rise of Tin Pan Alley musicians during the early 1900s. [2] One influence was the large influx of Italian immigrants to the United States who popularized singers such as Enrico Caruso and inspired the creation of "novelty songs" using Italian dialect. The songs often used operatic repertory "to make a satirical or topical point". [2] Popularized by American Vaudeville, musical comedies, jazz and operettas, examples include Irving Berlin's That Opera Rag, Billy Murray's My Cousin Caruso and Louis Armstrong's riffs on Rigoletto and Pagliacci . [2] The subgenre subsequently dwindled after the 1920s but revived during the rock music era with albums such as The Who's Tommy and Queen's A Night at The Opera . [2]
In 1986, operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti had a hit with the Lucio Dalla song "Caruso", which helped to spark a recent flourishing of operatic pop. [3] Other singers, including Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, and Katherine Jenkins, also recorded the number. [3] Bocelli, in particular, soon became a leading representative of the subgenre [3] [4] while his famous duet partner, British soprano Sarah Brightman, also gravitated considerably towards this combination of opera and pop music. [5] In the 2000s, singers and singing groups devoted primarily to operatic pop built on this renewed success. Groups like Il Divo and Amici Forever have achieved popularity with the mix of "contemporary pop with operatic style" characteristic of operatic pop. [6]
Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress, and dancer.
Andrea Bocelli is an Italian tenor. After performing evenings in piano bars and competing in local singing contests, Bocelli signed his first recording contract with Sugar Music. He rose to fame in 1994, winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing "Il mare calmo della sera".
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience. This can be seen, for example, when a song appears on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical styles or genres. If the second chart combines genres, such as a "Hot 100" list, the work is not a crossover.
Mario Lanza was an American tenor and actor. He was a Hollywood film star popular in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Lanza began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16. After appearing at the Hollywood Bowl in 1947, Lanza signed a seven-year film contract with Louis B. Mayer, the head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who saw his performance and was impressed by his singing. Prior to that, the adult Lanza sang only two performances of an opera. The following year (1948), however, he sang the role of Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly in New Orleans.
Alessandro Safina is an Italian operatic pop tenor.
Lucio Dalla was an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He also played clarinet and keyboards.
"Caruso" is a song written by Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla in 1986. It is dedicated to Enrico Caruso, an Italian tenor. Following Lucio Dalla's death, the song entered the Italian Singles Chart, peaking at number two for two consecutive weeks. The single was also certified platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry.
Canzone napoletana, sometimes referred to as Neapolitan song, is a generic term for a traditional form of music sung in the Neapolitan language, ordinarily for the male voice singing solo, although well represented by female soloists as well, and expressed in familiar genres such as the love song and serenade. Many of the songs are about the nostalgic longing for Naples as it once was. The genre consists of a large body of composed popular music—such songs as "'O sole mio"; "Torna a Surriento"; "Funiculì, Funiculà"; "Santa Lucia" and others.
"Con te partirò" is an Italian song written by Francesco Sartori (music) and Lucio Quarantotto (lyrics). It was first performed by Andrea Bocelli at the 1995 Sanremo Music Festival and recorded on his album of the same year, Bocelli. The single was first released as an A-side single with "Vivere" in 1995, topping the charts, first in France, where it became one of the best-selling singles of all-time, and then in Belgium, breaking the all-time record sales there.
Symphony is the ninth studio album from English soprano singer Sarah Brightman. This classical crossover album is a contrast to her previous collaboration with producer Frank Peterson, 2003's Harem; using a gothic influence instead of a Middle Eastern feel.
Kim Hong Hee, known as Kimera, is a South Korean-born singer. She developed the style of operatic pop, or popera performing and recording medleys of operatic arias set to a mid-1980s form of disco beat, singing in the soprano register.
The Teatro del Silenzio is an open air amphitheater located in the city of Lajatico – the hometown of Andrea Bocelli – in the Tuscany region of Italy. In 2006, Bocelli convinced the municipality of Lajatico to build this outdoor venue whose structure utilizes the natural formations of the hilly landscape. Bocelli contributed greatly to its construction.
Il mare calmo della sera is the debut album by Italian tenor singer Andrea Bocelli, following his win of the Sanremo Festival in 1994, singing his first single and the leading single of the album of the same name. It was certified Gold in the Netherlands.
"Il mare calmo della sera" is a song written by Zucchero Fornaciari, Gian Pietro Felisatti and Gloria Nuti, for Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli won the Sanremo Festival in 1994, singing the song, which was later released as his debut single. It is among Bocelli's most popular and well-known songs.
"Canto della Terra" is an Italian song which was the second single from Italian pop tenor Andrea Bocelli's 1999 album, Sogno. The song was written by composer Francesco Sartori and lyricist Lucio Quarantotto, the same writers of Bocelli's biggest hit "Con te partirò", and is among Bocelli's most popular and well-known songs.
Lucio Quarantotto was an Italian songwriter best known for writing the lyrics for "Con te partirò", to music composed by Francesco Sartori for Andrea Bocelli. The song was also recorded as a duet entitled "Time to Say Goodbye" by Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.
George Edwards "Georgie" Price was an American vaudeville singer and comic who performed in Vitaphone shorts in the 1920s and 1930s.
Pasquale Esposito is an Italian-born American tenor. He has released ten albums and has toured internationally.
Gala - An Evening With Sarah Brightman was a 2016–17 concert tour by English soprano singer Sarah Brightman with eleven shows in Japan, three in South Korea and three in Mexico.
