The Katherine Jenkins Debate

27/3/2014

Today I read a really interesting comment in an online article called "How to become a pop star".

The author gave several useful tips for how to make you dreams come true. One comment he made really stood out to me as thought provoking. It was on the topic of studying music. Here's what the author said:

"Study right. There’s no escaping it: if you don’t study at all, it’s difficult to sing with an amazing voice, write unique songs, play an instrument like an angel, and dance like a devil. On the other hand, if you study too much, you run the risk of alienating yourself from the mainstream, becoming a virtuoso appreciated only by connoisseurs of whatever style you are into."

REALLY? Did I read that right?

So why did this jump out at me?

Because I have always been taught that the more your study the better you get.
I never once considered that there could come a point where you become too educated and then alienate your audience. MAYBE this is why Katherine Jenkins is so popular in the mainstream - because she has educated herself to exactly the right point that makes her accessible. She has balanced the scales in learning enough in order to be able to be good at what she does, but not over tipped the balance by becoming a virtuoso and over intellectualizing her artwork.

But wait - so many opera fans hate her. If you haven't already read this article (or viscous attack) in The Telegraph on the mezzo-soprano, then I think it very articulately describes why opera officianados don't find her credible. Steve Silverman calls her a pretender whom "hasn't got the voice or the technique to sing opera." - Meow!

Yet at the same time Katherine defends herself in an article in the same newspaper by arguing that it sells VERY well. So a huge majority of people must love her art in order to pay money for it and keep her producing more albums."Classical music snobs who want to preserve opera only for the elite are being proven wrong by record sales, the singer Katherine Jenkins has suggested, as she argues the genre must be accessible for everyone."

Do the mainstream really want a watered down, less educated version of something? Does that make it more accessible?

If Katherine educated herself more and became the opera buff that critics would like her to be - would she then become less marketable?

Your thoughts please...

3 Comments

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Joanne Jones

18/2/2015 12:23:48

The reason Katherine Jenkins inspires so much scorn and ridicule is partly because of her voice (She has not the voice, training, vocal technique, or power to be an opera singer), but more of that scorn and ridicule results from the arrogance that is so much a part of her personality. If she would stick to pop music, and stop complaining about how the world of opera shuns her, all of the scorn and ridicule would go away. She says that her ambition is to sing in operas, specifically the title role in Carmen. Instead of facing the fact that she doesn't have the technique or training to be an opera singer, she comes up with ridiculous excuses for why she isn't hired by opera companies. First, she claimed that nobody can sing opera until the age of 30. Well, tell that to Frederica von Stade, Theresa Berganza, Jose Carreras, Roberta Peters, and many others who bwgan successful opera careers while still in their 20s. Now that she is over 30, Jenkins says that all opera singers are fat and ugly so she's too beautiful for opera, that no opera company would hire someone as beautiful as she is. Sorry, Kath, you're wrong. Here's a partial list of real opera singers who not only have wonderful operatic voices, have or had successful opera careers, but are also gorgeous: Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Anna Moffo, Ailyn Perez, Danielle di Niese, Samuel Ramey, Nicolai Gedda, Franco Corelli, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Jose Carreras, Mario del Monaco. It's not her beauty that precents Jenkins from being hired by opera companies, it's her lack of proper training and decent vocal technique. Oh, but you say, Jenkins trained at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music. She may have attended the school, but she never bothered to learn or was incapable of learning proper vocal technique and graduated with a teaching credential, NOT a degree in vocal or opera performance. Frankly, Jenkins deserves every bit of scorn and ridicule that comes her way. She will sing in an opera in a legitimate opera house when pigs take to the airways.

Barry Fountain

4/10/2023 11:47:59

What a load of nonsense, people might criticise Katherine but only because of jealousy because she is so popular and they don't like it because they are just snobs. Katherine has made opera and classical music more accessible to a lot more people which should be applauded but the 'high-brows' (who noone has heard of) don't like it. I for one love her voice and enjoy listening to everything she does. Just ask these know it all snobs who don't like her how many sales they've achieved with their music. I don't think it will; be very much if anything at all.

Jennifer Coleman link

19/2/2015 04:31:53

Hi Joanne,

Thanks for your long response. I am very aware of everything that you said. However, my point was that if Miss Jenkins was to have buffed up on her operatoc ability, would she have then made herself less commercially successful. Food for thought. X

JENNIFER COLEMAN
SOPRANO - BLOG