Operas won’t let the fat ladies sing
BRITAIN: A leading soprano has hit out at the tendency of opera casting directors and audience members to ‘‘listen with their eyes’’, saying that although her voice lends itself to ‘‘pretty bel canto roles’’, she has been ruled out because she was ‘‘too fat’’.
‘‘There are roles I wasn’t even considered for because of the way I looked,’’ said Cuban-American singer Lisette Oropesa, who appeared at the Royal Opera House and Glyndebourne Festival last year.
Oropesa, 35, said she had embarked on an exercise regime after tipping the scales at 95 kilograms.
Another opera singer, Danika Loren, took part in a nude ‘‘love your body’’ photo shoot this month after becoming ‘‘very frustrated by the body image attitudes being projected on to many of my peers in opera’’.
Loren, a member of the Canadian Opera Company, told NOW
Toronto magazine: ‘‘I think opera is trying to keep up with other entertainment industries in being hyperfocused on the body and putting forth a certain kind of look.’’
The dramatic weight loss of Maria Callas in the 1950s was seen as crucial in changing the popular image of an opera singer from that of a large-bosomed diva. However, bigger singers such as Montserrat Caballe continued to be given plum roles in the mainstream opera repertoire.
While conventional wisdom stated that big build equalled big voice, there was little scientific evidence to back it up, and there is now increased awareness of the dangers of obesity.
Soprano Deborah Voigt was infamously sacked by the Royal Opera House from a production of Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf
Naxos because she was too big to fit into the ‘‘little black dress’’ the director wanted. She subsequently underwent gastric bypass surgery.
Oropesa said in an interview with the Bachtrack website that
"I think opera is trying to keep up with other entertainment industries in being hyperfocused on the body and putting forth a certain kind of look."
Danika Loren
the association of opera roles with particular body shapes affected both men and women.
‘‘People listen with their eyes,’’ she said. ‘‘If they see a young, gorgeous woman, they’re going to want her to sing those pretty bel canto roles even if the voice doesn’t match. I have such an issue with that. If they see someone is large, they assume he’s a Falstaff and not a Don Giovanni.’’
She said her own experiences at being ruled out of parts had prompted an exercise regime involving marathon running.
‘‘Someone would look at my photograph and say, ‘No. Too fat!’. It ain’t right, but it’s life.’’
She added: ‘‘It’s not just casting directors, it’s critics and audience members, too.’’