Are opera singers not supposed to express too much emotions & use too much hand/body gestures when they sing?

1st of all, you can't take YouTubers opinions seriously. Many of them are flunkies who don't have nothing else to do but criticize behind a computer because their performance dreams are in hell. Although that's not all of them, people tend to hide their own insecurities behind a computer. I wouldn't take some of them seriously.

I've sung that duet from Don Giovanni. The baritone and I did act it on stage, holding hands towards the end, and on one performance he did kiss me on the cheek on the last chord. No one complained about it, because our small gestures didn't get in the way of the technique. Now, had he would have jerked me around like a ragdoll as to say "YOU MY WOMAN" caveman, that would be distracting. I have yet to see anyone in recital perform Bess You Is My Woman now, without the two touching eachother. Its kind of ridiculous. I feel the same way about La ci darem la mano. The only way someone would complain is if they didn't speak the language. Anyone who understood those words and saw two people singing that stoically with no interaction with eachother would be silly. I bet most of the "complainees" were from English speaking countries. How do they know what's appropriate if they don't know the language (tisk).

Now on to opera singers in recitals. Recitals are a different format. 1st of all, most recitals involve song sets. You usually don't see a bunch of arias during recitals, so you will not see as much dramatic movement. You don't need a bunch of acting when you are singing about a tree swaying in the wind, or whatever the text may be. LOL! That would be ridiculous. Subtle movement is fine, but hunching over and waving your hands in the air is annoying to watch, and it will fall into your technique.

However, I agree with the other poster who talks about technique here in the states. Most foreign countries complain that we train technical robots, and there is no authenticity to our works in the last decade or so. I think technique alone is foolish, because people don't pay to see a robot. People pay to see art. If that artist just stands there and look cute and doesn't relay any artistry, I will want my money back. You have to give a little of yourself. And perhaps why there is less of an interest here in the US. Anyone can be technical. But can they SELL the performance? You don't get a Domingo, Kiri, Leontyne, or Callas from technicality alone.

But again, I don't want to see someone acting like they are on some soap opera when they sing. You can't anyway, because the technicalities of singing will not allow you. The most running I've done on stage is playing a witch. I didn't sing and run at the same time. In between, I ran around the children in the audience. But when it was time to sing, it was back to what I trained to do with focus. However, no one wants to see extra drama during recitals. Its too intimate. You can relay emotion and not get wrapped up in it. We are trained to handle that. When I am asked to sing at a funeral or any other solemn occasion, I can keep my composure in order to stay professional. How ridiculous would it be for me to sound like crap crying when I was paid to sing for the occasion. Who wants to hear that?

Its a thin line between love and hate. Its a thin line between emotion and technique. You can blur it on both levels, but you can't have too much of both.

I'm classically trained. Yes, you're supposed to show some sort of emotion when you sing. Otherwise you'll look like you don't understand what you're singing. The meaning of the text has to come through in your voice, body language, etc. However, once in a while, a singer can show so much emotion that it interferes with the technique itself. That's where the problem is. Often times it's not that they don't want to show emotion, it's because they have to make sure that they can still sing properly no matter how emotional the music or lyrics may be. I'm talking about eg. the soprano who's singing about a lost marriage and ends up tearing and choking up and basically sound a mess. That would be too much. In fact, some part of classical training is aimed at teaching you how to show emotion without actually feeling them full-out on stage. It's got to do with how you change the colours of your voice to convey different messages to the audience. You would seem like you're really experiencing those extreme emotions (eg. of despair, ecstasy, etc.), but you're actually not. It's important that people understand, after they find out about this, that this is not a form of cheating. It's a skill for ensuring that the music is not emotionless, but at the same time the singer can still sing properly and deliver a decent sound for paying audiences. Nobody really wants to see a singer go into hysterics on stage because it would sound a mess.

On the whole, it doesn't really matter to me if someone acts a lot on stage or stands still but delivers a convincing message. As long as the acting doesn't interfere with proper sound production and it doesn't make me cringe because the singer is screaming out the notes hysterically. But that being said, I also don't want to see a singer going exaggeratedly 'over-the top' on stage - that would detract from the music itself. It is fine if the gestures, movements, etc. add to the musical meaning of the song. It is not fine if the singer just wants an ego boost and distracts the audience from the music.

Where do you often hear that showing emotion is a bad thing? Of course, the singer shouldn't go too far (no back-flips, stage-dives, sword-swallowing, juggling, or air-guitar), but I believe that showing some "emotion" is essential to the aria or song. This is my opinion, but from experience, the people who say it isn't good to act or show emotion while singing, are the exact same people who cannot act well themselves.

I witnessed (unfortunately) many, many, many, MANY "opera singers" who cannot act their way out of a paper bag (dimensions= 5 1/8" x 3 1/8" x 10 5/8", you know the usual brown 'lunch bag' and please be kind to our planet and use paper not plastic) and most cannot fit into one either:)

The only reason I can see anyone complaining about a singer showing emotion if it does actually interfere with the voice itself, if not- then why not?

Remember, raise the soft-palette, support from below (diaphragm), relax the tongue, keep all vowels vertical and pure, when going pianissimo- stay energized, just because it is "soft" in dynamics doesn't mean you lose the tone-beam, cheeks raised a bit (like a smile), in between phrases take a good breath to reset the prominentia laryngea to avoid tension and keep the air moving through your resonating chambers (mask) nasopharynx and oropharynx :P

"It' not over until the fat lady..."

There are lines beyond which you are not expected to cross.

I saw / heard one of the best performances ever of the Berlioz Nuits d'ete. This was the Chicago symphony orchestra, Pierre Boulez conducting, and an astoundingly great soprano of world renown (it is shameful I don't remember her name.)

There was some gesticulation, she did move about, only a little. If a song was sad, she did act it. If the song content had wryness or coy humor, it was (very subtly) conveyed.

Often the advice to reign in all demonstrativeness is given to a student or young professional who is doing too much, enough that it becomes a distraction to the audience. That person needs to reign it in and concentrate on conveying it through the voice only. If the recital is being broadcast, or recorded, upon what does the performer depend to convey the emotion to the audience?

Ideally, all of this should be conveyed directly through the voice, the 'cello, whatever the musical medium. If the performance does not achieve the same communicative effect on a blind audience member, something is missing that will not be compensated for by any gesture.

Leonard Bernstein was, to me, so extremely melodramatic and laden with over-the-top gestures on the podium during that famous television series of concerts that I had to close my eyes to hear what was going on.

Stillness can force a performer to let it all come out via the instrument.

There are 'organic' movements involved with all playing and singing: they are physical acts. Usually advice to tone it down is to help the student or young professional find 'that place' and learn the difference between musicality and musicality accompanied by well-thought out acting.

If you can find it, look for video of Maria Callas in a concert recital of arias. Standing still during the introduction, her persona visibly shifts in front of your eyes from Maria Callas into the psyche of the role of the aria's character. Very little happens, there is almost no movement, and It is palpable and amazing.

Best, Petr B.

I don't say they shouldn't, but in order for everyone to be able to see and witness the performance's true emotion from as far back from the stage as some are, those would have to be some very large motions to make. Some people can pull it off (and I myself think that this is the cause for the stereotype that "all opera is overly dramatic"), but I feel that the singer needs to show emotion through their voice and just overall position onstage rather than making elaborate motions (unless they are playing a part where eccentricity or extreme enthusiasm is needed).

It's very possible to learn to sing well. You just need to know the right methods. Learn here https://tr.im/mk5O0

Singing teachers will cost money and can be expensive so they're not for everyone. Singing can be learned so it's not an "either you have it or you don't" kind of thing.

Whether you sound like crap or you're decent, I recommend this singing course. It's one of the best methods to learn to sing well in a short amount of time. It's all about using efficient techniques that work.

I think that depends a lot on where you are. In Central Europe the audience is quite appreciative of individuality and expressive artists. People with unique voice and expressive style of singing (with bodily motion, too, if you will) are quite appreciated there.

The same singers, though, tend to get panned when they perform the same way in English speaking countries (UK and USA, namely), where expressiveness is often chalked up as 'mannerism' and dismissed as 'compensatory tool for no longer having a voice or the ability to perform the music cleanly'.

The conservatories in the USA actually are disproportionally emphasizing singing technique over expression. So there is a prevailing perception that singers from the USA tend to be technically very accomplished and disciplined... but lacking in individuality and originality. Whereas singers from Central and Eastern Europe are on the other end of the spectrum.

I also think that the availability of studio recordings has spoiled the modern audience quite a bit... Many people listen to recordings a lot more than they attend live performances. And so they tend to form unrealistic expectations that singers haven't a prayer of matching in live setting (no retake, no sound engineering, have to adjust projection to match the hall, have to keep an eye on the conductor, have to act, etc, etc... things that they won't have to pay attention to when recording CD releases).

The modern audience also tend to retroactively impose modern performing preferences (conventions) on music that were written for singers that would use techniques that are no longer 'accepted' today and who were expected to improvise. For example, Rossini's music for high tenors were written in the era where no tenor sang above high B from the chest (nowadays if you try to belt a tenor high C in pure head voice you'll get accused of using falsetto and of cheating and whatever terrible other else's). When Duprez started singing his high C from the chest, Rossini was quite mad with him (and when he visited his house, the tenor was asked to leave his chesty high C at the door).

In my humble opinion... Opera was created as a music-theater. They didn't do concert performance back then and there was no recording technology available. So... it is only advisable that the singers be expressive. As expressive as possible to make their character believable... to tell the story of the opera in a convincing manner. To convince the audience that they are the operatic characters in the flesh, expressing their own thoughts and emotions rather than just singers singing about something someone else should be feeling.

I think... that the notion of 'beautiful and clean singing uber alle even at the expense of story-telling' is a modern artifact that only appeals to a small but very vocal segment of the audience.

At least I hope so. :)

It's all about the music. If you are making good music, then it doesn't matter a whit what the performer is doing on the stage.

Too many performers seem to think that it's all about them. Lang Lang comes to mind-- even though he's a pianist, the principle holds true.

The performer, IMHO, is the conduit through which the music comes to you. No amount of gesticulating, facial gyrations etc. is going to make a bad performance into a good one. But a good performance can be ruined by distracting physical "emoting" from the performer.

Just my view.

Glinzek

No long answer here but a baritone friend of mine much to my surprise once told me that Richard Tucker put too much emotions into his singing of Puccini and Verdi. My friend seems to think the emotion is in the writing. Then I thought of some of his favorite singers (whom I won't name) who in my opinion had about the same emotions as a 2 by 4. So in my opinion the answer is absolutely not! My God I can just think of the passion and emotion Licia Albanese put into her beloved "Butterfly;" nearly enough to bring tears to my eyes. Hmm is that not supposed to happen?!?

Singing is something that everybody can learn and improve. Of course, some are more naturally skilled than others, but even a poor voice can be overcome by dedication, practice, and more practice. Even if you're content to sing in the shower, there are some things you can do to improve your voice. This is probably the best online course to improve your singing skills https://tr.im/WmU1E

Your golden voice will be ringing out in no time!