# Opera fans! Who are your favorite singers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2000, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-fans-who-are-your-favorite-singers/46543 "2000-12-20T17:23:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Iolanthe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7bcc69/32.png) [@Iolanthe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iolanthe)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-fans-who-are-your-favorite-singers/46543/21 "2000-12-22T22:11:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Danimal \* > \*\*I’m talking about your favorite all-time opera singers, not just people singing today, whether you’ve heard them in recording or in live performance. > \*\* I reserve the right to add to this list. And of course, JMPO. Tenor - My personal 2 favorites are Nicolai Gedda and Carlo Bergonzi. I’m also found of Siegried Jerusalem and Luigi Alva. Soprano - I’m fond of coloraturas, so Edita Gruberova and Joan Southerland are favorites. Rosa Ponselle was wonderful. Audra McDonald is musical theatre not opera, but her training is classical and I adore her, so she goes on the list. Victoria De Los Angeles too. Baritone - Dmitri Hvrost. I don’t feel like looking up his name right now. And others who I will add later. Mezzo-soprano - Denyce Graves. Such an instrument; I’ve never heard such good English enunciation combined with such a beautiful tone. Does(did?) Teresa Berganza call herself a Mezzo or a Contralto? Fine line. In any case, I’d sell my soul and yours to sing like her. There are others here too. Bass - Sam Ramey _is_ pretty damn good, isn’t he. Alto/contralto - The Cantor’s wife in the Nuremberg shul that I visited a month ago. Gorgeous instrument. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-fans-who-are-your-favorite-singers/46543/22 "2000-12-23T11:19:27Z")
Does anyone recognize the name Greg Turay? I’m not a big opera dude, but he went to the University of Kentucky and so did I (I saw him sing “The Elixir Of Love”), and it would be pretty cool if a Wildcat alum was a notable name. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-fans-who-are-your-favorite-singers/46543/23 "2000-12-23T23:43:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Iolanthe \* > **…Mezzo-soprano - Denyce Graves. Such an instrument; I’ve never heard such good English enunciation combined with such a beautiful tone…** Hmmmmm. I’ve heard a good deal about her. I have tickets to see her in “Carmen” (in French with English supertitles) with the Orlando Opera in April. Looking forward to it. > [@](#): > > **…Does(did?) Teresa Berganza call herself a Mezzo or a Contralto…** My tapes have her listed as a mezzo. Is she dead??? > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Snooooopy_ > **Does anyone recognize the name Greg Turay?** Sorry, not familiar to me. Is he on any recordings? ---
**Author:** ![Iolanthe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7bcc69/32.png) [@Iolanthe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iolanthe)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2000, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-fans-who-are-your-favorite-singers/46543/24 "2000-12-24T01:27:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Iolanthe \* > > \*\*…Mezzo-soprano - Denyce Graves. \*\* > > Hmmmmm. I’ve heard a good deal about her. I have tickets to see her in “Carmen” (in French with English supertitles) with the Orlando Opera in April. Looking forward to it.\*\* I saw her in concert at Wolf Trap a year or two ago. She was charismatic and friendly, as well as talented. And again, her wonderful enunciation. > [@](#): > > \*\*…Does(did?) Teresa Berganza call herself a Mezzo or a Contralto… My tapes have her listed as a mezzo. Is she dead???\*\* [/QUOTE] I hope not! But when I was writing that, I realized that I had absolutely no idea one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2000, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-fans-who-are-your-favorite-singers/46543/25 "2000-12-24T01:30:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by Snooooopy_ > > Does anyone recognize the name Greg Turay? > > Sorry, not familiar to me. Is he on any recordings? \*\* I don’t know. But when I saw him back at UK, he was supposed to be something of an up-and-comer. ---
**Author:** ![aschrott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@aschrott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aschrott)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2000, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-fans-who-are-your-favorite-singers/46543/26 "2000-12-24T05:04:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Does anyone recognize the name Greg Turay? I’m not a big opera dude, but he went to the University of Kentucky and so did I (I saw him sing “The Elixir Of Love”), and it would be pretty cool if a Wildcat alum was a notable name. Among other things, Gregory Turay created the tenor role in William Bolcom’s _A View from the Bridge_, which premiered at the Chicago lyric opera last season. Very cool. I think he sings regularly at the Met and other high-profile venues. > [@](#): > > Serious question and I haven’t seen the episode for awhile - who was the opera singer that guest starred on “The Odd Couple”, the episode where Oscar had to act as the lead for Felix’s “Rigoletto” after breaking the guest star’s leg in a baseball game? I found an Odd Couple episode guide on the web that lists an episode called “Does your mother know you’re out, Rigoletto?”, guest-starring someone named Richard Fredericks (never heard of him). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-fans-who-are-your-favorite-singers/46543.md?page=1)