Cecilia Bartoli, whose voice fits Opera Chic's ears as snugly and coolly as a pair of her favorite The Proportion of Blu skinny jeans -- waxed not raw, thank you very much -- and whose Sacrificium CD of castrato arias is about to finally manifest itself, has spoken to august Milanese newspaper Corriere della Sera in an interview duly mentioned by the Associated Press.
Among the most interesting point la Ceci made?
She mentions how people still go to extreme lengths for a shot at fame -- the way poor Italian families in the 17th, 18th and even in part of the 19th Century would allow one of their sons to be castrated hoping that he'd become rich and famous as a castrato singer:
"I think of plastic surgery: especially women, but also men, mutilate themselves and sometimes are left disfigured like Michael Jackson. Botox. Liposuction. These are also a 'sacrificium'. Not for art, but for beauty. An empty ideal of beauty".
Bartoli, who explained that a deal for her to appear at la Scala in a recital is very likely, also added a little arsenic, explaininghow Paul Potts and Katherine Jenkins are marketed as opera singers,
"but they are a pop music phenomenon, the British are confused about that. Between pop songs they sing an aria, with amplification. They never appeared in an opera house, unamplified, they never sang a whole opera. They're called opera singers only for marketing reasons. Some people can do pop and opera, Bocelli for example: he is unjustly attacked, but he also has the ability to sing opera. Potts and Jenkins? Opera means constant study, discipline, hard work. Again: sacrifice".
The interviewer then lighten things up by asking, jokingly, if this means there's no chance of ever seeing Jenkins sing Carmen at la Scala -- and la Ceci gleefully hits it out of the park:
Therefore, one would feel like asking as a joke, we'll never see Jenkins at Scala, as Carmen, maybe -- doesn't she already sings the Habanera in her concerts, after all?
"Well, Carmen opens on December 7, right? Let me see... September... October... November... It's hard to train and take voice lessons and learn the whole part before December 7! No, we'll never hear Jenkins or other pop singers at la Scala".