Young Sopranos

For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart;
Yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me,
and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

D&C 25:12

My daughter Rachael and my daughter-in-law Laural both study classical voice. Laural is a multitalented young woman who will soon graduate from college in graphic design. Although she did not choose a music major, she is an accomplished pianist and has a lovely voice. Rachael is a sophomore in college, and hopes to be accepted into the vocal performance program this year. I love to hear them sing, and one of my dreams is to hear them perform the Flower Duet from Delibes' Lakme. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qx2lMaMsl8
Rachael's teacher is Rosemary Mathews, who is a retired operatic soprano. (Her voice is still powerful and rich!) As Rachael's voice has developed color and depth Rosemary has encouraged her towards the operatic soprano sound. The problem is that Rachael, like many other people, doesn't like the sound of most operatic sopranos (too much vibrato, too heavy, too melodramatic) and doesn't want to sound like them. So she struggles to make the most of her voice and tries to learn everything she can from her wonderful teacher, while still liking the sound she is making. We have listened to various sopranos to find sounds she likes, and they tend to be the younger singers, like Anna Netrebko and Nicole Cabell. And Rachael has converted her dad and me to liking a sound from the sopranos that is lighter but still very impressive and beautiful. We like opera in general, but among the people who are not fans of opera Rachael has found some stronger opinions! Once a group of her friends was singing along with Phantom in the car, and they all complimented Rachael by saying things like, "I usually don't like female opera voices, but yours is really beautiful. You should go for it!" Rachael was singing Christine, and not full-on opera soprano, but that was the sound her peers really liked.
That made me think.....what was Andrew Lloyd Webber saying with Phantom of the Opera? He juxtaposes Christine, the light, sweet voiced ingenue, against Carlotta, the caricature of a diva, and whom do the masses love? For my own personal taste, Christine's voice is a little too light, a little immature. Her voice ought to be richer and more colored. But I get the point! Christine is pleasant to hear, and Carlotta is dreadful. Male opera stars tend to have a lot more fans than their female counterparts. Maybe it is time for a new sound style for operatic sopranos.