Microphones in Opera 

Damarius 4life That’s not opera anymore

The video is about broadcasts not live sound in opera houses. Nobody mikes singers at the Met except in very rare cases when they tell it openly. They don't even have speakers except in the ceiling. Do you really think people wouldn't notice the sound coming from the ceiling instead of a certain part of the stage? I've been going to the Metropolitan opera for years, and any time they mike - special effects, John Adams operas as the composer insists on it, recording/broadcast, special effects, spoken language, behind-the-scene voices when a stage direction placed something that interferes with acoustics - they have a mixing desk behind the rows at the Grand Tier level. Otherwise, it's not there. Cannot have amplification without the mixing desk. Broadcast is another matter entirely. Notice how on broadcasts you cannot really tell the difference between larger and smaller voices. At the Met, you can tell it very well, and with some singers, you can hear orchestra drowning them.

@@jewelmarkess Thank you for this clarification!

@@jewelmarkess I see some of Pavarotti's past performances and he has a standing mic in front of him. What is that for?

@@gildonge Most of these performances are in huge outdoor arenas, and the orchestra itself is amplified. The voice can carry in a theater with good acoustics and with unamplified orchestra, not outdoors in a huge arena. Now, if it is in a concert hall than it's for recording, and he'd be standing at a 3-4 foot distance from the mic. In live opera performances there'd be no mics unless the performance is recorded in which case, the mic is only used for recording, the audience would still hear live voices.

Well yes

The pop singer? Or Popera if we are feeling generous

I can sing better opera than bocelli

I can listen to Bocelli all day, no problem, whether is opera, popera or whatever. Is personal.

Cecilia Bartoli