Why Do Opera Singers Get So Fat? | Notes And Queries | .uk

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THE BODY BEAUTIFULWhy do opera singers get so fat?

  • THIS is a popular illusion. It is true there is still a belief among singers that an essential part of developing a powerful voice is to feed it. But the sylphic physique of many top female opera singers discounts this. There is always the odd Madam Butterfly or Mimi who weighs about 15 stone, but to opera enthusiasts it's the voice that matters. Male singers usually get away with anything because meat can be made to look like muscle.

    Donald Barry, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex.

  • I AM not so sure that opera singers as a whole get fat. It is some time since I have seen many overweight singers on the opera stage and, in fact, there are many examples of slim singers. Maria Callas springs to mind. The questioner seems to be thinking in stereotypes. If this stereotype could in any way be said to rest on fact, there could be a number of possible factors. At one time, of course, we had castrati, who naturally put on weight. Though this abominable practice ceased many years ago, it may have set the fashion for weightiness. Fat certainly used to be seen as strength in musical worlds (making you a better player, especially for people like brass players) - Louis Armstrong is a case in point. Classical music is very old-fashioned in many ways. It could simply be that different standards of physical beauty, combined with an attitude that sound and ability is more important than appearance, let us see the full range of human physical variety on the opera stage (unlike female TV presenters). This lack of emphasis on visual effect (as opposed to musical ability) has also led to some dreadful acting, but that's beside the point. I would think that if musicians do tend to fat as a whole, if not in detail, it would be due to their rather sedentary lifestyles. A professional musician can expect to spend a working day relatively immobile while concentrating all their effort on playing (this is not to say they don't use their whole bodies). I have always found it rather odd that in a profession that is so concerned with physical control and development to exceptional lengths that it literally produces a kind of athlete, lets other areas of general health go by the board.

    Jane Bennett, Levenshulme, Manchester.

  • REGRETFULLY I must rubbish the rationalisers. Opera singers tend to put on weight because the thoracic expansion brought about by their rigorous exercises in breath control results in increased oxygen intake potential with its concomitant increase in appetite and the ability to digest - and deposit as fat - more food. Channel swimmers, who also incline to the chubby, are similarly affected but additionally employ thermal stimulation.

    Red Daniells, Teddington, Middlesex.

  • IT'S VERY simple: they eat more than they should, and at the wrong times. Opera singers cannot perform well with a full stomach because it adversely affects their ability to breathe. Because a singer will go without food for as many as five hours from the time he/she arrives at the theatre to the time he/she leaves, they usually feel starved and dehydrated after the performance. They then go out and eat, and go to bed on a full stomach. Do this for several years, and the pounds will quickly add up.

    Ian Campbell, San Diego, USA ([email protected])

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