Why Were Opera Singers Fat?

The image of opera singers as fat is completely spurious. Essentially, on the bellies of a few famous singers of generous girth an entire stigma has been built that has fueled the skepticism of opera – in contemporary society that is preoccupied with beauty, the idea of musical-play filled overweight people does not sit well with younger audiences. I am not judging one way or another about being overweight (certainly I need to lose some), but I am say that this create an image problem in the societies we live and that this MYTH, and it is a myth, is extremely detrimental to longevity of the art-form.

To support my point today, I could certainly point you to hundred singers that prove the rule is sleek and vivacious not round and rubenesque, though I believe there is some truth to the idea that many singers do tend to have a larger rib-cage for obvious reasons, or at the very least ‘inflate’ for the function of singing. For contemporary opera-models, see Dimitri Hvorostovsky (particularly his shirtless music video), Nathan Gunn (both of those entries can be found on the aptly named ‘Barihunks’ website along with many others) angela gheorghiu, nicole cabell, denyce graves, Kate Aldrich, Joans Kaufman, and thousand others (these were chosen for no particular reason).

To those who say this is contemporary phenomenon and that singers used to be fat, I say not so. Franco Corelli, the powerhouse Italian tenor known for his immense voice, was equally known for his movie star looks and athletic physique (see google search); George London too was known for his slender frame and he was certainly one of the most powerful Wagnerian Baritones that ever lived; likewise Lawrence Tibbet can be seen on film shirtless; see also Titto Ruffo, Roberta Peters, Reri Grist, the Wagnerian James King, Zinka Milanov, etc. for yesteryear examples. In truth the phenomenon of beauty obsession is also not as new as we would like to to think, and me of these stars were also known for looks as much as their beautiful voices in their own time. In fact, in the late 19th century several operas were written, including a few by Massenet, almost on the basis of get a young, beautiful soprano in a rather scantily clad costume. And let us not forget about Strauss’ Salome and the Dance of the Seven Veils.

In short, some opera singers are fat, some are in between, some are skinny, some are tall and some are short. Some bankers are fat and some are skinny, some bus driver are tall and some are short, etc. Opera singer are not any more or less overweight than any other profession, and, in fact, are probably more likely to be skinny as a result of being image conscious. As for those, like Callas, who once were larger an lose much weight to the detriment of their voice – 1. it is difficult to prove that the voice deteriorated (which is also a mater of opinion) do to weight loss and not the simple aging that results from singing opera particularly heavy repertoire – 2. the voice was not good because of the weight, rather the singer was accustomed to one session of a physical exertion with 20 to 40 to, in extreme cases, 100 more pounds that they suddenly no longer had; i.e. that did know how to sing in their new body or relearn how to sing as a skinnier person. One well-known voice teach once told me that it was possible that the extra torque that was generated simple the weight of the body fat around the torso had to be replaced with more fine muscular action once the weight was lost, and that those singers who suffered simply didn’t know how to do that – possible.

Sorry for going on at length, but I think these kinds of myths hurt opera. And again, we call make our own decisions and opinions about weight, but spurious truths/myths don’t help anyone.