e are now in an era where there is a great misunderstanding about the importance of the personality of a singer. In my experience, no great performer was ever an angelic figure. Yet the stories are legend about the great singers of the past. With glee we read about their excesses of all kinds, and somehow many of our current singers—especially in the popular field—are living these kind of lives.

The one big difference is so many of the current singers have not learned their craft. They rely on their personalities and egos to get ahead. In the classical world this simply could not exist. (Continue)