Opera Rocks!

Anonymous asked: Why do you think so many people dislike Marina Poplavskaya?

I’ve personally never felt that there’s a collective dislike for Marina Poplavskaya.  However, if it exists and I’m unaware of it, which is very possible, then I’d have to guess that the dislike stems from reasons similar to those surrounding the dislike for Anna Netrebko.  Namely, that Peter Gelb is “pushing” the singer on the Met audience and people think that too much is being made of a singer who isn’t “all that” when there are superior singers who aren’t being featured. 

I think there are always people who dislike some singers, most of the time for simply subjective reasons.  Singing and performing is a personal and expressive medium and it’s prone to criticism and favoritism. 

I personally think that Ms. Poplavskaya is a fantastic performer and that there are many fantastic performers in the world.  She sings at the Met so she is more subject to criticism because she’s in the limelight.  The Met is a bit of double-edged sword that way: it puts you in the spotlight for both adoration and criticism.  But such is the art of opera and I think it’s good that there are so many differing opinions in the world.