 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Crossover is a term applied tomusical works or performers who appeal to different types ofaudiences. This can be seen, for example, when a song appears on two or more of therecord charts, which track differing musical styles orgenres.[1]
In some contexts, the term "crossover" can have negative connotations associated withcultural appropriation, implying the dilution of a music's distinctive qualities to appeal to mass tastes. For example, in the early years ofrock and roll, many songs originally recorded byAfrican-American musicians were re-recorded by white artists such asPat Boone in a more toned-down style, often with changedlyrics, that lacked the hard edge of the original versions. Thesecovers were popular with a much broader audience.[2]
Crossover frequently results from the appearance of the music in a film soundtrack. For instance,Sacred Harp music experienced a spurt of crossover popularity as a result of its appearance in the 2003 filmCold Mountain, andbluegrass music experienced a revival due to the reception of 2000'sO Brother, Where Art Thou?.
Classical crossover broadly encompasses bothclassical music that has become popularized and a wide variety ofpopular music forms performed in a classical manner or by classical artists. It can also refer to collaborations between classical and popular performers, as well as music that blends elements of classical music (includingoperatic andsymphonic) with popular music (includingpop,rock,middle of the road, andLatin, among other types). Pop vocalists and musicians, opera singers, classical instrumentalists, and occasionally rock groups primarily perform classical crossover. Although the phenomenon has long been widespread in the music industry, record companies first used the term "classical crossover" in the 1980s.[3] It has gained in popularity since the 1990s and has acquired its ownBillboard chart.[3]
A means of generating vast popularity for the classics has been through their use as inspirational anthems in sports settings. The aria "Nessun Dorma" fromPuccini'sTurandot, especiallyLuciano Pavarotti's version, has become indissolubly linked with soccer.[4]
Within the classical recording industry, the term "crossover" is applied particularly to classical artists' recordings of popular repertoire such asBroadway show tunes. Two examples of this areLesley Garrett's excursions into musical comedy andJosé Carreras's recordingWest Side Story, as well asTeresa Stratas' recordingShowboat. SopranoEileen Farrell is generally considered to be one of the first classical singers to have a successful crossover recording with her 1960 albumI've Got a Right to Sing the Blues.[5]
The firstThree Tenors concert in 1990 was a landmark in whichLuciano Pavarotti,José Carreras andPlácido Domingo brought a combination of opera, Neapolitan folksong, musical theatre and pop to a vast television audience. This laid the foundations for the modern flourishing of classical crossover.[6]
Collaborations between classical and popular performers have includedSting andEdin Karamazov's albumSongs from the Labyrinth. A collaboration betweenFreddie Mercury and sopranoMontserrat Caballé resulted in the worldwide hit "Barcelona".R&B singerMariah Carey performed a live duet with her mother Patricia, who is an opera singer, of theChristmas song "O Come, All Ye Faithful". Welsh mezzo-sopranoKatherine Jenkins performed a duet with rock singerMichael Bolton ofO Holy Night. Singers and instrumentalists from the classical tradition,Andreas Dorschel has argued, run the risk of losing the sophistication of the genre(s) they were trained in, when they try to perform rock music, without coming up to the often rough and wild qualities of the latter.[7]
Italian poptenorAndrea Bocelli, who is the biggest-selling singer in the history of classical music,[8][9][10][11] has been described as the king of classical crossover.[12][13] British sopranoSarah Brightman is also considered a crossover classical artist,[14] having released albums of classical, folk, pop and musical-theatre music. Brightman dislikes the classical crossover label, though she has said she understands the need to categorize music.[15] In the 2008 Polish release of herSymphony album she sings "I Will Be with You (Where the Lost Ones Go)" with Polish tenorAndrzej Lampert, another artist who has performed in both classical and non-classical styles, as well as having actually obtained full musical training and academic degrees in both (though operatic singing is his main professional focus[16][17]).[18]
[O]pera-pop crossovers as a phenomenon truly took off in the 1990s, from the Three Tenors concert onwards.
