Originally Posted by M_is_D

So far the argument seems to be that if mics aren't used, pop music lovers who for some reason are being introduced to opera won't like it.

The operatic voice itself is trained so that it can carry itself throughout a huge hall and still be heard. The complaint here seems to be that such volume wouldn't be enough for someone used to extremely loud concerts.

So what? Screw them. Why should we change opera the way it has been for centuries just to please an audience that will probably never like it anyway? And just because other genres use amplification and it's been invented, we might as well use it? If we're gonna use amplification, then operatic voices won't be trained the same way; they're trained to be heard across an entire hall without amplification. I've never seen orchestras use amplification in standard halls either (outside concerts/stadiums are a completely different thing, and in those cases even operatic voices are amplified.) And just like it's been said, good amplification of operatic voices is very difficult to achieve, and even then plenty of its natural characteristics are distorted or gone. The ability to carry one's voice across an entire hall is also an indicator of its quality; amplification, for example, would erase that completely, so you could mask plenty of vocal shortcomings and deficiencies.