Amplification in Opera

Oh, and I can't stand it when singers cannot turn off their vibrato. I understand opera uses quite a bit of it, but seriously...

Amen, brother.

Oh! And when singers roll their R's even if the libretto is in English. Argh!

This, however, I cannot agree with. There is nothing uglier in all the world of singing than a rounded English R.

I was trained to roll my Rs in any language I sing in - even German, French and English, none of which are spoken with rolled Rs. Gutteral German and French Rs sound awful sung, and English rounded Rs sound even worse. I know this may seem like an affectation, but then so does over-enunciation to may people, yet it's a fundamental technique in proper diction; the rule of thumb is that if you think you're overdoing your enunciation, it's probably just right.

I was trained to roll my Rs in any language I sing in - even German, French and English, none of which are spoken with rolled Rs.

I can assure you that spoken French DOES have a rolled R. It's rolled in the throat, and is refered to as "un R roul

This is a matter of semantics. The rolled R you're referring to in French and German is what I and others refer to as a guttural R (whether or not that's correct terminology, I'll leave to others to decide - I'm not a linguist). The trilled R you refer to is what I mean by rolled R, and is probably what Josh meant as well.

OK, I completely understand the distinction you're making, I'm just saying be careful of statements like "there is no rolled R in French", which is untrue.

The R is actually rolled at the back of the mouth, and not in the throat. Even some native french speakers are physically incapable of pronouncing it "properly".

Which means in some aras, there are dialects where the R is trilled rather than actually rolled in the mouth.

there is a joke in French:

"Ah le cochon! Ah le cochon!" s'

Edith Piaf is a good example of the "R roul

Edith Piaf is a good example of the "R roul