America's got ruined child voices

Here we go again with the surprise “opera” singer on a talent show. America’s Got Talent just revealed Laura Bretan as the latest Jackie Evancho or Paul Potts or whats-her-name, the Scottish woman who sang I Dreamed a Dream.

Laura Bretan is 13 years old and now finds herself in the spotlight on primetime television and also being shit-talked in comment sections by every failed opera singer in the country. These opera singers always feign concern for a young singer who is doing too much at an early age. They fear (secretly hope) that she will ruin her voice and destroy what could be a decades-long opera career on the world stage.

First of all, there about 26 people who have opera careers that last decades on the world stage. Second of all, she’s now on the world stage for at least a year. Does anyone want to admit how difficult that is to pull off?

Having an opera career in the provincial theaters of Wichita, San Jose, and Naples, Florida is almost impossible to accomplish, so why be concerned for a youngster who loves opera and has made it? She is just that. She’s a young singer who loves opera and she has made it.

Do we really want to get into how many young singers love opera and never see the stage? Not having a career and not singing on national television for tens of million people is normal. Singers who want to criticize Laura Bretan can take solace in the fact that they didn’t ruin their nonexistent career by singing music that was inappropriate.

Singers can sing the wrong music in the right way for their voices. I think Laura Bretan sang quite well. I didn’t sense that she was straining or forcing the voice. I sensed that she was nervous, but who wouldn't be? She sang a dramatic tenor aria, so it’s not as if she is ruining herself for the soprano rep.

For those who think that kids singing too young will ruin their chances at a career, I give you an eight-year-old named Beverly Sills. The recording quality masks most of the overtones, but I assure you this isn’t a “healthy” voice for a little girl. Or is it?