Opera singers have to act (unless in concert), and few could beguile an audience better than this one, although given the choice I’d prefer listening to her sing Mozart.
She definitely did one of the best versions of Summertime ever, and there have been quite a few great versions done.
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I agree. Many named I love, but do not consider them in consideration as being best. But I don’t care. I’m groovin’ on all the responses, and have found a couple to add to my library. Plus, each of us has a different idea of what constitutes “best”. There is no right or wrong on this subject, IMHO.
No real right or wrong as this is a thread of subjective preferences, but I doubt many of those named are being offered as “best ever.”
Robin Holcomb:
Annie Halsam - Lead vocals for Renaissance:
Best of no way. Those that I can enjoy in the moment. It is like the end of the year wrap-up lists of bests. Can be rather silly IMHO. Better to explore and learn about what is out there, be it equipment, music, wine, or…
And when she sings LOUD, it’s like scratching fingernails on a chalkboard to my ears.
I love Renaissance, but never knew her name. Heck, been a fan of theirs for almost fifty years, I guess. They’re old farts, like ME!!
That is what I love about Roon teamed with Qubuz. It’s so easy to explore music unfamiliar to me, and if I like it, add it to my library along with all their available music. Since Qobuz became available in the US, I have added 700,000 tracks to my library, most of it stuff that is new to me. I put it all on Shuffle, and love almost all of it. Once in a great while, a track pops up that I don’t like and I delete it, but very rarely. I think I have deleted maybe 5 or 6 that I didn’t like. But I have discovered hundreds, maybe thousands that are new to me, but oh so good to listen to. There is SO MUCH out there that is so very very good, that I thing everyone would benefit from listening to artists that are “new” to them.
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Thanks for that lead. I’m listening to her currently, and wow, such a great diversity, and she has not just a great voice, but can twist it, and turn it so perfectly to fit the song. She is so very good at adjusting her volume to set the tone and mood of the song. I added everything Qobuz offered on her to my Roon library. Again, thanks for mentioning her.
Here is a singer to experiment with. I wouldn’t categorize a best, but surely different:
Meredith Monk - Dolmen Music:
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I left off numerous of my favorites, such as Linda Ronstadt, Judy Collins, Ruth Brown, Anne Murray, Reba McEntire, etc. Love all of them, but to me, not warranting the “Best Female Singer” moniker. The ones I listed qualify, IMHO, to be considered because of the quality of voice, and what they can do with it. I never knew how good of a voice Aretha had until I saw her sing opera on TV. And she was great at it!!
In no particular order (not possible to pick one “best”):
Iris Dement
Shawn Colvin
Sandy Denny
Rosanne Cash
Diana Krall
Norah Jones
Maria McKee
Alison Krauss
Alison Goldfrapp
Mavis Staples
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For me, Ella.
+1 on Alison and Mavis
Great you like her, so you now have 10-20 fantastic albums to explore
Madeline Peyroux … don’t like to classify as best ever but she does have a great voice…some have likened it to Billie Holiday
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She just popped up shuttle playing my Roon. I have to agree with you.
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