Soul vs Technique

[datura800.livejournal.com]

I hope he won't mind me quoting him, but I read an interesting assertion in Alex's review of the new Mariah album (today's Guardian):

"Carey's voice has been mocked, bizarrely, as being a triumph of technique over soul - an argument that fails to comprehend that technique and soul are intertwined, that technique primarily exists as a means to convey emotion".

I thought this would be a good discussion to have here - it's a point I quite strongly disagree with (generally, not specifically with relation to Mariah), but I'll wait to see if anyone is interested in commenting before launching into it.

Comments

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Oof, lots of typos, but I mean to say I don't think that Mariah's former giddiness would necessarily APPEAL to a lot of people. But also, sorta new thought, that what she was doing didn't have much to do with "technique" at all! (I remember talking about Kelly Clarkson hitting an E-flat to my classical music composer friend, and he said "you think that's high? I don't even know if that qualifies as soprano!" but we were on different pages/wavelengths.) I think "audacity" is still a better word for it.