Singer-actress Jeanette MacDonald is a perfect example of what, decades after her death, became known as a "classical crossover" artist. In her films, radio and television appearances, concerts, and recordings, she sang opera, operetta, art songs, and show tunes, often with an eye toward popularizing classical music for the masses. This was a delicate balancing act that worked for most of her career, during which she enjoyed high-grossing films, gold records, and sold-out concerts. But even during that period, like all classical-crossover artists, she suffered criticism from both sides of the breach she was attempting to cross. Pop critics sometimes found her soprano singing too highfalutin and pretentious, while classical critics demeaned her for diluting the purity of classical art by performing in popular media. And she was not served well by the cultural trends and fashions in the performing arts that followed her heyday, as rock