Axwell@a... wrote:
Axwell@a... wrote:
> I don't see any reason why a man should sound like a woman.
Oh dear, here we go again... I don't sound like a woman. I sound like
a man singing very high. A keen ear can almost always tell the
difference. Here's a clip of me:
http://people.mills.edu/toda/music/arpeggio.wav
> What parts call for this? Why should a man be dressed like a
> man and sound like a soprano?
There are many parts for countertenor in the modern rep. Many music
directors are interested in CTs for early operas under the assumption
that a good one is as close as one can get to a castrato - male in
appearance and stage presence, high range, and good technique.
> Are there any parts for transvestites in opera ? I don't recall
> that in any story line.
I think you're confused about what most operatic countertenors do.
Most of us are playing male roles, such as Caesar, Nero, Lucifer,
Oberon, Apollo. It's the mezzos that have been cross-dressing! (not
that this ever bothers me).
> Why would a woman be attracted to a soprano sounding man ?
Maybe if you were a woman you would understand. Have you ever been to
a heavy metal concert? High notes are sexy. Tenors are sexy, so
countertenors are just more so ;-) Haven't you heard of the groupies
Farinelli had?
> Are they doing parts today where a countertenor gets dressed like
> a woman and plays a womans' part ?
This happens occasionally when a CT plays a mezzo pants role, like
Orlofsky or Cherubino. Asawa once did Baba the Turk, a bearded lady,
but that is a gender-bending part already. The exception, and not my
cup of tea, but some people like it - certainly no weirder than a
woman playing Rinaldo.
> David Daniels, to me, sounds like a third rate female voice.
> Why not have a first rate female voice sing his parts in drag?
Third rate? Maybe it's because you expect him to sound like a woman
and he doesn't. He excels at sounding like an excellent countertenor.
What are you criticizing? His coloratura, acting, messa di voce,
projection, interpretation? He has received nothing but praise in
these areas. Not in a league with Horne (yet), but good enough for
the comparison to at least be drawn in a number of reviews.
> What am I missing here ? There is no comparison with the
> castrato singers of olden times.
How do you know that? How many castrati have you heard? I've heard a
few modern castrati (mostly endocrynological and one physical), and
they don't sound all that different from countertenors. I've recently
posted my thoughts on why this would be, and I'd love if you'd read
them.
Even if they did sound different, Handel wouldn't have cared too much
as long as the CT was good. He used castrati and female sopranos
interchangebly, for male and female roles, implying chops were more
important than sex-specific timbre. He had nothing against CTs as a
fach - he used them sparingly according to their talents (which were
limited, since the ones he knew were cathedral trained altos).
> The falsettist is not carrying on a tradition.
The tradition of "falsettists" in classical music is much longer than
of castrati. The castrati were a fad.
> until then, the falsettist does not fill the bill, in my opinion.
Well, that's your opinion, but I suggest you notice that a lot of
people are accepting the new breed of countertenors, and "filling
their bills" with casts of as many as 3 CTs in one production.
Here is a rebuttal letter defending CTs I wrote to Early Music
America magazine (it was printed last quarter). Many of your points
are addressed:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vocalist-temporary/files/early%20music%
20america%20rebuttal.doc
Tako
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