> << Even castrati were expected to sing with a > penetrating ring to the voice that women singers of > that day could only envy. >>
Judy, try: "Clarol's 'brilliant russet flame #01' produces a deep, vibrant color that natural redheads can only envy."
Or: "Ru Paul's custom-made Wunderbra For Men resulted in a decollete that the women of the cast could only envy."
Neither of the above sentences implies that the natural redheads were not, or that the women in the cast had all undergone mastectomies. Both imply that red is red and women have chests, but the subjects of the sentences gave them a run for their money.
Back to Lloyd's original statement: Castrati had rich, ringing voices -- modern-day "baroque" practices mutilate the meaning of a rich, ringing voice (that horrible Emma Kirkby and others of the straight-tone "choral" voice come to mind). Let's take these as a given. Or debate as you see fit.
But could men not have sung with rich, ringing head tones in the past (in Mozart's and Rossini's time), while today's full-chest voice is a beast of an altogether different color? Tenors singing in head/falsetto aren't lacking in resonance or ring -- it's just not the full-throated tenorial bellow we expect today. Did Mozart's tenors sing in a rich, resonant falsetto (one to make the women and castrati envious), or did they sing in the kind of full, open chest voice that most tenors of today do?
If the former, then it's no wonder that today's tenors have a hard time with the tessitura of Mozart's works; they're trying to sing it inappropriately. If the latter, then why the brouhaha about the William Tell tenor and his full-voiced high C? Why the historical paper trail of tenors singing in falsetto (including the recordings of Jean de Reske, Resnke, Resik -- you know the one I mean, and other early recorded tenors)?
Also, I would be very interested in more information about Amina being composed for a large dramatic instrument in the Callas vein. I was under the impression that it was written for a coloratura voice, rather than Callas' vocally "verismo" take on the role which has come to be seen as the correct interpretation. I associate Callas most with operas like La Wally and Butterfly -- in the Italian dramatic fach. The earliest recording I can find of Sonnambula is with Patti, a light coloratura. I understand that Jenny Lind, acclaimed "nightingale" coloratura of her day, was a famous Amina in the 1800s. The instrumentation and size of the original orchestra are small. As well, the brutally high tessitura of Elvino seems to suggest a lighter tenor instrument to be paired with.
But, I'm always willing to be wrong! I myself prefer larger, more brilliant instruments. I have mentioned Deutekom's Queen of the Night already. I also cherish a recording of Tebaldi singing Cleopatra's "V'adoro, pupille" and a Flagstad recording of the soprano solos in Handel's Messiah. Give me Handel with meat on its bones -- and convince me that a quasi-spinto sound in a Gilda or an Amina would not be out of place.
(Note: And can you go too far in this direction? Has anyone else on the list heard Cheryl Studer's Rigoletto recording? Fabulous storm scene, but the aria... ouch...)
Isabelle B.
===== Isabelle Bracamonte San Francisco, CA ibracamonte@y...
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