Tako Oda wrote :
<< It's not well
known, but countertenors have a much richer and longer history than the
castrati. At some points in history (like now), they were highly trained
singers who were prized for their rare abilities.>>
I'd like to learn more about this! I had read the opposite (and common)
opinion, that when castrati were available, there was no point in training
countertenors, whose technical possibilities were lower... Do you think (or
have evidence) that a countertenor could sing together with a castrato in
the same opera? Have countertenors been employed in opera at all?
I would imagine that countertenors were certainly numerous among former alto
boys, in circumstances when these singers wanted to go on singing the
repertoire they had learned, or when no boy alto was available...
| Alain Zürcher, Paris, France
| L'Atelier du Chanteur :
| http://chanteur.net
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