I should have called the counter-tenor mentioned in my story "Joe Blow" instead of David. They both are named "David" but my singer was NOT Mr. Daniels (native of Spartanburg, SC) but rather a native of Birmingham, England! David Joe Blow is, like Mr Scholl, heterosexual with a capitol H!!!! Much ado was made also in the redneck parish over his (David Joe Blow's) wife's nursing of their sons in public. It didn't bother me one iota. I grew up with the redneck in that church who verbalized his displeasure and promptly told him he needed to drink a pint of milk, say 10 Hail Marys and ponder that in his heart because the rest of us were sick and tired of hearing it! HA! (We vocalists know that Schumann-Heink and Flagstad did wonders for their voices thru nursing and DON'T mind one bit!) It is indeed a shame that the gay community isn't better mannered on this subject, but "homophobia" is inbred in many people including, sadly, a majority of the gay community itself. A mezzo friend told me Mr Daniels is indeed quite a hunk and has a body as hard as a high school math class! I TRULY wonder how she determined THAT!! If Mr Daniels were a booming basso, thrilling baritone or virile tenor, perhaps more of the Opera Queens would be framing his handsome poster? Mom thinks he sounds like Louise Homer, whose voice was described by one of my teenage sopranos as "one butch sister"!! She'd have probably thought Dame Clara Butt could drive a Peterbilt Truck and rotate the tires on it!!
Ed "Michael <chosdad@y... wrote:Edward:
I am confused by your message.
You state that you have not heard David Daniels in person, and then you further state,
> The performance went well. David sang "Behold!" and "O thou" with phrases intact and did an excellent performance.
Is the David referenced above Mr. Daniels? Or some other David?
Adding to the confusion, you wrote >Immediately following the final applause, my Pastor, with a smirk on his face, pulled me aside and put forth the question, "They are all asking if David is gay!"!!
Again, if "David" is Mr. Daniels - the well known answer is yes. I agree it is a "redneck mind" to assume a countertenor is gay, but for whatever reason it turns out that many of the well-known countertenors are gay (as just a sample, I believe Minter, Asawa, Daniels, Mehta), although others are not (Scholl).
Personally I am just interested in the singing, but others seem to care deeply about the sexuality of a singer, and ironically some like Daniels encounter the most hostility from gay opera fans:
"But the most opposition I get is from the gay community. There's a lot of negativity from the gay community because I'm open, and proud and honest. It's very bizarre. It makes no sense whatever." - see http://listproc.ucdavis.edu/archives/mlist/log0108/0011.html.
BTW, for those who are interested, there is a "countertenor" yahoo group - TheCountertenors.
Cheers,
Michael
---------------------------------
|