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From:  Edward Norton <belcantist2003@y...>
Date:  Wed Mar 5, 2003  2:09 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Countertenors and repertoire.


Dear Michelle & Listers,
One of my best friends is a mezzo-soprano, so I feel I can honestly say this.
Given the dearth of contraltos out there, if you're not willing to "drag up" and
do the "old geezer" thing, you're losing alot of wonderful repertoire! Yes,
some talented C-T's are stepping into some of this repertoire.
A point to ponder is that a great many Counter-Tenors out there these days are
good ol' red blooded heterosexuals! The one Counter-Tenor who sang in my
church choir years ago was straight as a stick and sang beside his (short-ranged
soprano) wife in the alto section. They practised their parts together in the
evenings! Generally speaking, these C-T dudes do not put on dresses and primp
and preen onstage and in very litte way do they usurp the repertoire of most
mezzo-sopranos out there!
Elizabeth (my mezzo friend originally from Illinois) always says that
mezzo-sopranos have to "Geezer up", "Frump Up" and "Whore Up"!! If you forgo
the Geezer repertoire, you can still frump and whore to your heart's content,
but you'll miss out on Orfeo, Octavian, Adriano, Cherubino, Sextus, Arsace, etc,
etc.!! Personally, I'd enjoy the "Whoring Up" much more than the "Frumping Up"
(one dear mezzo friend played a GRANDMOTHER at the ripe ol' age of
TWENTY-FIVE!!!!).
Counter-Tenors, as much as I DEARLY love them, aren't likely to step into
Carmen, Dalila, Maddalena or Leonora, must less any of the Wagnerians, but those
do tend to be less whorish and more on the frumpy side. Adriano might make
more sense sung by a man, but he'd have to be packing a high-octane C-T to pull
THAT off! I will admit I've wondered how "Rigoletto" would fly with a C-T
"cross-dresser" as Maddalena, but I'll bet the good ol' hog farmin' Southern USA
newspaper reviewers would not look happily on an "Anything That Moves" version
of the Duke! Then we have the Deep-Dish Frumps: Azucena and Fides! Not many
C-T's out there are going to want to deal with dresses and underpinnings, must
less the Mrs. Doubtfire bodystockings involved there! You have nothing to fear
in this area but fear itself!
Oratorio might get a bit scary for you, however. There's some safety for you
there, tho. I bet there wouldn't hardly be a C-T alive who'd want to sing the
"Queen" in "Elijah"!! The "Angel" would certainly work. David Daniels would
do a stunning job with that part and even my Mom thinks Andreas Scholl looks
like a cherub...
Again, a dear, dear (very heterosexual) mezzo friend finally had a opportunity
to sing "Dalila"! The tenor was gay and had halitosis so bad that he nearly
burnt the hair out of her nose!
There will always be plenty of repertoire out there! Do try to listen to David
Daniels at www.danielssings.com You'll probably end up liking Counter-Tenors
after all!
Ed





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  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date  
23072 Re: Countertenors and repertoire.Leslie Christopherleskayc Wed  3/5/2003  
23074 Re: Countertenors and repertoire.Edward Nortonbelcantist2003 Wed  3/5/2003  
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