On Mon, 4 Dec 2000, Caio Rossi wrote:
>
> Today I had the second class with my new teacher. I've only confirmed the
> good impression I had had in my first class. She's been very good for me to
> find 'my voice'.
>
> We talked about the characteristics of my voice and how I had been trying to
> sing things that were too hard on my voice: I've always tried to make it
> sound heavier than it really is. She said that, although I can still develop
> more lower overtones, I'm a 'light tenor', with a sweet timbre and there's
> nothing I can do about that ( unless be born again, but I'm too lazy ). She
> said I'm a Baroque kind of tenor. Can anyone make it clearer to me ( I know
> there were Baroque countertenors, but I don't think that's what she meant ).
Dear Caio,
I guess the best thing I could do is give you some examples. Jeffrey
Thomas and Mark Padmore are excellent Baroque tenors. They have very clear
voices, and have very easy tops. Often, they can handle haute contre rep,
though they are not necessarily the same animal (Thomas sticks to tenor,
Padmore does some haute contre).
They are distinct from post-Rossini tenors in that they don't necessarily
sing everything above G4 in full chest, though they surely can (I've heard
Thomas BLAST a Db5 in chest before). Not a lot of noise in the chest
register, allowing them to switch to a countertenor-like sound at any
point above E4. They may switch to the ct production, or choose to use a
very light tenor head voice which is completely connected to their lower
registers. It's almost impossible to hear the difference. usually a
smallish voice.
If the description you posted on your androgynous vocal mechanism is any
clue, there's probably a good chance you can handle the music for this
voice type.
Tako
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