>voice. More than a few times it was implied to me that countertenors were >not an acceptable topic of conversation at vocalist. >
In God's name, why not? Aren't countertenors vocalists too? Perhaps it's because we no longer have our resident countertenor, Jay Wilcox, to wave the flag for his fach.
I have to admit that I've been somewhat put off by the countertenor voice over the years. But recently I've been making discoveries among the "new crop" of countertenors - e.g., sopranos/mezzos Brian Asawa, David Daniels, Bejun Mehta, and Yoshikazu Mera, and alto Andreas Scholl - that have been changing my mind. There is a clarity to their vocal sound, and a core of energy, that one didn't hear in the "old school" of sexless, enervated, hooty-sounding countertenors epitomised by the legendary Alfred Deller, and more recently by James Bowman and Michael Chance (what I call the "Deller Consort/King's Singers countertenor sound") but also apparent, albeit to a much less offensive extent, in singers like Pascal Bertin, Derek Lee Ragin, Robin Blaze and Drew Minter.
Then there's Dominique Visse, who sounds to be in a category all his own.
Karen Mercedes
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