taylor23f@h... wrote:
taylor23f@h... wrote:
> Following castration, the vocal registers
> were conducive to the execution of the largest number of notes
> in the "chest-register." And fairly often however, the full
> range of the castrati was from A to high F, which means that
> from ten to thirteen notes could be sung in the pure "chest-
> register."
Dear Taylor,
This is fascinating! What you say certainly makes sense - The
castrati certainly seem to have used their "chest" to extend their
lower ranges, so why not the upper? Vivaldi castrato cantatas have
HUGE leaps that could only be accomplished with someone with an
almost full tenor range *and* soprano range. Clearly, many castrati
had good command of their chest voices.
It also explains Moreschi's insistence on bringing his chest to A4
(few women in classical music do this), even though his break sounded
grotesque... perhaps it was much smoother when he was younger? Or
maybe the break was just accepted in that era (like the awful
scooping he does)?
> This fact has serious implications when we consider that a
> capable female soprano voice of the time could produce only
> HALF that number of "chest-tones."
Just for classical style, though... There are women who specialize in
a "harder mix", just not in opera, as it is not part of the style.
Whitney Houston and Cyndi Lauper come to mind. Women *can* do it,
they just can't within the confines of an acceptable feminine
classical sound. I suspect the rules were different for castrati
(don't men always have more freedom!) I can see how a woman might
have successfully masqueraded as a castrato.
> So, castration had it obvious advantages when one considers the
> innate vitality and power behind the tones emmited by the chest-
> register.
Wow, this is great, it's all coming together! The only thing that I
wonder about is the idea that chest tones above G4 weren't acceptable
for a tenor well into the Rossini era, when operatic castrati had
already started to disappear. Perhaps this unique sound was only
allowed by the castrati since they were already considered something
of a freakshow already.
This all makes me feel validated vocally - if you've heard that sound
clip I posted earlier, you'll hear that I sometimes include much more
chest mix into my sound that the typical countertenor. I wonder if
that is more "authentic" in a way? (I think of CTs like Kowalski and
Oberlin too.)
> For further reading on the subject of castrati- pick up Rodolfo
> Celletti's book, A History of Bel Canto.
I'll try to find this, thanks again!
Tako
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