Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Tako Oda" <toda@m...>
"Tako Oda" <toda@m...>
Date:  Thu Mar 22, 2001  5:06 pm
Subject:  Re: CTs vs. castrati and chest-voice


taylor23f@h... wrote:
taylor23f@h... wrote:
> I've only heard the Moreschi recording once- so I can't comment
> on his chest-voice. Regarding the "awful scooping", I would say
> that these were choices of style rather than a lack of vocal
> technique.

I sure *hope* it was an issue of style! ;-) What I meant was that
perhaps the obvious chest/head break that he has at A4 was also a
fashion... similar to mezzos a few decades ago who would take low
notes in open chest and allow a slight "yodel" on leaps into higher
registers.

> You say A4 above- I'm assuming you meant A5, not A4.

I mean the A right above tenor middle C (440Hz). There is an obvious
difference in technique between notes below and above that point. His
registration reminds me of Julie Andrews', but without the finnesse
at the passagio.

> And I would agree with what you say about few women bringing up
> the pure chest register to A5.

Absolutely - I've only heard a few pop singers do that! Operatic
women switch at least an octave below that, no?

> Castrati aside, the top part of the lower register(chest-voice)
> is F4 (above mid C) for BOTH men and women. Many voice teachers

Agreed. There are, howevever, different ways of continuing on after
that point. Dramatic tenors and female belters will continue on in a
chesty head voice (with thick folds, I suspect), whereas operatic
females and most countertenors will switch over to a lighter head
voice.

> When Duprez sang the first tenor high C from the chest(April 17th
> 1837- Paris Opera- William Tell) he created quite a scandal. The
> public had never heard such singing and simply detested it.

Yes, yes. That is why I question the notion that castrati sang past
even the tenor high A in chest... Many in the audience would have
seen Rossini's earlier operas, which sported castrati. Maybe it was
just accepted as part of the castrato technique?

> A final thought on the castrati and CTs. Without going "under the
> knife" it's impossible to draw a concrete comparison between the CT
> of today and the castrati of yesterday. A countertenor can never
> achieve the exact registrational events the castrati had because we
> must factor in the hormonal effects the operation had on the boy
> soprano voice.

Hormonal castrati do give us some insight, but you're right - we'll
never know for sure (thank God!) In the real world, there is a huge
spectrum spanning from decidedly non-castrato-like CTs to those that
probably sound as castrato-like as possible w/o-knife. Virtually
unchanged speaking voices, with a solid upper head voice, like
Yoshikazu Mera.

May I add, though, that countertenors shouldn't *need* to sound like
castrati to be acceptable Handelian singers? If today's CTs use a
more 'womanly' technique than the castrati did, they're obviously not
a perfect fit, but since Handel used women for some primo uomo roles,
one can only assume that a solid CT would have been at least as
acceptable as a decent mezzo...

Thanks for all the interesting ideas! I feel like I've learned a lot!

Tako Oda


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