Reg Boyle <bandb@n...> wrote:
> I've never been conscious of the primo passagio or even the second.
> Nor do I wish to be, but as well as that, why would anyone 'specialise
> in low notes' and isn't it essential that all voices balance their
> 'registers', both for even tonal quality and loudness throughout the
> range? My limited experience with live performances of professional
> counter-tenors shows this to be their most common vocal weakness.
Many of the mezzos (and countertenors) I know experience a transition
somewhere around C5. Speaking for myself, I can say the transition is
VERY different in sensation than the primo passagio, where there's a
transition out of the speaking voice.
You're correct in saying that registration difficulties are a special
challenge for countertenors... where many see a limitation, I see a gift
- the difficulty stems from the vast difference in range between the
"heavy" and "light" mechanisms for most CTs. Once a countertenor can
successfully bridge this transition, however, you have a singer with an
unusually large range and unusually wide palette of timbral colors.
> The sound of string instruments pre- Mozart did not include
> vibrato on gut strings because they would not last, yet modern
> playing often inserts the vibrato even though it was not intended
> by the composer. Just because we now use steel strings which will
> survive the vibrato, should we implement it? Even worse, with
> counter-tenors. We've no real comparison with castrati,yet,
> because it's convenient to assume that ct technique is the same as
> that followed by true castrati, it is designated valid and presumed
> to satisfy the composer's requirements.
There's actually not a whole lot of evidence that Baroque singers
avoided vibrato. As a matter of fact, John Butt, one of the foremost
authorities on early music, points out that the "vocal" stop on a pipe
organ is the one that has a vibrato! Surely it was less than a Wagnerian
vibrato, but I believe it was there.
Here's the line of thinking I use to justify the use of countertenors in
castrati roles: Handel did not care much if a singer was male or female.
This implies to me that the specific vocal color was not as important as
the music itself and the general technical competence. If Daniels and
Asawa can be accused of sounding like women, and they can sing just as
well, then we can only assume that Handel could not have cared less.
There's a well-known anecdote that Handel did not want countertenors
singing his operatic roles. My explanation for this is that were no
countertenors available who had sufficient technique. There was no
formal countertenor training at the time, since castrati were all the
rage. We can only imagine that the countertenors whom Handel had heard
sounded like the ones we hear today in the Episcopal pews: beautiful,
but not capable of sustaining an operatic role. I believe Handel would
have hired Daniels but not Deller.
> Pardon! How do you know that? I mean: 'that he succeeds with flying
> colours, in approximating a castrato'?
He can execute the coloratura far better than many men or women. Even
his greatest detractors admit to that. He is also undeniably masculine
looking and acting on stage. Just my opinon, but he also sounds male.
> Just _my_ imagination but I think in the absence of a true castrato
> I'd rather hear a brilliant mezzo with an extended range,
> but maybe I'm being sexist and I wouldn't want to be that:)
You're certainly entitled to that opinion :) I personally just want the
best singer/actor. I couldn't care one hoot what's underneath the
costume :) I would rather hear good mezzo over a mediocre countertenor
any day myself!
-Tako
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