Tako Oda wrote:
> So to sum it all up, countertenors who have a true upper head voice > probably *do* sound more like castrati than mezzos because: 1) they have > a male vocal tract and 2) they have the lower tenor extension which many > mezzos lack. This doesn't even begin to address the issue of dramatic > believability, which probably is relatively unimportant, considering > Handel himself did not seem to care much whether a given role was played > by a man or woman.
Tako, thank you for the clearest and most understandable post on this topic that I've ever read in my 5 years on the Vocalist! And we've had plenty of discussion on that topic, as I'm sure everyone who's been here awhile knows!
However, as to the statement re dramatic believability being "relatively unimportant" because Handel didn't care whether a man or woman sang a particular role, I have to disagree.
This is because we are not living in Handel's time - we are living in the year 2000. Audiences today are different from audiences 300 years ago. We expect different things, particularly in theatrical performance. Reality and believability were not important to audiences of those days - after all, look at the subject matter chosen - mythological and heroic figures. So Handel, being a practical theater man of his time, knew that the quality of singing for a given role was more important to his audiences than how "real" the drama would appear to them.
However, we're different. Dramatic believability is VERY high on the priority list today (this month's Opera News is almost entirely devoted to articles on opera stage directors). For many people, believability is higher than how well the singing is (e.g., emphasis on movie-star type looks, slenderness, etc.). I think having fantastic countertenors like Daniels et al available is a huge part of the reason that baroque opera is being frequently performed in major opera houses, and audiences are enjoying them. They also give stage directors a lot more options dramatically, in terms of what the audience will accept. As I said in an earlier post, I couldn't imagine the very steamy Poppea/Nero (Mary Mills/David Daniels) love scene that I saw staged in Miami even being contemplated with a woman cast as Nero, no matter how wonderful an actress and singer she is.
Peggy
-- Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA "Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile" mailto:peggyh@i...
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