"Alain Zürcher" <az@c...> wrote:
> << It's not well
> known, but countertenors have a much richer and longer history than the
> castrati.
>
> I'd like to learn more about this! I had read the opposite (and common)
> opinion, that when castrati were available, there was no point in training
> countertenors, whose technical possibilities were lower...
It is true that countertenors had been almost completely eclipsed by the
castrati between Handel -> Mozart. That was a relatively short period.
In general, the castrati had better instruments than countertenors.
Castrati received a great deal of training, and were selected from boys
who already had fine voices. The operation allowed for high notes not
available to the average countertenor.
There were countries that were disgusted by the idea of castrati. France
continued its tradition of the haute contre, which is a low countertenor
based on a root high tenor voice. The French have a longer history in
opera than the Italians, but the early ones are rarely performed because
it is so difficult to find/train this kind of voice, which is as rare a
true basso or contralto.
Before the age of the castrato, Henry Purcell and John Gay wrote roles
for countertenors. Purcell himself was one. Of course, England has an
unbroken tradition of cathedral countertenors as well.
Countertenors were a big thing in Spain during the Renaissance. All
those SAATB motets were written for adult male choirs. Some of the
composers themselves were sopranists.
Another thing to remember is that the Japanese and Chinese used
countertenors in their theatres to play female parts, since women were
banned for a long time on the stage, and these operas are still
traditionally presented by all-male companies.
Countertenors are very prevalent in folk forms, whether you're talking
about John Dowland or Michael Jackson.
We are starting to see more and more countertenors also in modern opera:
"Where's Dick?", "Harvey Milk", "Death in Venice", "Atlas",
"Midsummer Night's Dream", "The Black Spider", "Fall of Lucifer" just
off the top of my head.
> Do you think (or
> have evidence) that a countertenor could sing together with a castrato in
> the same opera? Have countertenors been employed in opera at all?
I doubt it... I *think* an English cathedral countertenor ("O Death")
shared the stage with Senesino ("Who May Abide") for the first
performance of Messiah (anyone know for sure?), but that is an
oratorio...
-Tako
|
