May I comment here ? I think this is a very good idea;the libretto is almost
ready-made and
there would be no difficulty in choosing the music !!
I don't know whether you have heard Angelo Manzotti's CD "Arie di Farinelli" ?
his voice is
exceptional in range , colour and control, for the emerging male soprano, to
realise the part of
Tonio. Otherwise, David Daniels has a special quality which emerges on the
stage.
"Morphing" might be an answer; techniques of melding must surely be better now
since the
"Farinelli" film.
A point of interest; around 1980 + , a pastiche was performed, based on the
novel "Porporino",
by Dominique Fernandez, winner of the Prix Medicis. This novel was available in
French and
Italian only, as far as I know; its subtitle was " P...ou les mysteres de
Naples."
This is a little different, in that it celebrated a special kind of friendship,
"everyone" was in it,
and the ending was even more "Gothic" than "Cry to Heaven".
This pastiche was performed at Aix; the soprano part was taken by the high
tenor, Bruce
Brewer, and the alto (Porporino) of the title, was sung by James Bowman.
Did any one on the List see it ? I have never been able to trace a video or a
tape of this
performance, and I don't think it has been "done" since, unless anyone knows
otherwise ?
Fernandez, by the way, is the mentor of Patrick Barbier, who has written
several books about
the castrati.
Elsa
http://www.cix.co.uk/~velluti
July 2000
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