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Of Unusual VoicesGiulio Cesare Ariodante David Walker: Profile Interview Calendar

With Baroque and Early Opera, sometimes what you see is not what you get: Of mezzos in men's togs and men singing in women's voices...

Photos: courtesy & © Ken Howard

A MEZZO OR A COUNTERTENOR? The audio clips below are of 3 beautiful voices; one is a countertenor's. Press the play button, listen, and see if you can you tell one from the other. (REAL PLAYER required.) mezzo countertenor mezzo countertenor mezzo countertenor Click HERE to learn more about the clips. The Most Familiar Male and Female Voice Types

With today's resurgence of interest in EARLY MUSIC, which in the case of opera goes back to the 17th and 18th centuries, the spotlight has been shining brightly on the countertenor and his rather unfamiliar voice - unfamiliar mainly because what the eye sees on stage is not what the ear expects to hear. Actually, the countertenor is the highest male voice that perhaps can best be described in comparison to the mezzo-soprano - for whom male roles have been composed and whose voice type certainly is not unfamiliar. But obviously, while today's opera-going public is quite accepting of a mezzo in men's togs, it still has to get used to a countertenor singing a man's role in what sounds like a woman's voice.

If modern opera houses and concert venues were perhaps to make Baroque and Early Opera a more usual component of their repertoire, greater numbers of today's audiences would acquire an ear for, or perhaps even become fascinated, by the countertenor voice, just as audiences of the 17th and 18th centuries were exhilarated by the castrati singers who were the pop idols of the time. And it helps that today there appears to be no shortage of countertenors and mezzo-sopranos* whose vocal prowess can transport listeners back to the age of castrati.

Indeed, some headway has been gained. Today, Handel and to a lesser extent Monteverdi, Gluck, and Haydn are in vogue. In the past 3 seasons alone, there have been three much-publicized and acclaimed productions of Handel's most popular opera, Giulio Cesare - by the Metropolitan Opera in 1999 (with mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore in the title role), the Washington Opera in 2000 (with mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux in the title role) and the Los Angeles Opera in 2001. The Los Angeles Opera production, in part updated the setting to more modern times, triumphed musically as it brought to fore the marvelous vocal resources of three of America's (and indeed the world's) best countertenors - David Daniels as Caesar, Bejun Mehta as Ptolemy, and David Walker as Nerino - who gave outstanding performances without exception. (Click HERE for more on Los Angeles Opera's Giulio Cesare.)

Then there is Handel's Ariodante, which has received two performances in recent years, both with Vivica Genaux in the title role: at the Dallas Opera in 1999 and the San Diego Opera in 2002. (Click HERE for more on San Diego Opera's Ariodante.) And to drive home the point a bit harder, one must also mention recent or forthcoming performances and/or recordings of Handel's Alcina, Arminio, Rinaldo, and Xerxes; Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea and Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria; and Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice

Of course, these operas were not written exclusively for castrati voices, indeed some of the most beautiful music for the more familiar male and female voices can be found in these works. And while mezzo-sopranos have been highly acclaimed for their performances of various castrati roles, it is the relative novelty of the countertenor (sometimes rightly or wrongly referred to as male alto, male soprano, or falsettist) that has piqued public curiosity and caused a stir in recent years.

To find out more about countertenors, FanFaire interviewed David Walker (following his debut as Polinesso in San Diego Opera's Ariodante). Not only did we enjoy the interview. And we hope you will too. Here's what he has to say....

Read on >>>

*A new CD album of arias from the age of the castrati singers will be released in the USA on September 10, 2002. Entitled Arias for Farinelli, it features mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, one of the new generation's leading interpreters of Baroque and Early Music, who sings arias written by various composers for the most famous castrato of the 18th century, Carlos Broschi otherwise known as Farinelli, under the direction of today's foremost Early Music expert René Jacobs.

Of Unusual VoicesGiulio Cesare Ariodante David Walker: Profile Interview Calendar

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