Another Musician Worth Hearing and Seeing

[+ quoththeraven]

French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky (sorry, Tyro, I misspelled his last name in our communications), whom I first discovered while searching for video of the duet "Pur ti miro" that concludes Claudio Monteverdi's opera L'incoronazione de Poppea about the romance between Nero and his mistress, Poppea Sabina. Although IRL Poppea might not have been as monstrous as she's painted in the opera, both of the opera's main characters are monstrous, yet they sing one of the most beautiful love duets ever composed. Historically, the apparent happy ending didn't last; a pregnant Poppea died after Nero kicked her, and Nero committed suicide a few years later.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD45h_hz-CQ

 

Jaroussky may not be as hot a hottie as clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer, but he's easy on the eyes. And he's gay! That's public knowledge because he casually referred to his boyfriend (not by name) in an interview.

 

Here's another video of Jaroussky by himself singing "Pie Jesu" from Faure's Requiem.

 

[tyro]

NICE voice. As much as I don't like high male speaking voices, I have a real soft spot for countertenors. I bet Jaroussky will look young for a LONG time. I just get that vibe about him. Maybe his agent's releases will say he's "forever 29" and leave it at that! Kinda like some "working men" ....

[+ quoththeraven]

Jaroussky is 37. He started off playing violin and then piano, but because he started late (age 11) he was told he had no future as a professional musician. He began vocal training at age 18 and debuted professionally when he was 21.

 

I love countertenors too (or as Peter Schickele of PDQ Bach fame put it, bargain countertenors). I think the first time I heard a countertenor was in a recording of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with its fiendishly high solo Olim lacus colueram, written for tenor but within the countertenor range. Jaroussky's smooth, liquid tone wouldn't be right for a song that replicates the sound of a swan roasting on a spit, but he's perfect for the late Renaissance and Baroque repertoire originally written for (dare I mention it?) castrati.

[AdamSmith]

Historic side note...

 

Why Castrati Made Better Lovers

http://thesmartset.com/article0806070116/

 

Also, I Did Not Know This until looking it up just now about the film 'Farinelli':

 

Although Dionisi provided the speaking voice (originally in French), Farinelli's singing voice was provided by the Polish soprano, Ewa Malas-Godlewska and a countertenor, Derek Lee Ragin, who were recorded separately then digitally merged to recreate the sound of a castrato. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farinelli_%28film%29

[TruHart1]

Historic side note...

 

Why Castrati Made Better Lovers

http://thesmartset.com/article0806070116/

 

...reference to the film 'Farinelli'...

 

 

For an excellent fictional take on this, check out "Cry to Heaven" by Anne Rice! Yes...the same Anne Rice who wrote all those Vampire Chronicles, beginning with "Interview with the Vampire", but written before the Vampire books were published and became all the rage!

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-voYYCDK1wow/UaZzYiwujJI/AAAAAAAACp8/IIav6cWT120/s1600/S5002873.JPG

 

Truhart1

[+ quoththeraven]

Historic side note...

 

Why Castrati Made Better Lovers

http://thesmartset.com/article0806070116/

 

Also, I Did Not Know This until looking it up just now about the film 'Farinelli':

 

Although Dionisi provided the speaking voice (originally in French), Farinelli's singing voice was provided by the Polish soprano, Ewa Malas-Godlewska and a countertenor, Derek Lee Ragin, who were recorded separately then digitally merged to recreate the sound of a castrato. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farinelli_(film)

 

I was going to mention the fame and wealth of castrati, who commanded fees that were the equivalent of a million dollars in today's money, and their reputation as lovers. They had the advantage of full adult voices in higher ranges than would be natural to grown men otherwise, so melding a male countertenor voice and female soprano makes sense. Jaroussky himself is the first to admit his voice is not like theirs.

 

There are a few singers like Radu Marian who are endocrinological castrati - they never went through puberty, so their voices never changed. Their voices sound the most similar to the famed castrati of old, and they are described as male sopranos or sopranists rather than countertenors, as they are using chest voice rather than head voice. (Or so I understand.) Here's a video with him and Jaroussky singing "Lascia ch'io pianga" from Handel's Rinaldo. Jaroussky sings first; Marian'second. The difference is noticeable.

 

[TruHart1]

Yes, Radu is quite unique in modern times, more an accident of nature. His voice to me sounds very boyishly pure with quite a bit of added power. Jaroussky sings the aria about a third lower than Radu, the key it is often done when a mezzo-soprano performs it, as had been for many years in earlier modern revivals of the opera before the countertenor voice became more common, in great part due to the Dellers from Britain during the 40's, 50's and 60's, father Alfred and son Mark! I first heard the old recordings of Alessandro Moreschi, then known as the last castrato, who died in 1922 and I was struck by the ethereal sound of his voice, even with his vocal technique deficiencies (a lot of portamenti, sliding about to and from a note!) and his advanced age at the time he was recorded!

 

The great countertenors like Jaroussky have that pure vocal production too, and usually have great facility with embellishments like trills and fast roulades, etc. with the voice. In both Radu's and Jaroussky's performance above, you hear this ability in their vocal decorations, almost always a personal choice for each singer just as it was in Händel's day for the great castrati and, in fact, all the great baroque singers in any vocal category! Thanks QTR for bringing up Philippe Jaroussky, countertenors and thanks to Adam Smith for his side note about castrati. I have always been fascinated by the subject since hearing the Moreschi recordings and reading "Cry to Heaven", being a tenor myself with some vocal training - I minored in voice in college, and opera has been my other major hobby since the age of 13, back in Medieval times!!!

 

Truhart1

[whipped guy]

The Real Deal

 

Here is a 1902 recording of Alessandro Moreschi the "Last Castrato" singing the "Crucifixus" from Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle composed in 1864. Of course given the singer's age and the recording techniques available at the time one must take those factors into consideration... Incidentally Rossini said that an ideal performance of his Little Solemn Mass should involve twelve singers of three sexes: male, female, and castrati!

 

 

Rossini and the end of the castrati

By Stephen Hicks

One more thing to thank the Enlightenment for.

 

Gioachino Rossini was born into a musical family in February 1792 (two months after the death of Mozart), but his family always struggled financially.

 

In the music world of the 1700s, the castrati had reached the height of their popularity due to the quality of their voices. “In the 1720s and 1730s, at the height of the craze for these voices, it has been estimated that upwards of 4,000 boys were castrated annually in the service of art. Many came from poor homes and were castrated by their parents in the hope that their child might be successful and lift them from poverty.”

 

In his later years Rossini described the castrati this way: “I have never forgotten them. The purity, the miraculous flexibility of those voices and, above all, their profoundly penetrating accent — all that moved and fascinated my more than I can tell.”

 

But it had been a close call for the boy Gioachino. Biographer Richard Osborne says that “his maternal uncle … had suggested that the boy be castrated on the ground that the majority of operatic castrati live in great opulence.”

 

What to do, what to do?

 

Enlightenment humanism had led to a significant decline in castrations for musical purposes, and the practice had been made illegal in part of northern Italy by the 1790s (though it was not illegal in all of Italy until the unification of 1870).

 

But, reported Rossini later, his mother put her foot down and “would not consent at any price.”

 

So Gioachino avoided the knife and instead of becoming a singer went on to write Semiramide, William Tell, The Barber of Seville, and other classics.

 

Good choice, Signora Rossini. Thank you.

Yes thank you indeed!

[whipped guy]

David Daniels is another countertenor of note and is is also gay. Here he sings "Di tanti palpiti" from Rossini's Tancredi (1813).

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE8ZOCa_hBg

 

Incidentally the male role of Tancredi was originally composed for a woman. This was quite common as a compromise when a castrato was not available. Of course the era of the castrati was on the wane by the early 19th Century. As a result, even though he liked sound of the castrato voice Rossini only composed one opera where a castrato was featured in a major role. That was for a singer named Velutti in Aureliano in Palmira (also 1813). Unfortunately, composer and singer did not agree on artistic grounds so the relationship was not a felicitous one. Rossini went to compose quite a number of roles where a female contralto, mezzo-soprano, or even soprano portrayed a male character, but never again for a castrato.

 

Two more examples of "Di tanti palpiti". Interestingly none of the performances are identical regarding embellishments. That's what makes this period so interesting.

 

 

 

Incidentally, I would like to see more it this guy!

[uwsman2]

I think gaynesss runs through countertenors - check out Anthony Roth Costanzo, for the twink lovers.