# Countertenors in Bach, Telemann, Rameau, etc...



## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

So, was just listening to a new recording of Telemann's Cantatas, and up pops a countertenor. They seem to be all the rage. But I have yet, to my ears, to hear a male who can sing as well as an equivalently trained female Alto. Countertenors ruined the Suzuki Bach cantata cycle (for me) along with Gardiner's set. For me, there's always that moment when it sounds as if every last shred of lung and abdomen is being squeezed to belt out that one high note. I always go back to Koopman's and Kuijken's performances. 

I was then curious if this was a new phase in original instrument performance, but I read a fascinating article arguing that today's countertenor's wouldn't have existed in Bach's time. There were boys who sang alto and soprano, but they weren't singing falsetto; and Bach didn't avail himself of any Castratti. So, as far as I can gather, there's no historical rationale for using countertenors.

I expect there are many listeners who enjoy countertenors, but I'd be willing to burn my best mutton to a sacrificial ash-heap if only the gods would see fit to let this fad pass.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

What do you think of this guy? I think he's given a phenomenal performance.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Beautiful technique, but the voice just doesn't cut it for me. By way of comparison, I far, far prefer Silke Gäng's performance of the piece. Women just don't need to strain their vocal cords and lungs the way men do. It gives their voices greater expressive range, a cleaner timbre, and breath control (or at least that's how I interpret the difference).


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

There's a recording of Dufay material with the young René Jacobs which I love when he sings solo material, partly because of his voice, which brings a feeling of strangeness to the music, it makes it sound like it's from Mars - that's not a bad thing for music from the c15. I recommend it enthusiastically









Later on his voice changed, and I don't find it quite as intriguing.

In ensemble music, the problem with countertenors is that they can dominate the balance. Your ear is drawn to them too much, especially if the lower voices aren't excellent. But it can be managed and I don't have a problem in principle with the voice.

Oh I just saw the thread title, I know nothing about Rameau and Telemann and not much more about Bach, sorry!


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

It's not on Spotify and I haven't found any outtakes on Youtube. Amazon has it for $41.50. I'll have to add it to my wish list.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

The Agnus Dei on this recording is otherwordly. Certainly better than any female Alto I've heard.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Just like with female altos, some countertenors hit the spot - others don't. I don't have any problem with them; a wonderful voice and effective emotional display is what counts.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Bulldog said:


> Just like with female altos, some countertenors hit the spot - others don't. I don't have any problem with them; a wonderful voice and effective emotional display is what counts.


That's true, of course. There are good countertenors and bad countertenor. I've been enjoying Iestyn Davies' recording lately.

The problem, as I hear it, is that the producers of recordings of Baroque music seem to consider it more important to cast a countertenor than to insist that he sing well. I've heard commercial recordings by countertenors that would be considered vocally abominable when presented by any other voice type.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

vtpoet said:


> I was then curious if this was a new phase in original instrument performance, but I read a fascinating article arguing that today's countertenor's wouldn't have existed in Bach's time. There were boys who sang alto and soprano, but they weren't singing falsetto; and Bach didn't avail himself of any Castratti. So, as far as I can gather, there's no historical rationale for using countertenors.


Yes, countertenors are a poor and unsubstantiated substitute for boy altos, at least in Baroque music. I wonder who sang the alto parts in Medieval and Renaissance sacred music. Did they sing at so low pitch, that high tenors could sing the parts, or did they use boy singers in the churches.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

premont said:


> I wonder who sang the alto parts in Medieval and Renaissance sacred music. Did they sing at so low pitch, that high tenors could sing the parts, or did they use boy singers in the churches.


Have you seen the discussion of this thorny issue in Andrew Parrrott's book, _Composers' Intentions_?


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Mandryka said:


> Have you seen the discussion of this thorny issue in Andrew Parrrott's book, _Composers' Intentions_?


I have had that book on my radar for some time, but for some unknown reason never got it. I shall do a renewed effort to get hold of it.

Edit: Just ordered.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

It's the central issue of the book, or one of them. The issues are really complex and I couldn't hope to summarise them. For example he has a long discussion of Dufay's will. The executors' account of the will is in French and asks for a hymn to be sung after last rights _en fausset_, which looks like it means in falsetto. But things are much more complex. _En fausset_ may well be the executors' mistranslation of the Latin of the will itself; the expression _en fausset_ in French may not mean in falsetto.

And on and on it goes! In English there's an expression: fools rush in where angels fear to tread. I think this is an area best left to professionals, everything is so up in the air at the moment.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

I think countertenors sound good and appropriate in all-male vocal ensembles singing music that doesn't go much above the alto range. That describes a lot of 15th c and earlier music and lots of groups have made careers mostly out of this repertoire, like the Hilliard Ensemble and others. I had always assumed that countertenors singing falsetto was the actual historical practice for this period, but it seems I may have been wrong about this. I'd like to read more.

I don't really understand the use of countertenors in Bach and other baroque music where you're using female sopranos anyway. All else being equal, I think female alto voices just sound nicer than countertenors and I wish more baroque ensembles would use them. It's my only complaint about many of my favorite Bach recordings.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Mandryka said:


> ....In ensemble music, the problem with countertenors is that they can dominate the balance. Your ear is drawn to them too much, especially if the lower voices aren't excellent. But it can be managed and I don't have a problem in principle with the voice.


Exactly. I think that skewing of the balance arises because men are required to use their voices and lungs more strenuously to accommodate the same pitches that come naturally to an alto.



Mandryka said:


> Oh I just saw the thread title, I know nothing about Rameau and Telemann and not much more about Bach, sorry!


No need to apologize to me! Your opinion falls under the etc... after Rameau.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

wkasimer said:


> The problem, as I hear it, is that the producers of recordings of Baroque music seem to consider it more important to cast a countertenor than to insist that he sing well. I've heard commercial recordings by countertenors that would be considered vocally abominable when presented by any other voice type.


Yes. And yes again. The recording that prompted this post, the Telemann Cantatas, falls under that category.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

isorhythm said:


> I had always assumed that countertenors singing falsetto was the actual historical practice for this period, but it seems I may have been wrong about this. I'd like to read more....


Allowing that nothing is a certainty, the latest research that I read argues that the modern countertenor is, sans evidence to the contrary, a 20th century creation. Young men's voices, for whatever reason, tended to drop at a much later age (17-18) in the baroque period and earlier; and then there are castratti. The point, I think, being that there was always an ample supply of accomplished male singers capable of singing Alto parts without reliance on "falsetto countertenors". From what I can gather, there simply isn't a historical rationale for using them in baroque music (or earlier). They just seem to be a new and faddish musical toy for conductors to play with-for lack of a better way to put it.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

wkasimer said:


> That's true, of course. There are good countertenors and bad countertenor. I've been enjoying Iestyn Davies' recording lately.
> 
> The problem, as I hear it, is that the producers of recordings of Baroque music seem to consider it more important to cast a countertenor than to insist that he sing well. I've heard commercial recordings by countertenors that would be considered vocally abominable when presented by any other voice type.


I would highly recommend that anyone interested in countertenors look at Iestyn Davies recordings. Unfortunately, he records with Hyperion so you can't sample the stuff for free online; you actually have to buy it.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

BachIsBest said:


> I would highly recommend that anyone interested in countertenors look at Iestyn Davies recordings. Unfortunately, he records with Hyperion so you can't sample the stuff for free online; you actually have to buy it.


There was a Wigmore Hall baroque recital with Richard Egarr amongst others, Purcell and other reformation English composers. Iestyn Davies was the star attraction. I was there and the thing has been released as a CD.

He's a craftsman more than a poet IMO. Everything is well constructed and thought through, and projected in a very refined way, but no sense of interiority or personality. His timbre is inoffensive.

I also have a recording of popular Bach cantatas with him, _Ich habe genug_, Jonathan Cohen directing. Much the same -- lovely sweet refined craftsmanship without a sense of depth.

There's a lot to enjoy in both these recordings, and it's interesting to compare what he does with something like this, where the timbre is less sweet, the sonority is less "Classic FM" comforting, the style is less easy listening, the projection is from the chest and that makes for a less plush tone. I'm sure some (Bill?) would say that what he does is



wkasimer said:


> vocally abominable when presented by any other voice type.


but the interpretations, the declamation, the expression . . . deeper? I wonder what you think.









Davies seems to me to sing very much in the style of someone who does c19 art songs in a solid well behaved well crafted way, the sort of singing which Beckmesser would have approved of; Jacobs has a completely different sonority and set of values.

Both sound like angels, one sounds like a putto, the other sounds like that thing that Jacob wrestled with.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

*FAGIOLI* - un dio, un Fagioli!


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

vtpoet said:


> Countertenors ruined the Suzuki Bach cantata cycle (for me)


Yoshikazu Mera helped make the cycle special for me.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Mandryka said:


> Yoshikazu Mera helped make the cycle special for me.


I have a CD of Mera singing Japanese Art songs that I love. The Bach, though, not so much.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Why not? I mean, what is that you're looking for in Bach that he's not providing?


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

vtpoet said:


> Allowing that nothing is a certainty, the latest research that I read argues that the modern countertenor is, sans evidence to the contrary, a 20th century creation. Young men's voices, for whatever reason, tended to drop at a much later age (17-18) in the baroque period and earlier; and then there are castratti. The point, I think, being that there was always an ample supply of accomplished male singers capable of singing Alto parts without reliance on "falsetto countertenors". From what I can gather, there simply isn't a historical rationale for using them in baroque music (or earlier). They just seem to be a new and faddish musical toy for conductors to play with-for lack of a better way to put it.


Interesting.

So what's the deal with all this 15th century music where the top part stays in the alto range? 




Who was singing it? If it was boys, why didn't it go higher?


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Mandryka said:


> Why not? I mean, what is that you're looking for in Bach that he's not providing?


Ha! I went looking for a youtube performance of the aria sung by an actual Alto. It took me all this time, from the time that you posted your comment! By God but it's a dark day for Altos. Just when women thought they had at least one career locked up, men have moved in and kicked them out of those jobs too.

Anyway, I found this:






Her intonation isn't up to Mera's, but when a woman sings the part, the timbre of her voice is stronger, clearer and (for lack of a better way to put it) sounds more like a second violin playing the second violin part than a viola playing the entire piece on the A string.

All that said, of all the countertenors, Mera is the best (in my opinion). He comes as close to pulling it off as any countertenor.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

isorhythm said:


> Interesting.
> 
> So what's the deal with all this 15th century music where the top part stays in the alto range?
> 
> ...


I don't know that your premise is correct? You've reached the fringes of my music history. What did Josquin mean when specifying a four voice mass? I know that instrumental forces weren't specified as in later centuries. The parts could have been sung my sopranos or not. (In other words, you're listening to a 20th century realization, not something specified by Josquin.)

*Edit:* Check out the recording below:

http://www.arre-se.com/disk_desprez-2-en.html

"Maurice Bourbon invited six experienced members of the Métamorphoses ensemble and four young and promising singers from the Biscantor! ensemble to take part in these two works: three sopranos, one mezzo-soprano, one counter-tenor, three tenors, one baritone and one bass. This group allowed him to reconstitute the varied tessitura of the de beata Virgine mass, to highlight certain themes, and to bring to life the long lines in a single breath."


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Mandryka said:


> but the interpretations, the declamation, the expression . . . deeper? I wonder what you think.


I don't disagree with your characterization of Iestyn Davies' singing. But for me, if I can't enjoy the sound of a singer's voice, it's virtually impossible for me to enjoy their interpretation. And if I have to choose one over the other, I'll almost always choose vocalism.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

My premise may well be wrong. I was had thought that the top parts in this repertoire seem to be significantly lower, in general, than the top parts in English polyphony written with boy trebles in mind. My assumption had been that it's because it was being sung by adult men, one way or another.

But I'm not even sure I was right...looking at some scores available online, and keeping in mind that we don't know exactly what pitches they were using, the top parts in John Taverner seem to be a little higher than Josquin, certainly a higher tessitura, but not a dramatic difference.


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## Ras (Oct 6, 2017)

vtpoet said:


> Ha! I went looking for a youtube performance of the aria sung by an actual Alto. It took me all this time, from the time that you posted your comment! By God but it's a dark day for Altos. Just when women thought they had at least one career locked up, men have moved in and kicked them out of those jobs too.


...maybe that's why the conductor Adam Fischer hired a countertenor to sing on his new *Beethoven* recording on Naxos - no women left out there I guess…: - look at the singers listed on the back of the box right below where it reads: "total timing" - it says: *Countertenor Morten Grove Frandsen*.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Ras said:


> ...maybe that's why the conductor Adam Fischer hired a countertenor to sing on his new *Beethoven* recording on Naxos - no women left out there I guess…: - look at the singers listed on the back of the box right below where it reads: "total timing" - it says: *Countertenor Morten Grove Frandsen*.
> View attachment 123658


I know, right?

1.) If your daughter wants to be an Alto, recommend secretarial work..
2.) If countertenors have made their way into Beethoven, then it's a fad.
3.) I guess me and my shotgun are going to have to cling to our 80's and 90's recordings, with altos, like snarling dogs until this fad passes. :/


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

isorhythm said:


> My premise may well be wrong. I was had thought that the top parts in this repertoire seem to be significantly lower, in general, than the top parts in English polyphony written with boy trebles in mind. My assumption had been that it's because it was being sung by adult men, one way or another.
> 
> But I'm not even sure I was right...looking at some scores available online, and keeping in mind that we don't know exactly what pitches they were using, the top parts in John Taverner seem to be a little higher than Josquin, certainly a higher tessitura, but not a dramatic difference.


So the question is: Did they use boy singers, or did they sing at a lower pitch, than we usually thinks?

On the famous Ockeghem picture:

https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-j...graving-1537-ockeghem-is-third-164175199.html

there are no boys depicted.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

premont said:


> So the question is: Did they use boy singers, or did they sing at a lower pitch, than we usually thinks?
> 
> On the famous Ockeghem picture:
> 
> ...


Here are some articles for you:

The Fact of the Castrato and the Myth of the Countertenor

Here's an article that more specifically answers your question:

http://www.andrea-angelini.eu/early-medieval-and-renaissance-polyphony/

Angelini asserts that _vox capita_ or _capitis_ refers to falsetto.

Here's another article along the same vein that's more circumspect:

https://www.academia.edu/6294342/The_Voice_in_the_Middle_Ages_article_


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I would urge extreme caution. There's documented evidence that there were falsetto singers in choirs in the c16 and after, but precisely how they sang is debated, and there are strong regional differences, countertenors in Italy are not the same as their analogues in France for example. As I said, fools rush in where angels fear to tread! 

For my part I see the historical questions as only one aspect. I like the idea of music making which is experimental, and using different types of falsetto voice is something which I think is worth experimenting with. It just helps us become aware of new possibilities with the music.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

vtpoet said:


> Here are some articles for you:
> 
> The Fact of the Castrato and the Myth of the Countertenor
> 
> ...


Thanks very much.


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## Maync (Jul 13, 2020)

*Do we need countertenors?*

This thread reflects my thinking of the last few days. I am a casual listener of classical music without much knowledge in the field. Simply appreciate it. Among other types of music, I love boys' choirs the world over and there is no easy going past some of the famous ones, including the Vienna Saengerknaben. Listening to their really outstanding and moving presentations, attention invariably shifts to their treble voices, and here we had in the late 90s Steven Moeckel, Max Emanuel Cencic and Terry Wey. I wondered if they were friends, or could barely stand each other? Being the focus of attention must come at a certain emotional cost. This has all been exploited and hinted at or commented on by various more or less patriotic (i.e., Austrian) music aficionados in whose notes I also encountered reference to "countertenors," as in jobs held by some of these and similar boys years, or decades, later. Lo and behold, just checking a few names produced the fact that quite a few of those boys eventually morph into countertenors. So I picked M.E. Cencic to see what he was up to in 2020. Wow! Great settings, Venice, beautiful baroque music and here he is - singing a woman's part! That was my first impression and it sticks. I checked other performances. Same. Briliant, to my mind, but still a woman's voice. He comes across very likeable, knowledgeable and as one having found what he's really goo at and wants to do. And so he should. But I can't help my impression. Boys' falsetto is godly in its crystal clarity, really great, and it seems to be located where it should be. In one word, it is ephemeral. I just can't say the same for the voice of a grown man. But I admit, I don't have such a discriminating sense in music and accept that this view may just point to my own shortcomings. So be it. I shall continue to love tenors without the "counter" bit.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Sorry, but I can't take listening to a countertenor. Nope.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

consuono said:


> Sorry, but I can't take listening to a countertenor. Nope.


I'm with you. That's why oi choose Koopman's cantatas.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Itullian said:


> I'm with you. That's why oi choose Koopman's cantatas.


Koopman definitely uses countertenors. I only have volume 1 but it's a countertenor, Kai Wessel, doing the alto solos.


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## mrdoc (Jan 3, 2020)

*One of America's finest...*


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

Personally, I love counter-tenors: the muscularity of the singing, the 'edge' to it, that just isn't there with a female alto is very appealing to these ears of mine. The youtube samples of Fagioli hereabouts are testimony to those qualities I appreciate.

Benjamin Britten's _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ tends to suggest Ben felt along the same lines! (And female altos had better never try to sing Oberon's part in my presence!!)


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

AbsolutelyBaching said:


> Personally, I love counter-tenors: the muscularity of the singing, the 'edge' to it, that just isn't there with a female alto is very appealing to these ears of mine. The youtube samples of Fagioli hereabouts are testimony to those qualities I appreciate.
> 
> Benjamin Britten's _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ tends to suggest Ben felt along the same lines! (And female altos had better never try to sing Oberon's part in my presence!!)


If a piece requires a countertenor, then I'm afraid it's a piece I'll just have to pass by.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Itullian said:


> I'm with you. That's why oi choose Koopman's cantatas.


Koopman uses both altos and countertenors, but the countertenor I've heard on his set is absolutely dreadful. Ugh. Give me Robin Blaze on the Suzuki set any day.

I don't have as strong feelings toward countertenors as some people do, but generally I do prefer to hear the music sung by a proper alto, mezzo, or contralto. Using male altos just because it's "historically correct" drives me crazy but occasionally it does work artistically (like in _Erbarme dich_ in the St. Matthew Passion, where Peter's aria of anguish doesn't quite give me the same chills when sung by a woman).


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

I can't stand countertenors. Actually, I can't really stand men singing in falsetto much at all. To me, this kind of singing just sounds like a grown man trying to goof around pretending to sound like a girl. If a guy went around talking to people in a falsetto voice, I imagine lots of people would find it irritating or at least odd. Someone would probably be annoyed and tell him to stop clowning around. That's how I feel about countertenors. Probably the only thing that is tolerable for me to hear with male falsetto is "Olim lacus colueram" from _Carmina Burana_, but that is supposed to sound hideous.

And, yes, it does seem to be a fad recently. Apparently some seem to think it's a true natural voice type. There's a video somewhere on YouTube with the singer Anthony Roth Castanzo, and in it, he said that his teacher told him something (not necessarily an exact quote) to the extent of, "Hey, your speaking voice is lower, but your singing voice is still high. Maybe you're a countertenor." Well, you don't have to be a signing expert to know that's not how voices work. I'm certainly not a singing expert, but if I was getting lessons and my teacher said that, I'd be looking for a new teacher.

As far as historical accuracy, wouldn't we have only men performing Baroque music, instrumental or vocal, if we were to be perfectly accurate? Whether they had countertenors back in the Baroque period or not, lets not get too crazy with historical accuracy. Just let women perform. In my opinion, there should be more music for contraltos!

OK, end of rant.


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## caracalla (Feb 19, 2020)

I used to have a big down on counter-tenors. I didn't mind them in choral stuff, so long as they weren't too prominent, but could seldom abide them in solo work (René Jacobs was the big exception). Otoh, I also had an aversion to operatically trained contraltos in Baroque or earlier sacred music, so there was a major problem. Thank goodness for Germany, where boy altos provided some refuge. 

From my pov, matters have improved quite dramatically in recent years. I'm still very picky about counter-tenors, but there do seem to be greater numbers coming through who manage to sound more natural. Iestyn Davies and Philippe Joroussky are two of the bigger names I can handle, and there are others. At the same time, we have much straighter-toned women specialising in this music, so the contralto problem has pretty much evaporated. As for boy altos (who are rare), German choirs have always used them, while Westminster Cathedral manages to employ a blend of altos and counter-tenors. This works pretty well, and one of the Oxford collegiate choirs (Christ Church, I think) has recently gone down the same path.


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## xjian77 (Apr 10, 2021)

As one who can sing Bach's alto comfortably (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fztJAaOEyWLUL0DitemqmREytmSkUQBF/view?usp=sharing), I would say that the Baroque alto is within the range of a tenorino, especially considering that the baroque pitch is half a step lower than the current pitch. 
I would also like to point out that the human voice range is correlated with body size. The human race has grown bigger in the recent 100 years. I would image that during Bach's time there were more higher male voice than nowadays. 
The requirement to sing Bach's alto is the secondo passiggio at A#4 or higher, one or two step higher than a leggiero tenor. With a population of 15,000+ in the early 18th century, I think it is quite possible for Bach to find a number of regular alto singers in Leipzig. Remember that almost everyone went to church during that time.
In any case, we know that Antonio Lotti was hired as an regular alto singer in 1689 (https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Lotti-Antonio.htm). The inability of the current classical music circle to attract enough tenorios does not indicate that the churches could not find the desirable voice in the past.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

For those skeptical about countertenors, try Paul Esswood. He can be heard on Mackerras’s first Messiah recording and Harnoncourt/Leonhardt’s Bach cantatas. It’s easy to mistake him for a contralto IMO.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I really cannot understand how people who like classical singing can choose one type of voice as unacceptable while accepting the others! I can understand liking some singers more than others and even disliking some singers' voices. But disliking all counter tenors! What's that all about?


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## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

I sang counter tenor until I was 40 in various choirs and choral groups; I did not find any need to force anything it seemed to me that my voice never broke in the usual manner, my father's voice was the same. The reason I stopped was moving to an area with no convenient choir or choral group. 
I had a cancerous growth on my vocal chord 3 years ago, cured by radio therapy, I can still produce part of my range but at much reduced strength, probably as much due to lack of use than the cancer.
My personal favourite counter tenors include Jaroussky and Yoshikazi Mera.

Edit: On listening further I do wonder if some "counter tenors", like myself and my father, can sing the alto range more naturally than others without having to resort to a falsetto voice.


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## xjian77 (Apr 10, 2021)

Dorsetmike said:


> Edit: On listening further I do wonder if some "counter tenors", like myself and my father, can sing the alto range more naturally than others without having to resort to a falsetto voice.


Below is my tessitura from E3 to E5. 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cyEhRImk9muPp6iLHtiCGGu-MAnPUN-b/view

What I am experiencing is a middle voice register between C4 and C5. The lower passaggio at C4 is the main registration event separating chest voice and middle voice. I normally sing pass the higher passaggio at C#5 without notice. I can reach C3 even A2, but I find that area is uncomfortable. And I am off-pitch quite often below F3 (my speaking pitch). On the high end, the highest note I can hold is G5. I can get a little higher, but these notes are strained.
I wonder if you had similar voice in your youth. I certainly find the alto range more comfortable than tenor for me. I find the tenor range difficult, as I need to switch between chest and middle registers around C4 constantly. In the alto range, my voice can move more-or-less freely, as I can extend the middle register slightly below C4.


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## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

My register was about the same, G5 was becoming a strain when I turned 40.

My preferred current counter tenors are Jaroussky and Mera.


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## xjian77 (Apr 10, 2021)

I can quite relate my voice to Yoshikazi Mera, and he is a real one. Although Vincenzo Capezzuto might be a better match with my voice.
Most of this voice type are in the pop music circle, and this is probably the reason people in classical circle think all countertenors are falsettists. Thomas Otten seems to be one crosses both genre.

Among the falsettists, Philippe Jaroussky, Iestyn Davies, Jakub Orliński are my favorite.


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