# Men singing arias for female voices and vice versa



## Yotam1703 (Apr 26, 2021)

Hello all!

I have a decently flexible bass voice which allows me to sing many female arias (2 octaves down), which I really enjoy. Which gets me to wonder, do any of you have recordings of men singing traditionally female arias (transposed down an octave or 2, of course)? Or women singing male arias?

I know one example is the wonderful tenor Aaron Crouch and his "what the fach" series where he sings gender-bent arias. Sometimes he has guests of different voice types, too!
(Ex: here [



 he sings Lady Macbeth's double aria "Vieni, T'affretta!" An octave down).


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Yotam1703 said:


> Hello all!
> 
> I have a decently flexible bass voice which allows me to sing many female arias (2 octaves down), which I really enjoy. Which gets me to wonder, do any of you have recordings of men singing traditionally female arias (transposed down an octave or 2, of course)? Or women singing male arias?
> 
> ...


I love this guy's channel! He's better than the majority of well known tenors at the Met and La Scala who sing like whiny lil strumpets :lol:


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Deutsche Grammophon's 20/21 series offers *Three Sisters* by Peter Eötvös with the 3 leads sung by males.










Alain Aubin (counter-tenor), Oleg Riabets (counter-tenor), Vyatchescav Kagen - Paley (counter-tenor)


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Max Emanuel Cencic used to have a Youtube outdoor concert when he was young and impossibly gorgeous - say around 25. He sang several arias for sopranos by Bellini and Donizetti I believe. I've only ever heard countertenors sing music written for countertenors. I can't find it anymore on Youtube. It was so wonderful.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Better than any tenors today...


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Better than any tenors today...


One of the great finds on this site this year.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

*Aïs* for amplified baritone, solo percussion & orchestra by Xenakis has its baritone in counter-tenor territory:

https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-5279/

"This disc presents volume one a projected complete orchestral works of Iannis Xenakis (b. 1922). They are not for the faint-hearted, being the fullest expression yet of what Xenakis-pupil of Messiaen, apprentice to Le Corbusier-once called "stochastic music", music based on advanced probability theory. All but one work here succeeds (at least given the intellectual framework Xenakis provides for each piece): that comparative failure is Ais, for baritone, solo percussion, and orchestra. The baritone, Spyros Sakkas, pushes the limits of his vocal range into counter-tenor territory as the orchestra crashes and burns all around him. The "libretto" is a collection of whinnies, yelps, and barking sounds, with some actual Greek spoken here and there. Frankly, unless you're a committed Xenakian, it's almost unbearable, and the physical sound of a (this?) baritone in his highest octaves is quite strained. Of course, this may be the composer's whole point-comfort surely isn't one of his aesthetic goals."


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Better than any tenors today...


This is amazing. A little research tells me that Caruso heard her and recommended that the Met give her tenor roles, but they declined, finding her a little too much of an oddity. I can easily imagine her in Mozart, though its hard to guage from the recording whether or not she could handle anything requiring much power or brilliance. But she certainly sings well, and evidently had great success off the operatic stage. Unfortunately she died at 48. Too much drinking, like Bjorling. Tenors seem to die young.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

What's fascinating about her to me is that she is not just an unusually deep female voice singing a male role, but that her technique is actually that of a male tenor: she sings her high notes in covered chest, not head voice. But she also isn't like a pop singer driving full chest up high. To me it's like gold for trying to show the difference between these different coordinations. I suspect it could have been done more widely, but there was no interest in it. She gives a great performance - very musical.



Woodduck said:


> I can easily imagine her in Mozart, though its hard to guage from the recording whether or not she could handle anything requiring much power or brilliance.


Same. I think she could have had a wonderful career as a lyric tenor. To say something favorable about the modern Met for a change, if she came along today I suspect they would give her a chance.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

This is not operatic but worth a watch. *A female baritone*.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

SixFootScowl said:


> This is not operatic but worth a watch. *A female baritone*.


She is a good showman, it was fun to watch, but Ponselle did it better in her Russian Gypsy Song and didn't have the split registers.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Better than any tenors today...


A wonderful voice, but to my ears, this is just a contralto. People are confused because to their ears, "contralto" is actually mezzo or even dramatic soprano.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> A wonderful voice, but to my ears, this is just a contralto. People are confused because to their ears, "contralto" is actually mezzo or even dramatic soprano.


It's hard to be 100% certain about the registration in an acoustic recording, but the top sound like covered chest, not head voice to me. I know plenty of deep contraltos, and they don't sound like this to my ears. Even her lower notes sound different from the fully coordinated sound of someone like Anday, Onegin, or Leisner.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> A wonderful voice, but to my ears, this is just a contralto. People are confused because to their ears, "contralto" is actually mezzo or even dramatic soprano.


I'm not sure how you know who is confused and why. I think most of us here have a pretty distinct idea of what a contralto sounds like. You must believe that Caruso was confused when he suggested that the Met find tenor roles for her.

This is a very old acoustic recording that requires us to be cautious in judging her timbre and vocal production. To me her upper range has too much "chest" in it for a contralto, and although there's (seemingly) less brilliance or edge than one would normally expect from a man's voice, she might have sounded convincing in lyric roles. But, again, caution. What we do know is that her contemporaries found her pretty unusual.

There's no reason why a woman shouldn't have a masculine voice.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

There's no reason why a woman shouldn't have a masculine voice.[/QUOTE]
e.g. Bea Arthur as Maude LOL


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Max Emanuel Cencic used to have a Youtube outdoor concert when he was young and impossibly gorgeous - say around 25. He sang several arias for sopranos by Bellini and Donizetti I believe. I've only ever heard countertenors sing music written for countertenors. I can't find it anymore on Youtube. It was so wonderful.


There are very few roles specifically written to be sung by countertenors, which have risen lately (in the last few decades) to sing male roles in Baroque operas previously sung _en travesti_ by mezzo-sopranos or contraltos. Modern operatic composers have written roles specifically to be sung by the countertenor voice because of its unusual sound - they want the unearthly sounds a countertenor can produce. Some English composers also wrote concert, opera and church music taken by countertenors (Purcell anyone?).


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> There's no reason why a woman shouldn't have a masculine voice.


e.g. Bea Arthur as Maude LOL[/QUOTE]

As spiritualists would say, "they're running too much male energy!"


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

vivalagentenuova said:


> It's hard to be 100% certain about the registration in an acoustic recording, *but the top sound like covered chest, not head voice to me*. I know plenty of deep contraltos, and they don't sound like this to my ears. Even her lower notes sound different from the fully coordinated sound of someone like Anday, Onegin, or Leisner.


That could easily be a technique difference (lower female voices in pop or folk music often do the same thing). For example, one of my favorite Eastern European folk singers often takes the chest voice quite high into the range. 





It's unusual to do this in opera, but it's done by a few singers at specific moments





What we think of as "registers" of the voice is a little misleading. It's not like "you sing your low notes in this place" vs "you sing your high notes in that place". The chest and the head voice are about the use of different muscles and what "register" you're in has to do with the ratio participation between the two. Traditionally, male singers would almost all sing with the chest voice dominating the range from top to bottom, while female singers would ease up on the chest voice around F4 and transition to a more head voice dominated sound up top (though you never want the connection to the chest to disappear completely. this is a big reason for the more hollow sound of a lot of modern singers).

With the latter, there is a good deal more variation though. Every good singer needs a strong connection to both, but you have some singers who favored more chest participation and others who favored more head participation. ex:

(note: this is meant to be an illustration of what some of the variation can look like, not a hard categorization to box people in)
more head voice in the sound: Eleanor Steber, Kirsten Flagstad, Eileen Ferrell, Birgit Nilsson
more chest voice in the sound: Luisa Tettrazzini, Maria Callas, Clara Butt, Agnes Baltsa
in between/both: Eula Beal, Shirley Verrett, Rosa Raisa, Fiorenza Cossotto


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Max Emanuel Cencic used to have a Youtube outdoor concert when he was young and impossibly gorgeous - say around 25. He sang several arias for sopranos by Bellini and Donizetti I believe. I've only ever heard countertenors sing music written for countertenors. I can't find it anymore on Youtube. It was so wonderful.


I've been following Max Emanuel Cencic since he was a Vienna Choir Boy - he had _squillo_ when he was very young! He could also, later, display a good chest voice. I loved his Rossini arias CD, and his duets with Jaroussky.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

After Stephanie Blythe's voice dropped down to tenor but kept all it's beauty she created an outrageous male drag persona for a pop/opera blend show that was AMAZING. In this clip halfway in she sings in the original key the big tenor aria from Flotlow's Martha ( one of the two operas I saw my sister in live). Blythe had the biggest voice I ever heard live and I wish her Amneris at Seattle Opera was on video.



 This is longer clip I just uploaded from that drag show that is longer and better where she starts out by singing Nessun dorma in the original key.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> That could easily be a technique difference (lower female voices in pop or folk music often do the same thing). For example, one of my favorite Eastern European folk singers often takes the chest voice quite high into the range.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think calling her a tenor makes more sense because the difference between her and Tebaldi is that at no point does Helder start singing in head voice. So yes, Tebaldi's low chest notes sound a lot like a tenor's high notes, that's not the issue. The issue is that operatic contraltos, mezzos and sopranos move into head voice, whereas Helder does not. Tessitura is also relevant in these distinctions. Presumably called her a tenor because she was comfortable singing in the tenor tessitura, which would distinguish her from a contralto. Calling it a 'difference in technique' doesn't solve the problem because precisely the 'difference in technique' between tenors and contraltos is whether or not they transition to head voice at E F F# and go up in head voice or transition to and go up in covered chest. Helder consistently sings those notes in covered chest, and is singing a tenor aria. If she sang tenor arias with a tenor technique, I don't see why we'd call her a contralto.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> After Stephanie Blythe's voice dropped down to tenor but kept all it's beauty she created an outrageous male drag persona for a pop/opera blend show that was AMAZING. In this clip halfway in she sings in the original key the big tenor aria from Flotlow's Martha ( one of the two operas I saw my sister in live). Blythe had the biggest voice I ever heard live and I wish her Amneris at Seattle Opera was on video.
> 
> 
> 
> This is longer clip I just uploaded from that drag show that is longer and better where she starts out by singing Nessun dorma in the original key.


Bizarre! I'm not sure she's singing in the original tenor range, it sounds more like she's concentrating on singing in her chest voice (can't be sure). That she's doing a drag show is sad (not that there's anything wrong with that!) - did she lose her voice?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Bizarre! I'm not sure she's singing in the original tenor range, it sounds more like she's concentrating on si going in her chest voice (can't be sure). That she's doing a drag show is sad (not that there's anything wrong with that!) - did she lose her voice?


The whole top went away over a short period of time.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> The whole top went away over a short period of time.


 The drag show was very very well written and she is a marvelous entertainer.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> The whole top went away over a short period of time.


I'm sorry to hear that, she had one wonderful voice - did she lose it after her slimming?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> I'm sorry to hear that, she had one wonderful voice - did she lose it after her slimming?


No. She is as big as a dinette table still. She didn't lose her voice as it is still gorgeous and sounds in it's prime, it just dropped an octave. She has the same placement and vibrato as before. It is like a teen boy's at puberty!!!!! Perhaps a menopausal thing. She has worked around it with solo concerts, one series where she sang Kate Smith songs. She is hugely talented and entertaining... on the level of Bette Midler. Her personality is bigger than her dress size. I don't think I am overstating the case. She can likely teach. Her voice is now lower than a contralto. It really sounds like she is singing tenor arias in the original key.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

vivalagentenuova said:


> I think calling her a tenor makes more sense because the difference between her and Tebaldi is that at no point does Helder start singing in head voice. So yes, Tebaldi's low chest notes sound a lot like a tenor's high notes, that's not the issue. The issue is that operatic contraltos, mezzos and sopranos move into head voice, whereas Helder does not. Tessitura is also relevant in these distinctions. Presumably called her a tenor because she was comfortable singing in the tenor tessitura, which would distinguish her from a contralto. Calling it a 'difference in technique' doesn't solve the problem because precisely the 'difference in technique' between tenors and contraltos is whether or not they transition to head voice at E F F# and go up in head voice or transition to and go up in covered chest. Helder consistently sings those notes in covered chest, and is singing a tenor aria. If she sang tenor arias with a tenor technique, I don't see why we'd call her a contralto. It might be worth pointing out that Beverly Sills had quite a deep speaking voice, i.e. chest voice. But had she made a career singing pop music with that voice would we reasonably call her a contralto?


This is what I would have said if I could say it as clearly. None of the categories we apply to female voices, including contralto, are characterized by the consistent use of chest voice. If a woman sings consistently in chest voice in the tenor range with a masculine timbre - which is what Helder seems to me to be doing - she is not functioning as a contralto and it makes little sense to call her one. I would even argue that the term "contralto" makes little sense outside the tradition of classical singing, and that in popular and folk idioms using non-classical vocal techniques a woman using her chest register exclusively is not at all the sort of singer that Kathleen Ferrier and Ernestine Schumann-Heink are. Those women have rich, fully developed head registers, and it's the deep, full quality of those head tones, and their mix with the chest voice, that most truly identify them as contraltos. (I might mention the fact that Beverly Sills had a surprisingly deep speaking - i.e. chest - voice, but had she sung pop music in that voice it would have been quite odd to call her a contralto.)

Ultimately there's little point in quibbling over terminology, but statements such as "this is just a contralto" invite quibbling by failing to do justice to the peculiarities of the case. We don't really have to have a name for Ruby Helder's singing, but "contralto," as normally understood within the realm of operatic singing, doesn't do it justice.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

vivalagentenuova said:


> I think calling her a tenor makes more sense because the difference between her and Tebaldi is that at no point does Helder start singing in head voice. So yes, Tebaldi's low chest notes sound a lot like a tenor's high notes, that's not the issue. The issue is that operatic contraltos, mezzos and sopranos move into head voice, whereas Helder does not. Tessitura is also relevant in these distinctions. Presumably called her a tenor because she was comfortable singing in the tenor tessitura, which would distinguish her from a contralto. Calling it a 'difference in technique' doesn't solve the problem because precisely the 'difference in technique' between tenors and contraltos is whether or not they transition to head voice at E F F# and go up in head voice or transition to and go up in covered chest. *Helder consistently sings those notes in covered chest, and is singing a tenor aria. If she sang tenor arias with a tenor technique, I don't see why we'd call her a contralto.*


The difference here is that you define voice by what the person _sings_. I define it by what they _are_. ex: had Franco Corelli decided to spend his career singing baritone roles, I would still call him a tenor (indeed, I call a lot of modern "baritones" tenors for that very reason).

Even more simply: when I close my eyes, I still hear a woman singing. If she were really a tenor, it would feel more like a man singing.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> The difference here is that you define voice by what the person _sings_. I define it by what they _are_. ex: had Franco Corelli decided to spend his career singing baritone roles, I would still call him a tenor (indeed, I call a lot of modern "baritones" tenors for that very reason).
> 
> Even more simply: when I close my eyes, I still hear a woman singing. If she were really a tenor, it would feel more like a man singing.


What evidence do you have that there is one and only one correct vocal category for each singer?

When I hear Tebaldi's low notes, she sounds "like a man". When I hear Gigli's soft high notes, he sounds "like a woman". Zanelli sang baritone and tenor. Battistini probably could have as well. Vocal categories and fachs are historical and approximate, and represent general limits of voices. If a singer is successful (aesthetically) with their technique, I'm not going to say it's wrong. Helder sounds like a successful tenor to me, as she apparently did to Caruso. That's good enough for me. Modern singers who are not successful aesthetically with their technique are a different matter.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

vivalagentenuova said:


> What evidence do you have that there is one and only one correct vocal category for each singer?


that almost everyone who tries it fails miserably (notable exceptions include Shirley Verret, Ramon Vinay, Grace Bumbry and Maria Ewing), . keep in mind also that the difference between baritone vs tenor and, especially, tenor (male voice) vs contralto (female voice) is a lot wider than splitting hairs over "is she a spinto soprano or a dramatic coloratura soprano?", "is this a soubrette or a lyric coloratura?", etc. it's usually not worth getting into arguments about that.



> When I hear Tebaldi's low notes, she sounds "like a man". When I hear Gigli's soft high notes, he sounds "like a woman".


No, he doesn't. Sure, he could sing sensitively when he needed to (his sense of contrast was amazing), but he always had a masculine voice and presence. Speaking of not splitting hairs on voice type, that's one tenor voice whom I would pay to hear sing anything from Otello to Puritani. Fach _within_ the basic voice types is less of a big deal.



> Zanelli sang baritone and tenor. Battistini probably could have as well. Vocal categories and fachs are historical and approximate, and represent general limits of voices. If a singer is successful (aesthetically) with their technique, I'm not going to say it's wrong. Helder sounds like a successful tenor to me, as she apparently did to Caruso. *That's good enough for me. Modern singers who are not successful aesthetically with their technique are a different matter.*


I will offer you an olive branch, I agree here (tbh, there isn't even anything wrong with her voice imo. she just sounds like a contralto who learned to belt and cover like a tenor).


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

> No, he doesn't. Sure, he could sing sensitively when he needed to (his sense of contrast was amazing), but he always had a masculine voice and presence.


I seem to remember a TIO video where they played Gigli and Ponselle singing in head voice side by side on the same pitch. The sound was nearly identical. If Ponselle sounds like Gigli, then Gigli sounds like Ponselle, ie a woman. The point is that male headvoice and female headvoice are not fundamentally different, just as the Tebaldi example proves female chest voice is not fundamentally different from male chest voice. So all I mean to say here is that there is not an unbridgeable gap between male and female singers, and that if Helder was able to cultivate a successful voice on the other side of that gap from where most women do, why shouldn't we say she's a tenor? I agree ultimately though that's it's not super important. What's important to me is that it be acknowledged that she is not a contralto in the sense that she doesn't sing in two registers, she sings in one register covered, which is not what contraltos do. We seem to basically agree about her use of registers, so I can live with that.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I doubt that anyone coming upon Helder's recording without knowing who was singing would think he was listening to a woman, contralto or otherwise. The losses to the frequency spectrum inherent in the acoustic recording have no doubt robbed the voice of some brilliance and body which, in life, would probably have made it still more masculine in quality.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> I doubt that anyone coming upon Helder's recording without knowing who was singing would think he was listening to a woman, contralto or otherwise. The losses to the frequency spectrum inherent in the acoustic recording have no doubt robbed the voice of some brilliance and body which, in life, would probably have made it still more masculine in quality.


Personally, I notice a big difference. Her voice sounds much more comfortable, speech-like. Tenors singing in that range (I believe Gigli has also sung this piece) carry more energy and pain, while the contralto sounds more relaxed and conversational. The tenor sounds lovesick and tormented, the contralto sounds like a wise woman strolling through the gardens. Similar ranges, but they come off like night and day.


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## Operasinger (May 28, 2021)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Personally, I notice a big difference. Her voice sounds much more comfortable, speech-like. Tenors singing in that range (I believe Gigli has also sung this piece) carry more energy and pain, while the contralto sounds more relaxed and conversational. The tenor sounds lovesick and tormented, the contralto sounds like a wise woman strolling through the gardens. Similar ranges, but they come off like night and day.


I went to listen to Gigli's version. 




Compering them just makes it more obvious how phenomenal each of them sing. But I don't hear what you're describing. Yes, her color is darker then Gigli's but it doesn't take away from the intensity. Yes, the brilliant phrasing of Gigli makes it magical. But Helder chose to train her voice in this way and sing this piece and I think her rendition is remarkable.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Operasinger said:


> I went to listen to Gigli's version.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


on this much we can agree. I have absolutely no objection to her singing this piece.


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## Yotam1703 (Apr 26, 2021)

I think you guys misunderstood my question 
I didn’t ask about men with feminine voices and women with masculine voices (though the discussion that resulted is really interesting). 
I asked about singer with “regular” voices who sing pieces outside their fachs, transposing accordingly.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Yotam1703 said:


> I think you guys misunderstood my question
> I didn't ask about men with feminine voices and women with masculine voices (though the discussion that resulted is really interesting).
> I asked about singer with "regular" voices who sing pieces outside their fachs, transposing accordingly.


Call it "thread drift" or "mission creep."

On topic, I was a tenor who liked to go around singing Bellini's soprano arias. My specialty was "Qui la voce" from_ I Puritani._ That no one ever heard me do this is their good fortune.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

There are a number of Schubert lied that are transposed up or down for different genders regularly, but I think since they aren't character pieces, that is ok. I am also fairly positive that Rossini reused tunes for different genders. Aretha Franklin did her interpretation of Nessun Dorma. Does that count? Of course Ombra mai fu is done both by tenors, counter tenors and mezzos. Fagioli is the only counter tenor I have heard do this, but he sang Arsace in Semiramide, which is normally done by mezzos, and did it spectacularly. I close with the piece de resistance, a male soprano singing In Questa 



. He might not lose his head but then Calaf might flip out when he finds out what surprises this Turandot has in store for him.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I close with the piece de resistance, a male soprano singing In Questa
> 
> 
> 
> . He might not lose his head but then Calaf might flip out when he finds out what surprises this Turandot has in store for him.


Interesting, but it doesn't compare with the richly nuanced interpretation by Madame Vera Galupe-Borszkh. Nothing does.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Interesting, but it doesn't compare with the richly nuanced interpretation by Madame Vera Galupe-Borszkh. Nothing does.


Best post on here in awhile. He was a genius and WHAT a range.


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## Yotam1703 (Apr 26, 2021)

I ADORE Madame Vera. Her repertory just goes on and on! Truly a Soprano Assoluto instrument.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Just off the top of my head I think in men you just wouldn't find a straight male singer doing this as it would not be macho enough. I think Nessun Dorma might get some women singers and I think three in a group did so in a concert, but although I remember it I can't find it. Outside of genderless lieder I just don't see the attraction and it is too odd except for perhaps a gay artist. Just my 2 cents.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Just off the top of my head I think in men you just wouldn't find a straight male singer doing this as it would not be macho enough. I think Nessun Dorma might get some women singers and I think three in a group did so in a concert, but although I remember it I can't find it. Outside of genderless lieder I just don't see the attraction and it is too odd except for perhaps a gay artist. Just my 2 cents.


Just wondering, since you seem to be in tune with these things: how many straight female impersonators have there been? Any well-known ones?

There really is no socially sanctioned male equivalent to the tomboy. Straight boys are not clamoring to play on girls' sports teams, and if female actors play Hamlet they are likely never to tell a male Ophelia to get him to a nunnery. Hence it stands to reason that few of us will ever get to hear a tenor sing "Caro nome" or Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene.

Straight men are such weenies.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Just wondering, since you seem to be in tune with these things: how many straight female impersonators have there been? Any well-known ones?
> 
> There really is no socially sanctioned male equivalent to the tomboy. Straight boys are not clamoring to play on girls' sports teams, and if female actors play Hamlet they are likely never to tell a male Ophelia to get him to a nunnery. Hence it stands to reason that few of us will ever get to hear a tenor sing "Caro nome" or Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene.
> 
> Straight men are such weenies.


Dame Edna is straight. HUGELY famous. Flip Wilson most likely was ( Geraldine). Most transvestites are straight ( although I would not consider them female impersonators.) Satyn Deville, a famous Atlanta drag queen was married with kids. There have been a number of straight actors who played drag queens in movies. Incidentally I was breathtakingly beautiful ( I was told) when I did drag back 30 years ago. I lip synched Eileen Farrell's Blues in the Night of course.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Dame Edna is straight. HUGELY famous. Flip Wilson most likely was ( Geraldine). Most transvestites are straight ( although I would not consider them female impersonators.) Satyn Deville, a famous Atlanta drag queen was married with kids. There have been a number of straight actors who played drag queens in movies. Incidentally I was breathtakingly beautiful ( I was told) when I did drag back 30 years ago. I lip synched Eileen Farrell's Blues in the Night of course.


Thanks! Here's a virtual ten dollar bill to stick in your cleavage.


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## JustinTaylor (Jul 6, 2014)

Semi relevant


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