# countertenors/male sopranos



## karenpat

I remember when I first introduced myself here I described myself as a fan of countertenors, and as it turned out that side of my musical taste just took over  It's a little unusual maybe, especially now that I've expanded my taste to include male sopranos; most people would say men should sound like men I can't explain why high male voices appeal to me so much, they just do. However through youtube I came to understand it's actually a growing trend and there are people out there who are walking encyclopedias on the subject.

Right now I'm listening to Max Emanuel Cencic' album Rossini arias, which I just bought from amazon since it was impossible to get hold of in Norway. His voice is amazing. Besides him my favourite is still Philippe Jaroussky but now I also like Terry Wey (who is great, he really should record more), Bejun Mehta, Michael Maniaci (male soprano), Radu Marian (male soprano whose voice is an acquired taste perhaps but I like it), Lawrence Zazzo....... and I could go on and on. 

So, on to the remaining question... any other geeks like me in here?


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## periodinstrumentfan

There are also Boy Sopranos like Sebastian Hennig singing Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with René Jacobs  ...


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## Sorin Eushayson

karenpat said:


> So, on to the remaining question... any other geeks like me in here?


Oh yes, I'm a fan of countertenors in old music. They're a must for, say, Handel's 'Saul,' which calls for a soprano's range for the David role.

David Daniels is one of my favourites. He was originally studying to become a tenor, but at the last minute changed to countertenor!  He's exceptional singing Vivaldi's motets (with Fabio Biondi at the helm) and in this production of Handel's Theodora:






I remember when I first heard of countertenors my response was shock and perhaps even a little repulsion, but now I quite like them!


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## Sorin Eushayson

Sorin Eushayson said:


> David Daniels is one of my favourites. He was originally studying to become a tenor, but at the last minute changed to countertenor!  He's exceptional singing Vivaldi's motets (with Fabio Biondi at the helm)


Here's a good example of his work there in case you're interested:


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## Bgroovy2

karenpat said:


> Right now I'm listening to Max Emanuel Cencic' album Rossini arias, which I just bought from amazon since it was impossible to get hold of in Norway. His voice is amazing.


Max is awsome! I have a recording of him singing Strauss OP410. All I can say is wow. He puts most females to shame on that piece.

http://www.amazon.com/Exsultate-Jub...r_1_61?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1252029810&sr=1-61


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## StlukesguildOhio

I can't say I particularly seek out the work of countertenors... in most instances I prefer a female soprano or mezzo... even if the work... a Handel opera for example... was originally written for countertenor. I lean toward the sensuality of the female voice in the female roles. However... there are some countertenors whose work I greatly admire: Russell Oberlin and Andreas Scholl, and Alfred Deller, for example. Just today a recent purchase by Philippe Jaroussky performing 19th century French songs has arrived. What I have heard in samples sounded quite promising as the countertenor voice added something almost disturbingly decadent to these works.


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## Nigerianmezzo

well...............i prefer a countertenor for a countertenor work its much more beautiful to hear...... the feelings the composer intended for the song can only be replicated by the countertenor or what do you think?


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## StlukesguildOhio

In many cases the roles weren't written for counter-tenors, but rather castrati... and I doubt even those HIP purists will insist that we should return to such a practice. As has been noted elsewhere, the obsession with the castrati was sometimes particular to a given audience and composers such as Handel would employ female singers on other occasions.


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