THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050042
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TEPLY, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY BREAK
LENGTH: 87 lines
``COUNTERTENOR,'' until recently used mostly in connection with music composed before 1750, is coming up a lot in musical circles lately. Locally, only Capriole, the Williamsburg-based early-music ensemble, has regularly featured this vocal type in its performances.
But now countertenors have performed at Chrysler Hall and the Harrison Opera House. Virginia Opera's current production of Handel's ``Julius Caesar'' has three of them in leading roles.
In November, the Virginia Symphony Pops series presented Chanticleer in a program of folk music, spirituals and songs by Cole Porter and Kurt Weill. The 12-man group, half of them countertenors, also sang at Old Dominion University.
That same month, Virginia Wesleyan presented Robert Crowe, now in the Virginia Opera production, in a solo recital.
Last July, Opera News had an article on the rising career of David Daniels (brother of Virginia Symphony cellist Michael Daniels).
Perhaps the ultimate sign that these voices have captured the world's attention was the 1995 release of a ``Three Countertenors'' CD, which included some of the same pieces sung by the ``Three Tenors'' - Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras.
While all of these singers have received a lot of attention, there are some local men who regularly sing as countertenors. The Virginia Chorale and Virginia Symphony Chorus use these voices to strengthen the sound of their female altos.
These men use a technique known as falsetto singing. A very basic falsetto can be heard in popular music from the Bee Gees to Michael Jackson and Prince.
A countertenor can sing in the typical range of an alto, a lower female voice, although some can reach higher. When developed, the countertenor voice has color and dynamic possibilities comparable to those of other trained singers.
This voice has been used in church choral music for centuries, particularly to sing the alto lines in situations where women were not allowed to participate. (The soprano parts were taken by boys.)
As a solo voice, the use of countertenors began to grow again in England in this century. Alfred Deller, who influenced the first modern use of the term, inspired composers to write for this sound. He premiered the role of Oberon in Benjamin Britten's 1960 opera, ``A Midsummer Night's Dream.''
Other composers, including Americans Ned Rorem and Meredith Monk, have followed his lead. Philip Glass wrote a major countertenor role in his 1984 opera, ``Akhnaten.''
Steven Rickards, the countertenor who sang in two Capriole performances last weekend, has cataloged more than 650 works written since 1950 that use his type of voice. They range from solo songs to oratorios and operas. And the repertoire is being enlarged.
But at the Virginia Opera, the three countertenors are not singing music originally written for their voices. Handel had in mind the castrato voice, then so popular in the opera world.
Composers began to write their most heroic parts for castrati, and the best singers received great adulation. The 1993 movie ``Farinelli'' tells the story of one. To simulate his voice, and to cover the full castrato range, the sounds of two singers, a soprano and countertenor, were blended electronically.
Although this voice type fell out of favor in the early 19th century, the castrato was still used in church choirs. Castration became illegal in Italy in 1870, but that was late enough for a castrato to live into the recording age. Alessandro Moreschi, who sang at the Sistine Chapel, recorded a collection of sacred solos in 1902 and 1904. The quality is certainly weak by modern standards, but it is still possible to hear a vocal type unlike any other.
When the Handel operas first came back into the repertoire in this century, the castrato parts were usually taken by mezzo-sopranos. In the New York City Opera's famous production of ``Julius Caesar'' in the 1960s, the title role was rewritten for a bass voice.
But now it is possible to find not one, but three countertenors capable of singing Handel's difficult music. There were certainly some skeptics in the audience last Friday at the Harrison Opera House. But after a full evening sitting in hushed silence listening to Crowe and colleagues David Sabella and Johnny Maldonaro, the audience responded with vigorous applause. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
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WANT TO GO?
What: George Frideric Handel's ``Julius Caesar,'' presented by
Virginia Opera
When: 7:30 tonight, 8 p.m. Friday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Harrison Opera House, 160 Virginia Beach Blvd., Norfolk
Tickets: $19 to $72; discounts for students and groups of 10 or
more
To order: Call 623-1223