Ron Chaplin ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>... what is a heldentenor? I've heard the term, but am not sure
>what it means.

Well apart from the "heroic" aspects of the singing required from such a
singer - generally in Wagnerian works - there used to be a joke around,
through most of the 60s and 70s, that the *real* heldentenor had one leg
shorter than the other.

This arose from the operatic production style at the time as they were
always required to sing on steep-sloping stages, usually standing on some
sort of revolving disc.

John G. Deacon
Home page: www.ctv.es/USERS/j.deacon