Bob Draper wrote:

>The other interesting thing about the film is the use of a computer
>generated castrato voice.  This was achieved by blending male and
>female voices.  The result is certainly fascinating.  In fact I found
>it beautiful.  So why can't we have "authentic" recordings of castrato
>music created this way.  Obviously it would be impractical for a live
>performance.  But in the studio it might add a new dimension and perhaps
>prompt a re-evaluation of some works written for this voice."

Well, first of all, we don't really know what an "authentic" castrato sound
would be like.  We can make surmises based on writings from the time and on
what we know about vocal production in general, but that's it - so we don't
really know if a blended soprano /countertenor voice really approximates
the castrato sound.  (There is one extant recording of the "last castrato,"
though I gather the singer was quite old and the sound is rather limited,
so it probably can't be considered a genuinely representative example.)
Some things we do know:  Handel 1) wrote "trouser" roles specifically for
women singers he particularly admired (Sesto in Giulio Cesare, Polinesso in
Ariodante, and [I think} Radimisto in Radimisto for example), 2) cast women
in heroic male roles when they were the best singers available (note:
"best singer available" does not equal "only alternative to a castrato" -
there were lousy castrati, too), and 3) never cast countertenors / male
altos / falsettists (whichever term you like best) in heroic male roles in
his operas (although I believe he did use them in his oratorios).  So, one
might come to the conclusion that a good soprano, mezzo, or contralto is
actually "authentic" in this repertoire since Handel actively used them.
The isn't to say that the morphed sound isn't beautiful - just that it's
not necessarily "authentic."

The topic of which voice type is most suited to castrato roles has been
endlessly debated on Opera-L (here is the URL for the Opera-L archives
http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/opera-l.html if you're interested) and
rec.music.opera (you can access the rmo archives via deja.com).

I think the current fad for countertenors is likely to provoke at
least some exploration of the more unexplored corners of the baroque and
classical castrato repertoire since these gentlemen must be given something
to sing besides Handel, Gluck, and Mozart if they're to keep putting out
interesting CDs . . .  (Not that we're spared endless repetition of the
core soprano and tenor operatic repertoire, of course  ;-). . . so maybe
we'll just get more of the same with countertenors!)

By the way, is "Il Castrato" the same film as "Farinelli," which came out
in the early 90's or thereabouts? The countertenor whose voice was morphed
with a soprano's for that film was Derrick Lee Ragin, who has recorded many
Handel roles, particularly for Nicholas McGegan.

Kathleen O'Connell