Cross-posted from Opera-L, with approval and merriment

   Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 11:10:56 -0400
   From: James Jorden <[log in to unmask]>
   Subject: Re:  David Daniels: Countertenors in Castrato Roles

   Luis Varona wrote:

   >If I am not mistaken, Handel himself as impresario and artist preferred
   >a female contralto voice to a falsettist when a superstar castrato
   >was not available.

   This specious argument again!

   We may accept that in at least one case, when given the choice between
   a contralto with operatic experience and a countertenor church singer,
   Handel probably favored the contralto.  All that means is that Handel,
   as a practical man of the theater, weighed the pros and cons of
   Signorina A vs.  Mr. B and said, "Hire her, not him." He was not
   speaking for posterity, and he never laid down a hard and fast rule
   "Always contraltos, never countertenors."

   Take a look at last season's revival at the Roundabout Theater of
   the musical FOLLIES.  Stephen Sondheim, the composer and lyricist,
   was closely involved in this production and surely could have vetoed
   any bit of casting he found objectionable.  And yet the show went on
   with Judith Ivey, who could not Sally's big torch song "Losing My
   Mind," and Treat Williams, who could not dance Buddy's tap number
   "The Right Girl." So are we to assume in future that when faced with
   the choice between a singer and a nonsinger for the role of Sally,
   Sondheim "would want" to cast a nonsinger? And are we further to
   assume that the role of Buddy should always be assigned to a leading
   man who can't dance? (Are we further to decide on the basis of this
   revival that Sondheim *prefers* to hear his score played by a tiny
   pit band dominated by synthesizers?)

   Of course not.  The casting choices made for the Roundabout's FOLLIES
   are realistic compromises based on which performers were available
   in a given time period, and in particular how much each of those
   performers cost.  There are no rules to be extrapolated from these
   choices except that Mr. Sondheim wants his musical to be performed,
   not left on the shelf.

   I submit that Handel's attitude toward his operas was not unlike that
   of Sondheim to his musicals: better to hear them in a compromised
   or adapted version than not to hear them at all.  And since the
   contralto vs.  countertenor controversy is basically a choice between
   two compromises, the purists really have nothing to argue about here.

   J.Jo.

Janos Gereben/SF
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