And i still don't understand the reason for "pants" roles!
John
Two reasons.
1) In Baroque opera, vocal range was a function of the age of the
character more than its sex. The young hero was a soprano, and so was
his love interest. Her duenna was a tenor. The king/philosopher/father
was a bass.
2) In later operas, pant roles represent prepubescent boys. If you
assume (as was in fact the case) that any significant operatic role
must be performed by an adult, then the role of a little boy must be
played by an alto or soprano. And if (as was again the case)
countertenors no longer were recognized, then it follows automatically
that the part must go to a woman.
I might add that outside of England there was never, historically, much
place for countertenors in opera, because their sound was deemed too
weak for the stage. We use them all the time now to fill castrato
roles, but back in the day they preferred to use women if castrati
were unavailable.
Andrew Stiller
Kallisti Music Press
http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/
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