On Jul 23, 2005, at 8:29 AM, Andrew Stiller wrote:
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.
Excellent summary, Andrew. I would quibble with only one word. In
later operas, pants roles represent male youths, but they are not
"prepubescent". In some cases, their pubescence is very much a part of
the story. Octavian is most certainly not prepubescent. Cherubino and
Siebel are young, but their behavior is clearly that of pubescent
teenagers. Orlofsky is arguably an anomaly, and can be played in many
ways, but I don't think anyone sees him as a prepubescent boy.
Nicklausse I don't think does anything that really pins down an age,
but his relationship with Hoffmann certainly doesn't suggest that he's
a child. The various page roles (eg, Oscar) could be played as
children, but traditionally they are not.
My point is that while you're quite right that the trouser-role voice
type represents youth, the representation is symbolic and has nothing
to do with voice change or other characteristics of physical
development. A typical trouser-role character is about 15 or 16 years
old and sexually mature, albeit with more eagerness than experience.
Mezzos who specialize in trouser-roles study to learn a male
physicality. (It's often one of the workshops available in a young
singers' program.) These women are not practicing to move like boys;
they are practicing to move like young men.
On the few occasions when a character in an opera really is supposed to
be a prepubescent boy, the score generally calls for it to be played by
a boy whose voice has not yet changed -- eg, the genii in Magic Flute,
the shepherd boy in Tosca, Yniold, Miles, Amahl, Griffelkin. These
roles are sometimes cast as women simply because a suitably talented
boy cannot be found, but that's not the same as the trouser-role
tradition.
mdl
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