Early Music on Record Review

[Tony Halstead]

I thought the organ part would have been better without the 4' Prinzipal sound...just a flute would have sufficed.

Oh dear oh dear, how very much I do agree with you! Time and time again those 'baroque specialist' organists reach for the 4ft when it really and truly isn't necessary, especially with the rather 'cutting' Prinzipal sound.
I consider myself very lucky that in my two organ-playing jobs in the 1960s I had access to organs that - although rather 'dated' Victorian ones - had very sweet-toned and subtle 4' stops ( 'Gedackt' and 'Wald Floete') although I readily concede that Bach never envisaged these sounds, of course.

[Nick Armstrong]

If you like Damien Guillon, you might enjoy this: http://youtu.be/FgPKaFtTDKA BWV 82 Ich habe genug in two parts.

I can't help making a comparison with Andreas Scholl's & Philippe Herreweghe BWV 170. I don't know what kind of magic pikie dust he sprinkles over Bach, but his interpretations to my ears are never overly austere or sober and always conjure up a reverential emotional beauty.

Thank you very much for that link pegleg.

And yes, that Scholl performance is my yardstick too. I'm happy to say I'm going to hear Scholl in Bach in a month or two - he seems to be doing a lot these days with King's College Choir...

I suppose what I found refreshing was that the voice of Damien Guillon was less distinctive - it made a change not to say to myself "Oh that's Andreas Scholl"...

By the way, I'm with you in the 'sods' box - I've never really understood the 'head voice' / 'chest voice' thing... Thanks to dovers for the explanation

[jean]

...I think you could say that head voice is another way of saying falsetto, and chest voice is the normal range of male voice.

I have usually thought so too, but what of ardcarp's

I think his style is to produce a very pure head-voice sound. It certainly isn't a 'James Bowman' voice.

I remember all those arguments that raged in the 1960s about real counter-tenors vs. mere falsettists, but I haven't heard them much recently.

[Pegleg]

Thank you very much for that link pegleg.

And yes, that Scholl performance is my yardstick too. I'm happy to say I'm going to hear Scholl in Bach in a month or two - he seems to be doing a lot these days with King's College Choir...

I suppose what I found refreshing was that the voice of Damien Guillon was less distinctive - it made a change not to say to myself "Oh that's Andreas Scholl"...

By the way, I'm with you in the 'sods' box - I've never really understood the 'head voice' / 'chest voice' thing... Thanks to dovers for the explanation [/COLOR]

There's a multitude of recordings of BWV 82 with all voice types, but I think Bach scored it for a bass. Which brings us back to Philippe Herreweghe, this time with Peter Kooy who has made many Bach recordings with Masaaki Suzuki. http://youtu.be/S2ID33M6x7M

Actually, I thought Damien Guillon was a completely new name to me too, but then I realised he appears on a recording of Bach Motets I have. In the "it's not Andreas Scholl" camp there's always James Bowman, Michael Chance, Robin Blaze and Iestyn Davies amongst the home grown countertenors. A few picks:


Birthday Ode for Queen Anne, James Bowman, countertenor http://youtu.be/Cdjp3_VbYxI

Händel: Messiah - But who may abide - Michael Chance http://youtu.be/fpPyN5t7uyo

Robin Blaze sings Purcell's By Beauteous Softness http://youtu.be/PJkpLKANsMc

O Lord, Whose Mercies Numberless, from Saul - G.F. Handel http://youtu.be/33-Uo-hHtlg

[doversoul1]

Pegleg

In the "it's not Andreas Scholl" camp

…and absolutely not the ‘Dellere school’, here is the latest development or diversion, whichever you tend to think about it, of the countertenor voice. I have posted these links on another thread, so please ignore if you saw them:

An aria from Artaserse by Leonardo Vinci : Franco Fagioli

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqUrYuKne44

…and here are the whole opera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y57VOoJMTp0&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_qhgPw4SoI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdjc7Xrw7pw

Five countertenors and a tenor, Diego Fasolis conducts Concerto Koln.

[Pegleg]

Doversoul,

I don't know Franco Fagioli's work. So I picked this vid as the music is more familiar to me: Franco Fagioli - "Venti turbini"- Rinaldo- Teatro Colón-17-06-2012 http://youtu.be/nAQlsT6y4sE

Has he been taking lesson from Cecilia Bartoli? Franco's not for me. Cecilia Bartoli, on the other hand, is a precious gift to music lovers.

I watched parts of that Artaserse production when it first surfaced on youtube. I'm sure there is merit in it, but I found the 5 countertenors diet hard to sallow. It's all a matter of personal taste.

[Nick Armstrong]

Cecilia Bartoli

Oh dear. We part company over Cecilia. I can't abide the sound of her voice...

[Pegleg]

Oh dear. We part company over Cecilia. I can't abide the sound of her voice...

That was my initial reaction, but over time I changed my mind. You probably won't have watched this then: http://www.medici.tv/#!/cecilia-bart...zert-2012-2013

Do you have a favourite mezzo-soprano?

[Nick Armstrong]

That was my initial reaction, but over time I changed my mind. You probably won't have watched this then: http://www.medici.tv/#!/cecilia-bart...zert-2012-2013

Do you have a favourite mezzo-soprano?

True, I haven't.

Of those who have 'engaged' with the Early Music world, it has to be Anne-Sofie von Otter in her prime

[Miles Coverdale]

That was my initial reaction, but over time I changed my mind. You probably won't have watched this then: http://www.medici.tv/#!/cecilia-bart...zert-2012-2013

Do you have a favourite mezzo-soprano?

The machine-gun coloratura is, in its way, very impressive, but I don't find it pleasant to listen to.

[Nick Armstrong]

The machine-gun coloratura is, in its way, very impressive, but I don't find it pleasant to listen to.

That's my exact feeling too

[Pegleg]

True, I haven't.

Of those who have 'engaged' with the Early Music world, it has to be Anne-Sofie von Otter in her prime

No chicken-skin music from Anne-Sofie von Otter, who is still brilliant: Anne Sofie von Otter, Cappella Mediterranea | Sogno barocco: Cavalli, Mont http://youtu.be/eWtYwbrOgKw

and for old time's sake:Annie sophie von Otter - Scherza infida - Ariodante http://youtu.be/FngWzmxK0z8

[ardcarp]

Pegleg wrote:

Would some kind soul take pity on an ignorant sod and give me some idea of what all this countertenor "head voice" v. "chest voice" thing is about.

OK. To try and answer a few queries about the terms 'head' and 'chest' voice and about male altos versus countertenors, I thought I'd jot down a few ramblings. They are in no way authoritative, but may be a starting point for others to chip in.

The male-alto/countertenor debate

In the 60s an American, Russell Oberlin, claimed the word 'countertenor' to mean a singer using an upward extension of the tenor voice, i.e. without using falsetto. His own voice was quite wobbly but he did indeed appear to sing, without a break, up into the territory usually occupied by altos. (Our own Rogers Covey Crump can do the same sort of thing (no wobbles), and is, IMO a wonderful example of a very high light tenor.) Russell Oberlin asserted that the term 'male alto' should apply to those who sing using a falsetto voice, Deller being the obvious example who was around at the time.

This distinction between the two words has now in effect become meaningless, and both 'male alto' and 'countertenor' are used to apply to anyone singing the alto repertory. Most exponents nowadays, Scholl, Blaise, Davies, Chance, Bowman, etc, etc, are falsettists, that is they are not using their 'broken' voice, but are causing their vocal chords to operate in '2nd harmonic' mode. If anyone doesn't follow, think of Alpine yodelling, where the voice flies up from broken to un-broken mode or, to put it another way, from chest-voice to head-voice (see below). This is not to say that all 'modern' falsettists sound the same. Some sound very pure, exhibiting a traditional boy-treble-like purity. One could call this the Deller school, which Damien Guillon seems to embrace to great effect. Others introduce more 'character' into their voices, and by this I do not just mean vibrato. (Deller used vibrato, incidentally, for expressive effect.) Somehow they have greater harmonic development, i.e. the sound they produce is richer in overtones, and for me James Bowman's voice typifies this. He is, IMO, one of the greatest countertenors/male altos of our age. I have heard him (live) since his earliest days with David Munrow's Early Music Consort, through his stage career (a finer Oberon in Britten's MSND you could not find) to his latest concert appearances. His magic has remained undiminished. Most unusually he has maintained his ability to sing superbly into his sixties. Most falsettists (ducks for cover) do not manage this! (OK, I know Bowman is officially retiring, but I bet he'll pop up here and there.)

A couple more points. It is not known whether male altos from Purcell's time onwards were falsettists or high tenors. Even the works of S.S.Wesley exhibit some very low alto parts, suggesting they may have been sung by high tenors. A typical alto lay-clerk today will run out of steam down in those regions and will have to resort to a bit of 'chest voice' in order to be heard at all. (Ducks for cover again.) To be really controversial for a moment, I much prefer hearing Gibbons' Rcord of John sung by a tenor. On the occasions where I (as a tenor lay clerk) was granted this pleasure, the altos in the choir used to glare horribly throughout, and several pints in the pub afterwards were needed to restore normal relations. On the matter of namenclature, the word 'contra-tenor' or 'contre-tenor' (whilst sometimes used instead of 'countertenor') does not strictly apply to a voice type but to one of the polyphonic lines in late-medieval or early Renaissance music.

Head Voice and Chest Voice debate:

Well, not much of a debate really. They have no basis in biology or physiology because the voice is not generated in either the head or the chest. They are terms used by singers and more especially singing teachers to mean two different types of sound. Put simply, a child's natural fluty voice is a head voice. Sopranos sing mainly with a head voice , but, especially in opera, when given very low notes in their range for special dramatic effect, will 'change gear' and produce a rougher, tenor like sound. I heard Cecilia Bartoly doing this in an aria by Halevy on R3 this morning.
This is usually referred to as 'using the chest register'. Choristers will do this too. Traditionally trebles were trained to use their fluty head-voices which crescendo as they go up the scale and diminuendo as they go down. However, if asked to give the low notes some wellie, they can produce a rather pleasing 'chest-voice' effect. Many choir trainers now try to produce a hard expressive sound throughout the range...the so-called continental sound...which has characterised choirs such as Westminster Cathedral, St John's Cambridge (in the past) and New College Oxford. Love it or hate it, there is an element of chest voice there. Alas, the typical Primary School pop musical is written so low that the kids shout away in their chest voices and never seem to be allowed to discover their natural head voices. (Not ducking for cover here; I'll stand up and take the flak.)

Moving on to tenors, they sing, of course, using a chest voice which is their natural 'broken' register. But all is not so simple. The very high notes (A, Bflat. B. top C) are never easy, but generally to belt them out Pavarotti style works rather well. To produce a little subtlety (as is always required for instance as the Evangelist in one of the Bach Passions) there are choices to be made. Some are lucky enough (e.g. the aforementioned Covey Crump) to float those notes quite easily using their naturally high chest voices. Most use a technique called 'mezza-voce', a sort of halfway house between chest and head registers. This can have great dramatic effect if done well. For a tenor to slip into falsetto for the high notes is a big no-no for soloists. But it can be handy in ensemble singing if very quiet high notes are needed. Well that's my excuse anyway.

I've rambled enough. Comments, anyone?

[jean]

Very interesting. The Russell Oberlin theory is the one I remember, and now you've mentioned his name, I remember that, too.

Not being a man, I have no sense of how the arguably different ways of producing the alto/countertenor/tenor sound might feel. Of course, we have a break in our voice too, and I know when I'm singing in 'chest' and when in 'head' voice - but if I'm clever enough at disguising the break, I hope you won't!

[doversoul1]

ardcarp
Yes, very interesting indeed. I knew there was more to it than what could be said in half a line. Thanks!!!

Is it a myth that it was Tipett who (re)introduced the term ‘countertenor’ when he discovered Deller?