Top 10 Countertenors (Please ignore this)

[gradus]

Derek Lee Ragin is pretty good.

[doversoul1]

Shouldn't they be included in the top ten sopranos?

More in the contralto/mezzo-soprano, as one has already been. See Top 10 contralto/mezzo-soprano thread #9

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?10686-Top-10-contralto-mezzo-soprano-singers

[ed] ah...#14

Mary
Iestyn Davies
Iestyn Davies
Iestyn Davies
Iestyn Davies.

Well, he IS the best.

I thought you might come out and say that. (and many thanks for taking my post seriously) He was absolutely superb in Rodelinda yesterday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03x160z

But I wasn’t too sure about Rodelinda singing ‘Oh my darling husband, oh my darling husband…’

As for countertenors, a few Continental products:

Philippe Jaroussky (with Iestyn Davies, two of the very best amongst the ‘new generation’ CTs, to me, that is)
Max Emanuel Cencic
Xavier Sabata
Franco Fagioli (I can’t say I like his voice but it may be something close to castrati’s. Stupendously powerful)
Pascal Bertin (not a solo recital kind of voice but very good in choir.)

From Canada: Daniel Taylor
A US representative: Lawrence Zazzo

[Hornspieler]

Surprisingly, John Carol Case won his scholarship to Kings College Cambridge as a counter tenor.

Most counter tenors (not castrati) would have a natural bass voice - not tenor.

[Flosshilde]

Well, I'm not quite sure what you mean

Well, I was thinking of the vocal rather than any other atribution, but I'd agree with ds that they'd probably belong more in the mezzo category, but with a wider range (in the film Farinelli Farinelli's singing voice was a blend of soprano Ewa Malas-Godlewska and Derek Lee Ragin) (as I'm sure you knew )

[Stanfordian]

Philippe Jaroussky has quite stunning voice.

[mercia]

nobody's mentioned Rene Jacobs, or is that because we've forgotten he was a singer ? (not that I have any opinion of his voice)

[doversoul1]

Nobody’s mentioned David Daniels and he’s still singing. Nobody has mentioned Rene Jacobs, as the list has hardly started. Keep it coming

[jean]

Nobody's mentioned Dominique Visse.

[Flay]

Franco Fagioli?

[Barbirollians]

I have been listening to Tim Mead in two Bach cantatas for solo alto bWV 54 and 170 coupled with the Bates/Crowe /Mead La Nuova Musica version of Pergolesi ‘s Stabat Mater . A very enjoyable record and he has a likeable intelligently used voice though on track 18 he sounds like has just stepped closer to the microphone.

Crowe is marvellous in the Pergolesi - this is rather more fiery than my previous favourite the ethereal old Kirkby/Bowman/Hogwood .

For all Mr Mead’s talent in the Bach I found myself wishing Kathleen Ferrier had recorded them ...

[gradus]

Derek Lee Ragin

[bluestateprommer]

Jakub Józef Orliński
Anthony Roth Costanzo
Yuriy Mynenko
Valer Sabadus
Vince Yi
Bejun Mehta

[LeMartinPecheur]

A tiny tad OT but has anybody read The Supernatural Voice - A history of high male singing by Simon Ravens? It completely puts the skids under much of what many of us thought we knew about falsettists singing 'countertenor' or alto parts in early performances of baroque and pre-baroque music. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supernatura...s=books&sr=1-1 (I've probably posted about this before somewhere - haven't checked.)

Not that this puts the skids under the work of modern falsettists as per this thread: much of Ravens' argument is based on firm evidence that the natural range of all adult voices, male and female, has fallen markedly since 17-18C. (Even since Victorian times, which explains the strains caused by standard late-19C/ early-20C hymnbooks these days!)

The physical sizes of all adults, and the sizes of their thoraxes, has increased markedly and their comfortable, nay even their achievable, pitch has therefore dropped. Thus, simplifying greatly, much of the modern countertenor repertoire was originally sung by high tenors in their natural voice.

There's therefore no route back to genuine HIP vocal performance because such natural male voices scarcely exist(*). Our Top 10 Countertenors, whoever they are, are therefore assured of continuing employment (after current difficulties, of course)

(*) Russell Oberlin appears to have been the main modern recorded exception. Other modern 'natural' non-falsettists named in the book are Michael Maniaci and Radu Marian, both of whom have unbroken voices because of childhood illnesses..

[MickyD]

I always adored James Bowman. That vintage Vivaldi Stabat Mater/Nisi Dominus recording with Hogwood back in the 70s still gives me goosebumps.

[oddoneout]

On Tuesday's Breakfast there was a recording(2014 I think) of Iestyn Davies singing Purcell's 'Strike the viol'. I would never have guessed it was him, listening to it, his voice has changed a great deal(for the better IMO) since then.