tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702704691528115190.post7567290437434921184..comments2023-11-05T00:54:02.116-07:00Comments on Not Sweating the Small Stuff: Alex de Ravinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02451670815693819558noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702704691528115190.post-61644460047215958002009-03-25T15:44:00.000-07:002009-03-25T15:44:00.000-07:00hey aleopardoyes, it isthanks for commentingtake c...hey aleopardo<br><br>yes, it is<br><br>thanks for commenting<br><br>take care <br><br>nicknickwallacesmithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18264274719820605716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702704691528115190.post-50789188847598087752009-03-25T15:43:00.000-07:002009-03-25T15:43:00.000-07:00hey alanlike those accepting to undergo castration...hey alan<br><br>like those accepting to undergo castration to become eunuchs in the forbidden city<br><br>i was looking at a coffee table book recently on cixi, the last dowager empress of china - and had a similar reaction to some sad looking boys showing their mutilationsnickwallacesmithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18264274719820605716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702704691528115190.post-8681928457657013442009-03-25T15:38:00.000-07:002009-03-25T15:38:00.000-07:00hey paulthanks for taking the time to comment at s...hey paul<br><br>thanks for taking the time to comment at such length<br><br>and yes a pity bout what he didn't record - i've read that recording at the time was considered a novelty rather than a serious artistic enterprise and maybe this is part of the explanation<br><br>very interesting what you have to say about the particular quality of the sound of the castrato - and how composers would use them as such.<br><br>i understand that much early church music was composed with an understanding of the 'mush' the acoustics of such buildings would have combining the instruments and voices - music being composed quite accepting this. so that when current recording of such works attempts to disengage the various sound components, the result would not necessarily have been appreciated by earlier composers.<br><br>when i lived in england i used to listen to counter tenor james bowman i used to wonder how the sound related to that of the castrati. and so interested to hear what you had to say about falsetto in this respect<br><br>next time i get my time machine out, i'll give you a call - and we can program in '1700' - i wonder if our digital cameras would work after we'd passed back! perhaps Caballe would like to join us!nickwallacesmithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18264274719820605716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702704691528115190.post-3763197963928186332009-03-24T21:50:00.000-07:002009-03-24T21:50:00.000-07:00Really moving!Really moving!Aleopardonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702704691528115190.post-8475550202984388882009-03-24T10:57:00.000-07:002009-03-24T10:57:00.000-07:00As if circumcision isn't sufficiently mutilati...As if circumcision isn't sufficiently mutilation, the concept that children were castrated for their voices makes me want to cry.<br><br><br>Alan down in FloridaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702704691528115190.post-3082450729484025262009-03-24T08:10:00.000-07:002009-03-24T08:10:00.000-07:00A shame he didn't record any of the great oper...A shame he didn't record any of the great operatic music written for the castrati. Perhaps it was beyond him? Reading contemporary accounts of performances of the greatest of the castrati, it's clear they combined the brilliance of a trumpet (one reason Handel, etc, wrote pieces pitting the trumpet against the singer in a musical duel) with the sweetness of a boy soprano.<br><br>Countertenors today sound NOTHING like the castrati since they don't have forceful, heroic quality to their voices that characterized the castrati. There was nothing "falsetto" about the quality of the castrati voice. Yes, they sang in the soprano (or mezzo) range, but there was nothing fey or pale about it. Which is why they sang heroic parts like Julius Caesar and were musically believable in them.<br><br>Imagine being unable to tell whether it's a countertenor singing or a trumpet. No contest...the trumpet would wipe out any countertenor without even huffing and puffing.<br><br>I'd love to get in a time machine and go back to about 1700 and hear what they were like at their best. Alas, short of restoring the barbaric operation and then drilling the young boy for literally years in musical and vocal technique (probably as impossible as performing the castration itself), we'll never hear what they were really like in "their" music...a sweet yet heroic voice with breath control that would put Caballe to shame.Paul in NYCnoreply@blogger.com