Amazing stories of men who sang like women. Modern Sopranos Countertenor Singers

At first, it's even hard to believe your ears, the contradiction between the sound and its performer is so vivid. Most likely, you have at least once heard how men reach such heights in their singing that are usually only available to women with a soprano. At least falsetto is familiar to many. But the classic countertenor (countertenor), powerful and incredibly clean, is something that can bewitch the listener. This is a unique and impressive phenomenon that cannot be forgotten! The history of such vocals stretches back many centuries, but in the twenty-first century, such singing occupies a very special place in music.

The return of old traditions

This style of singing arose as an independent phenomenon in the twentieth century, when singers Alfred Deller, James Bowman, David Daniels and Andreas Scholl conquered the world. They have received recognition in the world of classical music. However, men who professionally sing as women have remained a rarity. Forty years ago, there were only a few countertenor holders on the international stage. IN last years interest rose again - this coincided with the revival of the baroque repertoire, which requires a high voice. In former times, this part would have been performed by a castrato, and in more humane ages, by a woman with a mezzo-soprano. Among the stars of the new wave are thirty-three-year-old American Anthony Roth Costanzo, thirty-eight-year-old Frenchman Philippe Jaroussky and Indian Bejun Meta, a Grammy Award nominee and a member of one of India's most famous musical families. Not to mention Iestyn Davis, a Grammy and other award-winner who has been on the list of the most captivating international stars in opera even before such celebrities as the conqueror of hearts Jonas Kaufman or the diva Anna Netrebko. Not bad achievements for a simple English guy who sings like a girl! So what is a countertenor and why is it so great?

Features of singing countertenor

This is a sound that is produced without the help of a normal spoken voice, at a high frequency, which can be achieved by the combined effort of the muscles of the throat and vocal cords. They must be arranged in a certain way so that the air passing through vocal cords, vibrated only on their thin outer layer. Many people mistakenly believe that this is just a female voice. In fact, all men are also able to speak in falsetto, just a few do it all the time. And the owners of the countertenor are the elite, they are always able to use the highest tone of their voice. In pop music, the performers simply sing higher using their tenor or baritone, and when the note is too high, falsetto breaks through.

History of Talent Development

Davis has a rather low natural voice, which he uses when talking, and his singing voice is a bass-baritone, the lowest possible. At a young age, he began to experiment with singing, rehearsing the role with the school choir. He had to sing high enough, his friend said that everything sounded great and that it was worth a serious try. Davis tried. He got a place in a prestigious singing college, then graduated from Cambridge, and then became a member of the Royal Academy of Music. He is in demand in the best opera houses around the world, large concert venues are waiting for him, he constantly makes new recordings - Davis has never regretted his choice.

Dark Stories of the Past

A career as a countertenor seems exciting enough for a young singer these days, but it used to be a much darker undertaking. Many of the ecclesiastical and operatic parts that Davis and his like can now sing were originally created in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries for the legendary castrato Carlo Broschi, better known as Farinelli, and other such singers. Male vocalists were castrated before they reached puberty in order to keep their high and clear voices. In our time it is difficult to imagine that such barbarism can be justified by the lofty goals of art, but once there were no opponents of such a technique on the papal throne and at the court. Women were not supposed to sing church parties at all - it was believed that in church they were only supposed to be silent.

Prohibitions and riddles

In the seventeenth century, women were forbidden to perform on stage. The laws of decency in society did not allow them to appear as opera performers. Opera music as a genre began to develop actively, so the castrates got role after role. In the following century, the popularity of the opera increased even more, and hence the demand for castrati. Singers like Farinelli were the rock stars of the day. They were adored throughout Europe. There was even a phrase in use: “There is one god and there is one Farinelli!” However, today the singing of castrati remains a mystery. This practice does not exist now, so we simply cannot imagine how exactly these vocalists performed their parts.

Aversion to countertenors

The element of revulsion persists even in days when the grisly practices of castration are a thing of the past. Philippe Jaroussky notes that his angelic voice repels some people - the fact that such singing comes from a male body seems ridiculous. People think that the countertenor is a trait of the third gender, or something half-feminine. Davis has a more pragmatic view: he is sure that everything unusual inevitably causes fear and problems for people with prejudice. In the fifties of the last century, when Alfred Deller began work, he had to face even more criticism. People believed that he should not be released on stage as a soloist. Fortunately, society has changed its mind, and now you can easily enjoy the play of Davis' voice on stage. He sang the role of Oberon in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, originally written for Deller. In addition, many of the new opportunities for countertenor work are borrowed from church music and the world of opera in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Modern composers are also interested in creating parts for the countertenor. Perhaps future generations will see even more impressive performances than those available to us now.

Paul Esswood (b.1942)

Along with Deller, Esswood was one of those who revived countertenor singing in the 20th century. He became famous primarily for the performance of Bach's cantatas and the leading roles in the roles of Handel and Monteverdi. Along with works by Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Schumann, his repertoire includes works by Penderecki, Schnittke (the premiere of the Second Symphony, "Faust Cantata"), Glass (opera "Akhenaton"). He made more than a hundred recordings, lately he has been more busy conducting and teaching.

Philip Jaroussky (b.1978)

Photo: MARTIN BUREAU/AFP PHOTO

According to family legend, the singer's surname appeared when his grandfather emigrated from revolutionary Russia and, when crossing the border, told the customs officer: "I am Russian." In 2004 he received the French award "Victoire de la Musique" in the nomination "Discovery of the Year", in 2007 - in the nomination "Singer of the Year". Along with Handel, he pays much attention to the works of Vivaldi. Actively involved in the revival of interest in the music of Antonio Caldara, Johann Christian Bach, Nicola Porpora. Repeatedly performed in Moscow, incl. at the House of Music at the opening of this season.

Max Emanuel Cencic (b.1976)

Photo: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP PHOTO

He performed as a member of the Vienna Boys' Choir, after breaking his voice he managed to maintain a soprano tessitura and until 1997 he performed as a soprano singer. As a countertenor, he made his debut in 2001, attracting attention with the performance of the part of Nero in Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea (2003). To date, he is known for the roles of Farnac in the opera of the same name by Vivaldi, Mandana in the opera Artaxerxes by Vinci and Alexander in the opera of the same name by Handel.

Christophe Dumos (b.1979)

Photo: FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP PHOTO

He made his debut in 2002 as Eustasio in Handel's Rinaldo at the Radio France Festival in Montpellier (conductor René Jacobs). Collaborates with many leading early music ensembles, including Les Arts Florissants, Le Concert d’Astrée, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, etc. Participated in productions of modern operas - Britten's Death in Venice, Medeamaterial, Mantovani's Akhmatova. In 2012 he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival as Ptolemy in Handel's Julius Caesar. In 2013 he performed the same role at the Metropolitan Opera, the Zurich Opera and the Paris Grand Opera.

Andreas Scholl (b.1967)

Photo: GEORG HOCHMUTH/EPA

Scholl's fame came from his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival in Handel's Rodelinda as Bertarido, which he then repeatedly performed in other productions. Collaborated with most conductors - specialists in baroque music, such as William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe, Giovanni Antonini, John Eliot Gardiner and others. He composes songs, ballet and theater music, leadsown professional recording studio in Basel.

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The countertenor is a high male alto voice ranging from a small octave to B2. Back in the 16th century, before the cult of castrati singers flourished in Italy, the so-called Spanish falsetists sang in the Sistine Chapel: adult singers who performed alto and soprano parts. In the 17th century falsettoists sang in Germany and in England; in France, at the same time, a voice was popular that can be described as a high tenor with a falsetto top. In the 18th century, English countertenors sang in Handel's oratorios; later falsetto players could be heard in English cathedral choirs. After the disappearance of the castrati - and the last castrati in the history of music sang at the beginning of the 20th century - the parts previously performed by them began to be entrusted to other voices. Today they are usually performed by countertenors. The revival of the role of the countertenor began in the twentieth century. This was due to the emergence of ensembles specializing in the performance of early music.

Typically, countertenors sing male parts written for castrati in the Baroque era or later, as well as male parts for female voices. The art of countertenor singing was revived by the Englishman Alfred Deller, who decided to start a career as a soloist in the middle of the 20th century; thus the tradition of solo falsetto singing was renewed. He became the first performer of the part of Oberon in Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream; it was the first opera part in the 20th century written specifically for a countertenor. Deller was followed by other singers; due to the growing interest in early music and repertoire for high male voices, at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. a new stage in the popularity of falsetto singing began. Evgeny Argyshev (1933-1992) is considered the first Russian countertenor. With the legendary Madrigal ensemble he performed as a baritone, but he developed his voice to perform countertenor parts as well. In the 1980s, one of the leading singers of this role was Erik Kurmangaliev (1959-2007).

Eric Kurmangaliev

by Notes of the Wild Mistress

Unlike castrati, the voice of the countertenor is of absolutely natural origin: after the age-related mutation of the vocal apparatus, such singers retain the ability to sing soprano or alto, and, in most cases, this has nothing to do with either hormonal problems or sexual orientation.

There are only three such people in Russia. One of them - Oleg Bezinskikh - has a truly unique voice: his range is more than three octaves (from baritone to soprano). In the West, for several years now, it has been called nothing more than a "Russian miracle."

Oleg Bezinskikh now lives in St. Petersburg, but gives concerts very rarely, but he enjoys great success abroad, performing at the best venues in the world. Two years ago, he graduated from the Conservatory (class of Professor Viktor Yushmanov), becoming a graduate with a countertenor-sopranist diploma for the first time in its 137-year history.

When he sang the Holy Fool's aria from Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov at the St. Petersburg Opera, a huge scandal erupted. A whole controversy arose in the press on the topic - “Can such voices be used in opera?”

Handel wrote 21 operas for the countertenor, Mozart wrote several works for the Senesino castrato, and Schnittke, Bernstein, and Monteverdi wrote for the same voices. Previously, the score did not put "countertenor", but put "soprano". But the parties are men's!

In Moscow, there was recently a premiere of Monteverdi's opera, where the countertenor parts were replaced by women. Gluck's opera Orpheus and Eurydice is being staged at the Mariinsky Theatre, where the part of Orpheus is again performed by a woman.

Rostropovich himself offered the singer a role in the opera Alice in Wonderland by composer Alexander Knaifel, which was staged in Amsterdam.

At the Neva film studio, together with the Walt Disney company, a competition was held for dubbing a 13-episode cartoon about Mickey Mouse, and Bezinsky was unanimously approved for leading role. The premiere of the cantata "Jerusalem" took place in St. Petersburg: the solo was specially written for Oleg by the St. Petersburg composer Peter Gekker.

This work was recorded with 14-year-old cello virtuoso Nikita Zubarev for a future CD, which will include the best compositions by Gekker, including a cycle on poems by Omar Khayyam, also specially written for the Bezinskys.

In Moscow, Dmitry Bortnyansky's opera "Alkid" was held with great success in the Tchaikovsky Hall. Conducted by Anton Sharoev, great-grandson of the great Rubinstein - the founder of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In addition, Oleg plans to work closely with the Moscow Chamber Philharmonic, headed by Elena Obraztsova.

What other performers with a unique voice concentrate and amaze grateful listeners with their talent? Here are some more names:

Countertenor Nikolai Gladskikh is preparing to audition for London's Covent Garden Theatre, studying at the Russian Academy of Theater Arts (GITIS) with Roman Viktyuk and has such a unique voice timbre that he is compared to the great Farinelli. Experts predict a great future for Nikolai Gladskikh

British countertenor Michael Chance has an incredibly finely crafted voice with a very special timbre.

Countertenor Paul Esswood is rightfully considered one of the most significant performers of our time.

The name of the German Jochen Kowalski stands apart. Already long years he holds the title of the most stellar countertenor, whose CDs diverge in circulation unprecedented in classical music.

The countertenor, or, as it is also called, the countertenor, is the voice of an academic vocalist who specializes in performing alto and / or soprano parts.

A countertenor is sometimes referred to as a male soprano.

Initially, in the European polyphonic XIV-XVI centuries. a countertenor was a side vocal part that complemented the treble. Starting from the middle of the 16th century, with the spread of four voices, the counterrenora was divided in two: one was performed below the tenor and was called contratenor-bassus, the second was performed higher and was called contratenor altus. Soon the term was no longer used in its original meaning, instead in Italy the contratenor-bassus was simply called bass, contratenor-altus - alto, in France the term haute-contre was fixed, and in Great Britain - countertenor.

It has long been a widespread myth that men who have a countertenor and are able to sing in a female tessitura suffer from some kind of anomaly, and that their vocal apparatus is arranged according to the female type. It's a delusion. In fact, the ability to sing in a high voice is achieved by developing the upper voice register.

Differences between countertenor and altino and falsetto

The tenor altino is often confused with the countertenor. Altino is a type of lyric tenor with a high tessitura, which differs from the countertenor primarily in that it is uniquely identified as a high male voice, while the countertenor sounds effeminate. The altino vocalist has a range up to the note mi of the second octave.

Tenor altino is a rarity, the owners of such a voice sing with a full-sounding closure of the chords.

Finally, falsetto, or, as it is sometimes called, fistula, is not related to the classification of vocalists' timbres, but is the upper head register: the owner of any singing voice can sing falsetto. In essence, falsetto is achieved by specific sound extraction.

To sing in falsetto, it is necessary to put the vocal cords into a mode in which only the layers of Mucosa tissue closest to the gap will vibrate. The fistula is used in exceptional cases to give the sound a special color, however, some composers use it to create a certain image. So, the part of Figaro is performed in falsetto in the episode where he imitates the voice of Rosina.

Modern "farinelli" are now prepared not on the operating table, but in conservatories, and are called quite differently - countertenors. A countertenor is a male voice equal in pitch to a female contralto, mezzo-soprano or soprano, but differing in sound from female voices due to differences in the structure of the male and female vocal apparatus.
Unlike castrati, the countertenor's voice is of absolutely natural origin: after the age-related mutation of the vocal apparatus, such singers retain the ability to sing soprano or alto, and, in most cases, this has nothing to do with either hormonal problems or sexual orientation.

Popular about countertenors

At first glance, this is the easiest way to explain what a countertenor is to a person who has never heard such a voice. However, it should be noted that, firstly, this statement is essentially incorrect: the voice of a man, no matter how high it may be, will always be in fact a male voice and will always sound different from a female one due to differences in the structure of the female and male voice apparatus; secondly, such a formulation incorrectly orients listeners - traditionally considering a high singing voice to be the prerogative of women, they often draw conclusions about the effeminateness or some kind of physical inferiority of countertenor vocalists. Based on these considerations, the use of the wording "a man singing with a female voice" should be abandoned.

Countertenor = castrato?

Many, having heard the singing of the countertenor for the first time, take the singer for a castrato, believing that only a castrato can sing so high. It's a delusion. The falsetto register of voice, due to the use of which an adult and physiologically complete man can make high sounds, is present in all men without exception, and the ability to sing in this register in the vast majority of cases is the result of the development of innate vocal abilities of singers.

Many fans of countertenors are convinced that such voices are unique and extremely rare, to which skeptics often object something like this: “yes, it’s just falsetto - every man has it, every man can sing like that, and there’s nothing special and unique about it ". Undoubtedly, every man has a falsetto voice register. However, the following should be taken into account:
Not every man, in principle, has the ability to sing;
Far from every vocalist, the falsetto register has the qualities that allow it to be adapted to perform a certain repertoire in a certain manner (recall that in the modern sense, a countertenor is a professional academic vocalist);
Not every vocalist has a desire to sing mainly in the falsetto register, to develop it, to learn to sing in falsetto professionally.
Alfred Deller, in one of his interviews, voiced the following observation: singers who would like to learn how to sing in a countertenor often do not have the ability to do this, and those who have these abilities do not want to develop them, because they consider this style of singing to be effeminate. In addition, today countertenors are professionally in demand to a much lesser extent than the owners of more "traditional" male voices. In particular, in the domestic musical culture there were no phenomena similar to the Italian tradition of castrate singing or the traditions of falsetto singing in England and Germany (Handel wrote 21 operas for countertenor, Mozart - several works for Senesino castrato, both Schnittke and Bernstein wrote for the same voices. , and Monteverdi. Previously, they didn’t put “countertenor” on the score, but put “soprano.” But the parts are male!), As a result, in the works of Russian composers there are no parts for male altos and sopranos, and there are also no methods for teaching such singers, equally as well as interest in such voices and in the music that was written for them, in a professional musical environment. This is the main reason for the notorious rarity and uniqueness of modern countertenors.

The repertoire of countertenors is most often based on the music of the Baroque era, the time of the rapid rise of European vocal performing arts.

Some of the names are: Javier Medina, Michael Maniaci, Jorge Cano, Aris Christofellis, Radu Marian, Jörg Waschinski, Ghio Nannini.
One of the best is Paul Esswood (Paul Esswood).
British countertenor Michael Chance has an incredibly finely crafted voice with a very special timbre.
The name of the German Jochen Kowalski stands apart. For many years he has been the title of the most stellar countertenor, whose CDs are distributed in circulation unprecedented in classical music.

According to well-known historical facts, in Russia the existence of countertenors was not suspected until the end of the 80s of the twentieth century, and all over the world the singing of men who naturally have such high voices was initially perceived as a pseudo-imitation of castrati. By the way, among opera singers, the countertenor is a rarity. In Russia, there are just over 20 vocalists with such superpowers. What all contemporary countertenors have in common is their growing popularity. Increasingly, they become the decoration of concerts, including concerts of pop stars.

Russian famous countertenors: Evgeny Argyshev, Oleg Bezinskikh, Yuri Borisov, Nikolai Gladskikh, Alexander Gorbatenko, Evgeny Zhuravkin, Konstantin Zbanychuk, Yaroslav Zdorov, Igor Ishchak, Vyacheslav Kagan-Paley, Grigory Konson, Artyom Krutko, Erik Kurmangaliev, Yuri Minenko, Evgeny Munko , Igor Retnev, Oleg Ryabets, Oleg Usov, Bagdasar Khachikyan, Vasily Khoroshev, Nikolay Shilintsev, Rustam Yavaev.

A little about some of them

Eric Salimovich Kurmangaliev(Kaz. Erik Salimuly Kurmangaliyev, December 31, 1959, the city of Kulsary, Guryev region, Kazakhstan - November 13, 2007, Moscow, Russia) - opera singer (countertenor) and actor, owner of a unique timbre. According to some reports, the first countertenor in the USSR. In 2005, in Riga, he participated in a gala concert of five countertenors, on the basis of which the documentary film “Farinelli. Show must go on" with the participation of Eric Kurmangaliev.

Oleg Kasper has unique vocal abilities (4 octaves) - from baritone male notes to countertenor (female soprano).

Oleg Ryabets. The Diena edition called the vocalist "one of the five such voices in the world, the period of mutation of which has safely passed ..." Ryabets performed in the opera houses of Lyon and Hamburg, Riga and Paris, in the royal houses of England, in the prestigious halls of Japan. Starred in documentary Farinelli. Show must go on!" Oleg Ryabets has a rare countertenor in terms of timbre and pitch. A recording of his voice is stored in the British National Sound Archive next to a unique recording of the last castrato of the 20th century A. Moreski. At the celebration of the 75th birthday of the Prince of Edinburgh, His Royal Highness Prince Philip awarded the singer the title "Mr Soprano".

Oleg Bezinsky. He has a truly unique voice: his range is more than three octaves (from baritone to soprano). In the West, for several years now, it has been called nothing more than a "Russian miracle." He graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory (class of Professor Viktor Yushmanov), for the first time in its 148-year history (opened in 1862), becoming a graduate with a diploma of "countertenor-sopranist". When he sang the Holy Fool's aria from Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov at the St. Petersburg Opera, a huge scandal erupted. There was a whole controversy in the press on the topic - "Is it possible to use such voices in the opera?".

Nikolai Gladskikh has such a unique timbre of voice that he is compared with the great Farinelli. Connoisseurs predict a great future for Nikolai Gladskikh.