Opera without sopranos

springrite · June 12, 2007, 06:22:44 PM

Quote from: Anne on June 12, 2007, 06:19:27 PM
Hi Springrite,

Don't be concerned by the lack of sopranos in Billy Budd. It is a wonderful opera. Also in the middle of the opera, Billy Budd is given the most gorgeous aria to sing. I don't think any soprano could have asked for a better one.

OK, I will try it one day.

I am surprised that (Elektra notwithstanding) that no one has yet tried to trick Harry into an all soprano opera.

knight66 · June 13, 2007, 01:12:27 AM

Well....Tales of Hoffman has three very minor roles for the sops, (one call of nature per act and he would miss them. That apart, it is a feast of manly singing, plus one low alto pretending to be a man.....right up Harry's canal, so to speak.

Mike

Hector · June 13, 2007, 02:09:09 AM

Quote from: knight on June 13, 2007, 01:12:27 AM
Well....Tales of Hoffman has three very minor roles for the sops, (one call of nature per act and he would miss them. That apart, it is a feast of manly singing, plus one low alto pretending to be a man.....right up Harry's canal, so to speak.

Mike

Minor? Three big arias for each!

"...up Harry's canal,.." The very idea

knight66 · June 13, 2007, 02:11:44 AM

Hector, You have lost all sense of collusion!

Mike

springrite · June 13, 2007, 02:18:36 AM

Quote from: Hector on June 13, 2007, 02:09:09 AM
Minor? Three big arias for each!

"...up Harry's canal,.." The very idea

Just wait till the next recommendation -- Der Rosenkavalier, where even one of the men is sung by a woman!

Tsaraslondon · June 13, 2007, 03:04:43 AM

There's always Suor Angelica. One could set it in a monastery instead of a nunnery. all the parts to be sung an octave down, and rename it Fra' Angelo. Come to think of it, I'm surprised some bright spark producer hasn't done it already!

knight66 · June 13, 2007, 03:27:28 AM

I like the Fra' Angelo idea. How about Carmen as a Gay opera, Carmen a countertenor and the girls at the factory could be lady-boys....in other words, tenors.

Mike

lukeottevanger · June 13, 2007, 03:45:43 AM

Quote from: springrite on June 12, 2007, 06:22:44 PM
I am surprised that (Elektra notwithstanding) that no one has yet tried to trick Harry into an all soprano opera.

But that would be simply cruel.

On a different note, I think Harry would just adore Erwartung.

knight66 · June 13, 2007, 03:48:45 AM

Quote from: lukeottevanger on June 13, 2007, 03:45:43 AM
On a different note, I think Harry would just adore Erwartung.

I second that. Am I right in thinking that there is no named female character in it? If so, then it fits the bill.

Mike

karlhenning · June 13, 2007, 03:51:41 AM

No names, Mike, to protect the innocent.

knight66 · June 13, 2007, 04:13:24 AM

That was what I thought, so it can go onto Harry's list of must have operas. Pity it is so short.

Mike

val · June 13, 2007, 04:14:13 AM

SCHÖNBERG'S: Die Glückliche Hand. It is an opera and without sopranos. Only a baryton.

knight66 · June 13, 2007, 04:18:16 AM

Val, Harry's plate will be fuller than we ever thought. Did anyone ever make an opera from Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea?

Britten's Curlew River fits OK, the Madwoman is sung by a tenor.

Mike

karlhenning · June 13, 2007, 04:21:38 AM

Quote from: knight on June 13, 2007, 04:18:16 AM
Val, Harry's plate will be fuller than we ever thought. Did anyone ever make an opera from Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea?

I think the fish is a coloratura, though.

Hector · June 13, 2007, 04:33:50 AM

Quote from: karlhenning on June 13, 2007, 04:21:38 AM
I think the fish is a coloratura, though.

Aren't they all <sigh>?

knight66 · June 13, 2007, 04:34:39 AM

Here she is, Martha J Hallibut. Perhaps Harry might endure a little warbling from her.

Mike

Sergeant Rock · June 13, 2007, 04:39:52 AM

Quote from: knight on June 13, 2007, 03:27:28 AM
I like the Fra' Angelo idea. How about Carmen as a Gay opera, Carmen a countertenor and the girls at the factory could be lady-boys....in other words, tenors.

Mike

Excellent idea, Mike. If we can have trouser roles for women, why not skirt roles for men!

Sarge

knight66 · June 13, 2007, 04:47:11 AM

Sarge, Imagine though the male diva equivilent behaviour of Gheorghiu, oh...we have that I suppose, her husband....as you were folks.

Mike

karlhenning · June 13, 2007, 04:48:56 AM

Nothing to see here, folks . . . .

marvinbrown · June 13, 2007, 06:08:00 AM

Opera fans you have given Harry some good recommendations for operas without sopranos (or minor roles for sopranos) but I can not help feel ill at ease and troubled by what is ultimately developing here. I fear that Harry will never experience the following GREAT music, all with soprano roles:

1) Wagner (The Ring Cycle , Tristan und Isolde, Parsifal, Die Meistersingers)
2) Verdi (Otello, Aida, La Traviata, Rogolleto, Don Carlo, Falstaff, Un Ballo in Maschera)
3) Mozart (Don Giovanni, Le Nozze Di Figaro, Die Zauberfolte, Cosi fan Tutte)
4) Puccini (Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, La Boheme)

That would be a real loss wouldn't you agree?

My recommendation is : start with Die Zauberflote (a very welcoming opera with soprano roles (Queen of the Night aria is simply glorious)

marvin