Male Leads in Baroque Opera

[John Vale]

I've recently been listening to a couple of operas - Handel's Julio Cesare - where the male lead was played by Sarah Connolly - a female mezzo, and Incoronazione de Poppea by Monteverdi - where a male counter tenor sang the lead. Are the voices interchangeable or did the Composers specify the voice?

[jochanaan]

I've recently been listening to a couple of operas - Handel's Julio Cesare - where the male lead was played by Sarah Connolly - a female mezzo, and Incoronazione de Poppea by Monteverdi - where a male counter tenor sang the lead. Are the voices interchangeable or did the Composers specify the voice?

Uh, the lead singers in those days were usually castrati.

[John Vale]

Ouch! glad that particular tradition has died out - so after that they had to employ either a counter tenor or a mezzo i guess - so it must be a decision for the producer i guess. McVicar's Met revival of Julius Caesar had a male lead whereas the orignal has a Mezzo - Sarah Connolly - ive not seen any excerpts from the Met one - but she was awesome in the Glyndebourne one.

[The new erato]

Uh, the lead singers in those days were usually castrati.

Usually but not always, tehere are lots of stories about Handel's skirmishes with divas like Fausta Bordoni etc.