Handel, senza castrati per piacere.

[Josquin des Prez]

I need recommendations of Handel operas with male voices for the male parts (no counter-tenors, either). Do they exist?

[Mozart]

Not really

[Morigan]

Can you imagine a classical hero singing with a graceless, barbaric tenor voice? Horrible idea! 

[Sarastro]

Not really

It may depend on what kind of voice Josquin des Prez needs. There are still some basses left.
And if he wants it authentic or not...sometimes counter-tenors roles were sang by other voices.

[Josquin des Prez]

Can you imagine a classical hero singing with a graceless, barbaric tenor voice? Horrible idea! 

Somehow, i have my doubts classical heroes sang in falsetto, assuming they permitted themselves to indulge in music (AFAIK, both the Greeks and the Romans had a few qualms allowing their warriors to be exposed to anything but martial sounds, particularly considering classical scholars believed music had a direct effect on the character of the individual).

For the record, i did find a version of Giulio Cesare sang with tenors, but it was in German, and that will not do.

[Josquin des Prez]

It may depend on what kind of voice Josquin des Prez needs.

As long as it sounds masculine...

[Sarastro]

For the record, i did find a version of Giulio Cesare sang with tenors, but it was in German, and that will not do.

I'm sure the version with Christoff is in Italian, though Cesare himself is a bass there. And graceless, barbaric Corelli.  Do they sound masculine enough?

[Morigan]

Sometimes I wish castrati still existed.

[Expresso]

There is a version of Giulio Cesare by Richter with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Cesar.
I haven't heard it, but it would probably sound masculine as Josquin wants it 

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/8405034

[Wendell_E]

There is a version of Giulio Cesare by Richter with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Cesar.
I haven't heard it, but it would probably sound masculine as Josquin wants it 

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/8405034

I was going to mention that one.  It even uses a tenor for Sesto, a male role that was written to be sung by a woman.  I haven't heard it either, and really don't plan to, unless it shows up in my local library, so I don't have to pay to hear it.

[T-C]

There is a version of Giulio Cesare by Richter with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Cesar.

In the Richter recording of Giulio Cesare another Castrato role - Tolomeo - is sung by a bass!!

Although the singers are good, this is an old fashioned, heavy and castrated Handel recording that should really be avoided...

[Que]

Having some kind of a déjà vu, I found rereading this old thread very interesting (and entertaining):

Suggestion reguarding Giulio Cesare.

The conclusions then were that: 1) Händel wrote soprano parts for castrati, which can these days only be sung by women; 2) Even in Händel's time he wrote male parts in his operas to be performed by women, and indeed they were performed by women ("trouser parts").

Q

[(poco) Sforzando]

A few years ago (Jan-Feb 03), American Record Guide did a very full overview of recorded Handel operas, and you might find what you want there. There is for example an old 1967 version of Cesare with Beverly Sills and Norman Treigle, heavily cut and probably as un-HIP as can be. But assumptions about what classical heroes sang or didn't sing are besides the point; this is 18th-century opera seria, where the convention Handel used was to give heroic male roles to the castrati, whose soprano voices reputedly had trumpet-like brilliance and power. You might find a few recordings where the heroic parts are taken by intact males, but with the ascension of several exciting countertenors on the order of David Daniels I doubt this is done much anymore. The real objection, however, to using tenors or basses for the castrato roles is musical. Handel wrote the parts in the soprano register, and to transpose them down an octave or two to suit an adult male voice is to falsify and distort his musical textures. When a castrato was unavailable, Handel used a woman for these parts, not a normal male voice.

[Sergeant Rock]

Although the singers are good, this is an old fashioned, heavy and castrated Handel recording that should really be avoided...

No pun intended? 

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Sometimes I wish castrati still existed.

Care to volunteer?

Sarge

[(poco) Sforzando]

Care to volunteer?

Sarge

I wouldn't count on it. These guys never put their money where their mouth is.

[Josquin des Prez]

Having some kind of a déjà vu, I found rereading this old thread very interesting (and entertaining):

Suggestion reguarding Giulio Cesare.

The conclusions then were that: 1) Händel wrote soprano parts for castrati, which can these days only be sung by women; 2) Even in Händel's time he wrote male parts in his operas to be performed by women, and indeed they were performed by women ("trouser parts").

Q

Ha, i couldn't find that thread, so i had to make a new one. Don't particularly care about the devious practices of the 18th century, that should be obvious by now.

So Karl Richter is the only one?

[Josquin des Prez]

BTW, just out of curiosity, what are the most notable recordings with counter-tenors? I heard a couple which were pretty pitiful, but perhaps there might be something remotely agreeable out there.

[Sarastro]

Sometimes I wish castrati still existed.

Are YOU ready to contribute for the ART? 

Alcina is also a very nice opera with basso, as I said Cesare with barbaric Corelli, there is Serse also converted to fit real male voices (although castrati have male voices as they remain male still), Ariodante, Acis and Galatea, again Corelli and Bastianini in Hercules...

Here is Corelli in Serse. Just listen that "monster"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=i-kpDVz_ly0

[Morigan]

Care to volunteer?

Sarge

I'm afraid my voice has already been broken by puberty. Alas, it is too late