The Happy Thread Part 2

[Mari]

Wow, you've got such a cool job... *sigh* Wish I got to see all those people a little bit more upclose.

[Tessar]

Oh. eem. Gee.


TWO OF MY MOST FAVORITESTIST SINGERS EVAR ARE RECORDING... TOGETHER!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Natalie Dessay and Philippe Jarussky are going to be taking part in a recording of Handel's Dixit Dominus (which I LOVE)!!! YAY!!!! I know what I'm going to be getting for Chriiiiiiistmaaaaaas!

[hectorberlioz]

Awesomo! I have yet to listen to Handel's Dixit Dominus, but since Handel was such an aweseom composer, I can't help but be excited myself.

By the way, look into Vivaldi's Dixit Dominus (on Naxos....higher quality, lower price)...you would love the solo arias in that. Vivaldi's soprano stuff is amazing.

[Tessar]

I'll go look for that.

Have you heard Vivaldi's Gloria? I got a mixed CD of Vivaldi's Gloria and Handel's Dixit Dominus some time ago, and OMG I adore them to bits. Both works are just incredible beyond words.

The soloist is Angela Kazimiercz, and she is AMAZING. She has such a warm middle register, but her head voice is also SO ping-y and full. I adore her.

[Mari]

I love Beethovens Gloria. I can sing the tenor solo from the top of my head
I usually have trouble remembering lyrics, so that's a kind of miracle in itself.
They way they start with a bang and the absolute silence after the crescendo... genius! *awestruck face*

A few days ago I discovered that one of the more famous Sinterklaas songs was a rip off from R. Hayden... disillusion... Oh well, back in those days stealing each others work was legal anyways.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally Posted by Tessar

Oh. eem. Gee.


TWO OF MY MOST FAVORITESTIST SINGERS EVAR ARE RECORDING... TOGETHER!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Natalie Dessay and Philippe Jarussky are going to be taking part in a recording of Handel's Dixit Dominus (which I LOVE)!!! YAY!!!! I know what I'm going to be getting for Chriiiiiiistmaaaaaas!

I have a CD from Philippe Jaroussky; he's good enough, but he has that same forced sound that most counter-tenors have. The only ones I know of who don't are the ones in Chanticleer; do you know them? Would you happen to know how they can avoid it?

Here's something I don't understand,

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

Here's something I don't understand,

A modest fellow, our Gwai.

[Lotesse]

I'm happy 'cause I'm alive and got to drink free Sterling Chardonnay tonight plus got a tiny bit of tips and a bunch of Peet's tea to take home, and I work all weekend starting tomorrow AM at 5o in the morning 'til the middle of the night which means more money, just a little bit more which I might be able to use for gas and shampoo when the paycheck comes after paying blood wages to my landlady ($220 a WEEK my room costs, that's 880 a month, people, when I make under 800 a month usually) so, for now, am happy. I probably won't be too thrilled in about five hours when I have to drag my still warm corpse to the shower and make tea with three teabags in the cup (the more caffeine the better) for a loooooong-ass double but hey - c'est la vie, specially when one chooses to make their vie in the pretty part of Los Angeles, Hermosa Beach...

So yeah happy for now. 'Cause I got vino. Vino and Peet's tea. What can i say, it's the little things in life...

[Tessar]

Phillippe's sound isn't forced at all to my ear--it's a bit different from your typical counter-tenor... One thing is that he's very gentle and easy on the forte, and it's just not as loud as he could (and some times does) make it... so I think some people have the impression that he's got a tiny voice.

One thing that may be confusing you is that his sound is very pure, like a really good boy soprano would sound. It's not hooty like a lot of other counter-tenors tend to be, and although he does hold the sound 'in' a little, it's not an uncommon trait for counter-tenors since they need to be careful with their voices. Have you heard of Brian Asawa? He's a counter-tenor I don't particularly like because he REALLY tends to hold the voice 'in' and he doesn't have a very free sound.


Of course, it's all subjective. For instance I think Cecilia Bartoli has a fantastic, free voice and I know a lot of people who agree with me, but I also know a lot of other people who claim she's terrible and has a very tight, constricted sound.


But yes, I do enjoy the Chanticleer counter-tenors .


There are a few things counter-tenors can do to avoid a choked up sound...

One is to just avoid body tension. That's something that all singers need to do... however due to the nature of a falsettist-counter-tenor sound, it becomes doubly important. For extremely lyric voices (my voice also falls into this category, and a few sopranos/tenors I know), any mistakes you make as far as body-tension or vowel shapes will be more obvious because your sound is more 'transparent'.

Of course on the flip side, there are some things a lyric voice can do that a dramatic just... well, I wont say 'can't', but it's much easier for a lyric voice to perform things like trills. I have a much better trill that a few of the older students I know, even though mine isn't particularly good yet.

A lot of counter-tenors don't seem to open their mouthes enough. Unless you open enough to let the sound out, you're going to have a muddy, unfree sound... of course you do have to be careful, because again that vocal transparency will make it extremely obvious if your mouth is 'too' open and you start to distort the vowel.

Another thing counter-tenors can tend to fall into is trying to sound just like a woman... they start to lose some of that unique 'counter-tenor' sound quality, and since they're forcing a false sound into their instrument, they pick up an unnatural... 'bad soprano' kind of sound.

But really, overall, being a counter-tenor is just extremely, extremely difficult. I would say that aside from maybe a true dramatic/helden voice it may be one of the most difficult to train and to use correctly.


On top of that, it is a bit of a strange sound . It's not to everyone's taste, but I enjoy it.




EDIT: I think some of the Chanticleer guys are actually haute-contre (I didn't spell that right at all). Meaning that they're not using the falsetto mechanism, and are thus technically not sopranists or counter-tenors, but are using their actual 'real' voice... it's basically just being a really, really, really, really, really high tenor .

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally Posted by sisterandcousinandaunt

A modest fellow, our Gwai.

Yeh, that bit wasn't supposed to be in the final draft.

Tess, do you know David Bowman? His voice is really interesting; I like the way he sings, but at the same time I can't take it for too long.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

Yeh, that bit wasn't supposed to be in the final draft.

Tess, do you know David Bowman? His voice is really interesting; I like the way he sings, but at the same time I can't take it for too long.

David Bowie? Well I agree...

[Lotesse]

I wonder, is there a thread anywhere around here at Entmoot where people can discuss music and singers and interesting voices?

[Tessar]

I hadn't heard him sing before, so I listened to some clips.

I assume you're talking about James Bowman, because there is no David Bowman who's a countertenor that I've heard of or could find. I mix up singers names all of the time, so I took a wild stab .


I don't know how I feel about him... I think I'd need to listen more, but my initial feeling is that he has a pretty enough instrument but it's a little too smoky sounding for my tastes. I prefer a less 'covered and dark' sound from my counter-tenors, although I wouldn't describe him as being 'hooty' like some dark-sounding counter-tenors are.

A really good mezzo-y-sounding counter-tenor is Gerard Lesne. He has a gorgeous lower register in his falsetto, and he maintains a very beautiful, full sound through his range. Sometimes he dips down into his true voice, I believe, but he doesn't do it in a conspicuous manner like some counter-tenors do.

[BeardofPants]

Originally Posted by Lotesse

I wonder, is there a thread anywhere around here at Entmoot where people can discuss music and singers and interesting voices?

Haha -- yeah, get back on topic, people.

[Lotesse]

Yeah. What BoP said, jeesh you guys...

[Tessar]

HEY! HEY! Does your title read: captain of general messages?

Well?

Does it?

DOES IT?!!?!?!?


No, no I don't THINK SO.


So you can just STUFF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Tessar

HEY! HEY! Does your title read: captain of general messages?

With all due respect, Captain, General Messages is a silly name for a ship.

There is a classical music thread, ya know? *hint hint*

Reasons for happiness:
- Not working in the shop on Saturday since the start of August. Woohoo!
- Lying with pillow on sheepskin rug in sunny spot
- Butterflies!
- Favourite peacock butterflies! Two!
- Favourite butterflies not fleeing when I hang above them with camera.
- Did I mention the not working today?
- Did I mention the butterflies?

[Lotesse]

You're such a silly goose! Yes, I am glad I'm not a moderator here, holy poomonkeys I wouldn't want that job... Well, maybe if the pay were right. And medical bennies, yeah definitely if there were health benefits.

Butterfly season in Belgium, Earneil? That sounded like the title for a Broadway musical,didn't it...

Also, ANIMALS make me happy, when I am down and really bummed and low I look at animal pictures and I swear they make me smile, every time. Or I will watch all the birds, insects and assorted animals in every day life that I see.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by Tessar

A really good mezzo-y-sounding counter-tenor is Gerard Lesne. He has a gorgeous lower register in his falsetto, and he maintains a very beautiful, full sound through his range. Sometimes he dips down into his true voice, I believe, but he doesn't do it in a conspicuous manner like some counter-tenors do.

What about David Daniels? He's a pretty good counter-tenor. Not as bad as some of those over-the-counter tenors you can get cheap

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Lotesse

Butterfly season in Belgium, Earneil? That sounded like the title for a Broadway musical,didn't it...

Hardly butterfly season, unfortunately, more like last butterfly of the year, on the last flowers of the season. It hasn't been a great autumn for butterflies, too dark and wet. So possibly these two may have been the last ones I'll see until spring next year. Which makes them even more precious.