[Milton-L] Haydn's Creation and castrati

[Nancy Charlton]

Hannibal Hamlin wrote:

It's also worth remembering that the heroic roles (Julius Caesar, Samson,
etc.) in baroque opera were generally sung by men -- castratos -- who, given
the hormonal results of surgery, were like nothing living today. Imagine
perhaps a counter-tenor the size of a football player with the vocal power
of Jessye Norman.

Some time ago I had the privilege of hearing a scratchy recording of the
last castrato, made about 80 years ago. I don't recall his name, but he was
primarily a cantor, a singer of liturgical music at the Vatican. His singing
sounded as if an oboe reed had been substituted for his larynx. I decided
I'd prefer the fictional voice that was synthesized in the film "Farinelli,"
but that well behind  accomplished, virile countertenors the likes of
Andreas Scholl OR powerful mezzos such as Dame Janet Baker, Marilyn Horne,
or Stephanie Blake (who sang Gluck's "Orfeo" in February shown in Met
broadcasts to theaters.)  Dame Janet's final performance was a "Julius
Caesar" in English, Sir Charles Mackerras conducting; I was bowled over by
and video of it about 15 years ago, and it's among awesome performances I
can count on one hand. I also heard/saw Ms Horne as Tancred, but it was not
as sublime as the JC.

In a time when the popular press is trumpeting the demise of classical
music, it is singular that there is a revival of interest in Handel
opera--and an abundance of singers capable of singing it. This includes the
rise of several world-class countertenors, whereas for years Sir Peter Pears
was the only one, and he best known for singing the music written for him by
Benjamin Britten. And then there was Barbra Streisand, later the Celtic
Women, making a popular song out of "Lascia ch'io piangia."

To bring this back to Milton, has there been any study of his Italian poems?
For that matter, of his use of Tasso and Ariosto as well as Dante?

Nancy Charlton
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