Aris Christofellis, Sopranist. Dopo Notte Atra e Funestra

[evansquilt]

What is the painting at 3:10, the one where the man wears an orangey-tan doublet?

[sfkcbf]

@evansquilt The image at 3:10 is a small detail was a larger Caravaggio painting called “The Calling of St. Matthew,” c.1599-1600. The painting is in the Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi del Francesi, Rome.

[patukott]

Heureka ! I mean, something like 30 years ago I heard on the radio an aria by Handel, sung by Janet Baker, and liked it so intensely that I recorded it the next time I heard it (don`t ask me about the quality:)). I replaced it later on with something different, so, when I started searching for it in YT, I was not at all sure II would recognise it. Well, I did - it was "Dopo notte".

[GiovanniCarestini]

Obviously an accomplished musician, but the instrument, the voice, is so unattractive. This needs to be sung by someone with a mellow sound like A S von Otter or Joyce DiDonato. Even a huskier, deeper voice like Kasarova's would be preferable to this metallic sounding voice. Also, notice how no mainstream countertenors attempt this aria (though they are inching ever closer, cf. Jaroussky, Cencic). It is luck if men can sing alto, but to sing mezzo or soprano is pushing their luck.

[sfkcbf]

@GiovanniCarestini I agree. The sopranist sound is too hard-edged and artificial. Aris is remarkable just because of his managing a high tessitura, having great vocal agility, and a male body that has greater breath capacity than a woman. I have heard women attempt very difficult, acrobatic castrato arias; however, I have yet to hear one that truly succeeds with all required vocal elements. Bartolli does especially well with agility and breath but, of course, has a feminine timbre and vibrato.

[evansquilt]

@sfkcbf - agreed. I'm not sure I could take an entire concert or opera with him. There's something very offputting about this voice.

[patukott]

@GiovanniCarestini Oh yeah :)? What about Radu Marian, for example ? OK, he is a natural countertenor, but still...

[enrom55]

Me gusta mucho el aria y la voz pero habiendo escuchado a excelsas voces como la de von Otter, Joyce Di Donato, Vivica Genaux, me parece que la de Christofellis carece de la flexibilidad de aquellas. Igualmente le pongo 5/5.

[sfkcbf]

I am not sure what you mean by "flexibility." Aris' sound is unnatural because of the artificial method of a male singing in such a high tessitura. As is required by Baroque arias, however, his voice is appropriately focused and remarkably agile. In contrast, Vivica Genaux's voice is the opposite of what is required for castrato arias: she has a heavy vibrato and a loose technique,which is the antithesis of what the Baroque composers required.

[enrom55]

Avec le terme erroné de "flexibilité" je me réfère à une agilité. Il peut consister en ce que la voix de Vivica n'est pas très baroque mais il me plaît plus que celle de Christofellis dans cette aria au moins, et dans des goûts il n'y a rien d'écrit. Je ne sais pas, peut-être celle de Robin Blaze s'adapterait plus à la mentionnée. Je viens d'écouter récemment la version de Mireille Delunsch et beaucoup m'a aussi plu. J'attends sa consultation. Des salutations.

[sfkcbf]

You are correct in noting that exceptional vocal agility is an absolute requirement to sing Baroque, castrato arias. A looser technique and a heavy warble obscures the purity of the musical lines, e.g., in the more rapid passages. Also, pure focused tone, e.g., on the highest notes, must be maintained. A male timbre, rather than female, helps. A few singers approximate that. The website MaleSorpanos has "The High Male Voice, An Introduction" that discusses these points in greater detail.

[enrom55]

Thanks Sfkcbf.

[GoBogi]

Quite the contrary. Vivica's voice, and Mezzo-Soprano's in particular are more suited to the Castrato repetoire because their ranges are more appropriate and they are more apt to having flexible voices. This guy is great, Qual Guerriero or Ombra Fidele etc. would not work for him because the range required is huge and the registry changes for all but the most skilled falsettist would be distracting. Mezzos are much better at this, and usually got the castrato parts when necesary, even then.

[sfkcbf]

@GoBogi You have made some valid points; however, those points are not contrary to the above statement. That explanation does not refer so much to mezzos & sopranos in general; it refers particularly to Vivica's voice and does so precisely for anyone with a discerning ear. If you wish to refer to female voices, listen more closely to singers such as Maria Cristina Kiehr, Emma Kirkby, Barbara Schlick, Gundula Janowitz, etc. They avoid the warble and loose technique of Vivica, Piau, etc.

[GoBogi]

You have to remember that Castratos had both strong Chest and Head voices. Their ranges were huge - even the Alto and Mezzo Castratos, and their flexibility was incredible - as well as their breath control. If Falsettos had the synergy between their registers that Mezzos and Altos, they would be simply incredible... Falsetto also isn't great when it comes to singing softly and dynamically changing the volume of the voice - things that Castratos and Full-Voiced Females have no issues with.

[GoBogi]

There is also a matter of trills. Back then, trills were not performed the way he did them. Trills were done in the style of Genaux. I can do a Baroque trill in Falsetto, but once I drop down to Chest voice for low notes, I simply cannot shake my vocal chords fast enough to do it. Castratos had great trills because of their small vocal chors, as did women. Trills were not written in the male vocal line as much back then, because of the anatomical differences and contraints.

[CountertenorJ]

@GoBogi Falsetto has been employed by men for years for its softer singing qualities. :-P And countertenors who have little dynamic range in falsetto merely suffer from breath support issues. The technique is the same as other parts of the voice. It just requires more energy. Listen to Lawrence Zazzo or David Daniels. Both have great falsetto dynamic contrasts.

[alejandra379]

Absolutly impressive... those long phrases, and not a lot of huffing and puffing, you know...so effortless...

[bourinelli]

after a long refrain from exercise due to an accident my teacher had, I hit 6 c# one octave above soprano c. I am amazed at myself!!!!!!!!

[cuicuimusic]

congratulations. now you just have to find a piece of classical music that uses that note. Dont pick the queen of the night der holle rache, it's still a fifth too low.

Erm.

[bourinelli]

because it might damage the voice. The scores of the operas of the age of the castrati are by no means for voices filmsy and quaint. They exige for voices that are sonorous, robust and with immediate disposal of the entirety of their expressive arsenal upon demand. That is why no composer of that time would assign an alto part to a countertenor.

[sfkcbf]

Right you are. That is why I am astonished and mystified at how extremely well countertenor Andreas Scholl does (watch the Copenhagen DVD of "Giulio Cesare"). Yet we must recognize that he (and a few, selected others) are a small percentage of existing countertenors today.

[bourinelli]

I will agree. But I will also have to say that the term countertenor today cannot stand.

[bourinelli]

That is because Countertenor is not a voice but a vocal line. It cannot exist today but in contrapunctal works of the baroque era and before. They can generally be called Altos (the most proper term if you ask me) or Contraltos. The case of higher voiced males with falsetto or not is a different chapter alltogether.

[sfkcbf]

Technically, you are correct, although most people are not familiar with the origins of the term "countertenor." Most people today think of the term to mean falsetto alto. Because falsetto singers are not using full voice, the terms contralto, alto, and soprano, if used, would be misleading and confusing. Russell Oberlin was an alto, Andreas Scholl is a "countertenor." Also, I prefer "sopranist" for falsetto, and soprano for full voice.

[Tigermuc]

Is he cute and still available?

Christian

[vedraville]

No at both.

[Tigermuc]

Are you his coach,mentor or friend? Is there also a photo of him?

[Tigermuc]

What is he teaching and why not singing anymore?

[sfkcbf]

Aris studied both piano and voice, so he might be teaching either or both. He stated that he really did not enjoy doing stage performances. Also, I suspect that there might have been some critics intolerant of the falsetto sound plus the fact that men and women must take more breaths than a castrato, thereby breaking up longer musical lines.

[Tigermuc]

wow, what a clear soprano though bad recording. Good success for the future!

Christian Waldau

[sfkcbf]

Aris recorded only for a short time in the late 1980s and early 1990s (the better recordings.) He has sung very little since. He returned to Athens to teach. He also had studied piano.

[bourinelli]

administered by such masters as Porpora, Caccini, Caldara etc. His first teacher was of the German School of singing which is totally different in its approach to singing than the Vechia Schola Italiana. Even Handel, of German descent as we all know championed Italian opera and that is why reinforced falsetto should never be encouraged.

[bourinelli]

I will try and retrive the link and give it to you next time. I think you will find it quite interesting

[bourinelli]

They specifically state that the colorature should last only as long as one's breath capacity.Farinelli's ad libitum decorations were conceived more instrumentally than vocally oriented.What I do not like in a countertenor is the velato.A voice like that is supposedly singing in cuperto, in order to protect the chords... supposedly...

[bourinelli]

was your comment on mr Christofellis or my poor recording quality?

[bourinelli]

simply because they could not trust their falsetto singing. On the other hand, Anthropological studies have proven that the tenor at that time was quite higher in timbre than a tenor is today and that has to do with body development and only that. The larger the container of the voice the lower it would sound. The researchers performed forensic examinations of cadavers of singers of that time and proved that their bodies were considerably smaller than those of our age...

[bourinelli]

That totally goes against all belcanto rules. Much like Caballe.She can do an exquisite high pianissimo, but where are the triplefortes?Garcia,Porpora,Li­ndquest,Malibran(Garcia's sister)and many more knew what cuperto is.And it is far from what singers of today are being taught.

[contessabrilliante]

Actually, human beings GENERALLY were then much smaller than those of our age. As well, most young people today are already larger than their parents, and significantly larger than their grandparents. Even seats on airplanes are tight for may of today's passengers, because they were originally designed for people the way they were many decades ago. As well, armored suits that remain from Baroque times, supposedly adult size may barely fit today's pre-teen, this just to re-inforce the above.

[essenciademusica]

I don't believe in this hypothesis, because my grandparents were enormous. 

They were born at the beginning of the century XX.

[contessabrilliante]

First of all that is not just My theory, it is a wall known one; as well I've seen it work in practice with my own eyes. Your grandparents are the exception. The proof is that you are calling them "enormous" it is in comparison to something smaller. Remember, your grandparents are exactly that; Two people, not everybody in their generation. They are probably at the top of the range.

[jewish1972]

they were the exception, the average people of 3 generations ago were as contessabrillante says

[bourinelli]

This was a problem encountered by his first teacher the late soprano Fofi Sarantopoulou(coloratura soprano)I do not claim to be a specialist but I think that soon I will be able to sing in his register much faster in coloratura than him.

[sfkcbf]

I had to learn to accept Aris' voice for what it was: a falsetto soprano, possibly the best in recent history. Perhaps in history, some people could sing well in this manner, although records indicate disastifaction then, too. I enjoy some of his recordings, e.g., those that have not been recorded by male sopranos, although I avoid listening to others, e.g., the earlier ones.

[bourinelli]

Aris studied piano first. The trick with the breath is excercise. I can sustain a pianissimo note for about 50 seconds now and if I flourish it with some crescendo-decrescendos I can sustain the same note for about 40 seconds. The castrati exercised breath control in the original bel canto tradition,

[bourinelli]

I happen to have met and heard Aris Christofellis live in Athens. What I have to say is that he does show an absense of what we would call "The School". My vocal teacher and my pianist who has worked with him in productions in the Athens opera house both think that he cannot really support the high notes and that also affects his coloraturas.

[essenciademusica]

Esta voz é maravilhosa!

[essenciademusica]

A mim apenas interessa que seja agradavel a meus sentidos e este trabalho de Aris esta maravilhoso e belissimo! Alias aquece minha alma! Musica é para se ouvir e apreciar e não analisar! Trabalho magnifico!

[Tigermuc]

Quite a nice voice but bit bad recording. Too slow - perhaps conductor should hear the interpretation of this aria by Ivor Bolton or Harry Bicket.

[sfkcbf]

Thank goodness there are more truly talented Baroque conductors today, such as the two that you mentioned.

Although we now have more countertenors and a couple of good male sopranos, finding voices to match is the difficulty. Singing falsetto soprano is an extraordinary effort, and I can understand Aris' tempo chosen for this work. Regardless, his technique is remarkable.

[Tigermuc]

Well, listen to the recording with Ann Murray...but I must admit that your male voice is very talented and after having listened to you interpretation I alreday start liking it more as you are singing a lot more coloraturas. Congratulations! Well, I do have about 35 years experience with classical music in general and quite a good ear to distinguish...

[FloriaTosca85]

Wonderful voice!I feel a little tension there but it's as close to perfect as it can get.The ornamentation is amazingly clean although I would like a bit more air onto them, it would make it sound a bit more efortlessly. Still, great voice!