Flammende Rose by Handel. Ian Howell Countertenor

[skatty14]

A random person of the street would probably think: "wtf!" But this a rare beauty, thanks for sharing!

[QuailsAway]

What an incredible voice! Your range isn't strained at all, and it's very fluid... Very impressive! It makes me so happy to see such talented singers... Especially ones who are so thrilling to watch perform! An excellent show, Ian. Keep singing!

[velvetcaress]

Very beautiful singing! Well done, Ian. :)

[sfkcbf]

This is no common countertenor voice; it is far better. Attrractive timbre, controlled and focused technique, good breath control. A thoroughly enjoyable performance.

[whitneyhouston1234]

I love how effortlessly you sing. Im a counter-tenor myself. Great job :)

[phyllistownley]

Love this song.....have listened to all the versions on UTube and yours is my favorite! Hope you will be back in NYC performing again soon...

[intune156]

Fantastic!!!

[deborahsuewho]

lovely performance. Thank you.

[Kiseirusama]

It is indeed superb .... one of the most demuring opera I've ever set my eyes .... Magnificanto .....

[o0BeriiShirayuki0o]

Simply WOW.

[mrmolinodelahoz]

Not only does he sing great, but he looks great in white tail and tails. Real class act.

[Habrolissimo]

That was lovely.  Thanks Mr Howell.

[barcalonga]

Beautiful performance, excellent voice. The sound quality of the recording came through remarkably well, though don't know if you have considered closing the harpsichord or perhaps relocating the mic; the basso continuo was a bit overpowering at times.

[mrmolinodelahoz]

A beautiful, full, and rich quality which is vry good for Handel and Bach.

Congratulations of creating this beautiful sound.

[Ninjahearts831]

Developing countertenor here, e2-g6, and I'm trying to find a classical piece, preferrably a slower lyrical piece, that would be good for an audition as a tenor/countertenor/sopranist. any ideas?

[noecasas]

Beautiful indeed... Congratulations!!

[LailaRaqs]

Beautiful!

[versacedave]

breath-takingly beautiful!

[delauge]

I want sing with your elegancy ^^

[Lichtwolf86]

To join my predecessors: Very good!!!

Smooth, but powerful voice, and very accurately sung.

But your performance would gain much through a more accurate German...

I wish you best of luck for your career! You sound really promising!

[oakleype]

Well done Ian, Fab tone and great interpretation, look forward to hearing more of your work..

[rbryanh]

Like, Bravo! dude. Totally.

Seriously... Beautiful singing. Fine diction. Good presence. Very nicely done.

[animefan3331]

Wow!

you are so good!

cool interpretation!

[jllgoddess]

Hi Ian! We went to undergrad together and I am so happy for you!!!!! We all knew you would make it.

Jeanne

[mradaChris]

Standing O's!

[GEF69]

man oh man, what can i say, hearing such beautiful instrument makes me wonder how wonderful it must have been when these arias were first performed, by those special men for whom they were written. A miracle indeed.

[handelfan610]

you know i was hoping that handel wrote something in german...you know him being from germany and all. all his other songs or either english, latin, italian, and i think hebrew...look it up. so this was refresing he didn't forget his roots...you have a wonderful voice and i enjoyed your singing very much. i was filled with delight! do continue i'm sure handel would have very much enjoyed hearing this.

[rayado612]

!! STANDING OVATION !! ;)

[mradaChris]

Hi Ian,

Just love your voice. When I was younger like you I was more of a countertenor. Different time 20 years ago and singing high. At the ripe age of 46 I am exploring that forgotten range and I am amazed that I still have at least 50% of it. But it does take a lot of work!

[RolfLarsson]

Wow. This is, like, flawless. Bravo.

[Gonnakillyou]

The pronounciation is not bad at all.

[grupomemphys]

Fantastic ! Im your admirator! Bravo! Bravissimo!

[joafmusick]

Hallo, greeting fromm Mexico. For me this ir a very good interpretation, tempo, fiato, colotatures, all is well done. i declare my self a fan of your work and your job to make honest music, congratulations.

[vonand1880]

Sounds very professional - this is something that even mr. Handel himself would approve, I think...

[compeld2sing]

Young man, Philippe Jaroussky may be damn good, but he ain't got nottin over you! You do such a perfet and precise job, and your voice is ever so pleasant. You're doing really great!

[Contratenor18mlg]

Bravissimo!!

[takkibakos]

People call Barbra Streisand's voice smooth like butter. Well, your voice is very smooth too, gliding from one note into another note. Do you also sing other styles: pop, jazz, musical, etc.

[sonocarino]

Nicely done, and so damn cute!!!

[PAULVOLFONI]

Sublime!!!

Definitely a new admirer(don't know if it is correct in english and I don't like fan).

I hope to find recordings...

Best wishes of success

[saladarmy]

Contained, delighfully classical delivery...lyrically satisfying, beautiful. Well done.

[Micuentaaqui]

Fantastic! He sounds like Michael Chance!!! Does anyone know if he has made any recordings?

[eeli1]

I've been thinking about doing some countertenor repetoire, my mix goes to G or A5 and my falsetto to about D or E6. I've got a higher tessitura, any recommendations or comments?

[FantasyParadox]

me too.

[contessabrilliante]

There's nothing like trying it yourself; experimenting. and assuming you are studying with someone, a vocal teacher he/she should tell you how far you can go with this, without jeopardizing you vocal cords. Other than that, all I can say is GO FOR IT! GOOD LUCK, and ENJOY IT!

[sullzXdaXword]

we are doin this in music!!! in school!!

[ianthecountertenor]

you mean you're studying this piece, or performing it?

[ulsa57]

Very good, you must be professional, othewrise, you know you have to be, you love singing

[Sandy4ever98]

was this song perfomed in the opera, giulio cesare?...sounds faniliar

[BaroqueMuse]

No.

1) this piece is in German, while Giulio Cesare in Egitto is entirely in Italian;

2) don't think any of the aria melodies in Giulio Cesare sound close to this.

[sesstreets]

Its oddly beautiful.

[scarpia1965]

Ian, Du singst wundervoll. Eine gut geführte und gleichmäßige Stimme, schönes Legato, saubere Koloraturen und schöne Triller. Viel Glück!

[djdunne]

Amazing performance!

Could you always naturally sing like this, or did it take a lot of training?

[AlsatianCousin]

I am sure it took no practice at all, this kind of voice comes naturally. I speak like this in everyday life. Not a big deal. lol

What a question. lol

[ianthecountertenor]

Hi djjunne,

I could always sing in the higher range (although I talk in a normal baritone range). Training to sing like this, however, took quite a lot of work.

Thanks for your comments!

~ian

[HopePoisoned]

yes i also work on countertenor (i am a dramatic baritone), and while many people can easily talk in this voice, getting a truly great tone is a lot of hard work!

[jess420haze]

i just had a master class with ian...and he is amazing....good work

[Gabriel667]

Bravissima! :)

[Smoothjock]

Not only beautiful on the ear but also on the eye!!

I want him for MY garden!!

M

[ogechter]

Wonderfull voice.

[mystikalecho]

amazing how you could better your falsetto range. And to think all these years it was a typical woman singing in a radio station.

[andreasscholl]

Dear Ian,

I realy love this song.

Hope to sing it my self!

I know this is mostly sung by soprano.

Is this the original score?

Can't find a score for alto, or mezzo from this cycle.

Greetings Andreas.

[ianthecountertenor]

This is a transposition that Steve Lehning from American Bach Soloists did for me. It isn't published. Contact me through my website ianhowellcountertenor<dot>com and I'll forward his emailto you. Other's have inquired about the music, ad I think that he'd sell it for ot much (or just email you the pdfs?)

best,

Ian

[redpriest26]

I absolutely love this arrangement also! This is fantastic.

[AlsatianCousin]

I've always liked countertenors, for it's the voice range Purcell and Händel mostly wrote for. You are however closer to the castrata heritage. Great performance though. :)

[ianthecountertenor]

Hi AlsatianCousin,

Thanks for your nice comments. The difference between what we know the countertenor voice is capable of and what we theorize/assume that a castrato voice was capable of an intersting subject. Due to their shorter vocal folds, it is assumed that the sound the castrati made was closer to that of a female than what we have come to hear coutertenors achieve. (cont')

[molealto]

@ianthecountertenor Hi Ian - Paul the alto here. I do think that Mickey Maniaci is the closest idea we have to a castrato these days, for the simple reason that he has preserved his pre-pubertal vocal cords; however, because in all other respects he is an adult male, his bones have hardened so he doesn't have the flexible ribcage the castrati would have produced their amazing lung power through.

[ianthecountertenor]

(cont') In that case, I am irrevocably burdened by the length of my vocal chords. The most notable audible difference between cts and castrati would be found towards the bottom of the alto/soprano range (a part of the voice that I work on a lot). Where a ct is singing on an often weak middle length of a longer vocal fold, a castrati would have been at the bottom of their 'chest' voice - singing 'full out.' (cont')

[ianthecountertenor]

(cont') Thus, in many ways, a female mezzo is a better replacement for a castrato. But don't tell anyone that I said that!

~ian

[chobrocoli]

So in your opinion, castrati aren't like grown up trebles, right?

[ianthecountertenor]

A very interesting question, though I would never phrase it like that since 'grown-up' to me implies passing through puberty. A castrato was a grown man with the voice box of a child.

~ian

[fluffytom82]

@ianthecountertenor

A castrato is a grown-up who never had "full" puberty. If young boy is castrated, the necessary hormones to start puberty are not made anymore. This causes parts of the puberal development to cease, the most important in this case being the vocal chords remaining small and thus resulting in a higher voice ("boy's voice").

[zinderxp]

Ian, I love your voice!!!!

[nfahring]

Wonderful countertenor.....wonderful ensemble. Thanks! Flammende Rose is the best of Handel's 9 I think, and this performance is marvelous!

[michaelmusicus]

Ian - Well done as usual! You have too much time and resources on your hands to have this produced! We sang together in Miami in May 2006 with Seraphic Fire. My 2 y.o. daughter begs for this particular video. "I want Howell" she says: I play Flammende Rose...

[theviolaplayer]

hi i am a contertenor too, and yes, we use falsetto, but our falseto is more sweet than the conventional tenor, we can sing like the woman, well, more or less, bcause we hava a man voice, only that our falsetto is easy to us. and we can sing all that, but u can heard the diferent between us and a tenor using falsetto.

[ianthecountertenor]

Hello,

I started to write a response weighing in on the falsetto issue. Suddenly it was two pages long and would no longer fit in this this window. If you would care to read what I think about all this, go to my myspace blog. myspace<dot>com/ianthecountert­enor. Then click on the Blog option.

best,

Ian

[SlowStrider]

Your singing sounds great! I read your blog and it's very interesting.

[joewaggott]

Yeah, the whole point of countertenor is that it's an expertly developed falsetto voice so that it becomes as useable as a 'normal' voice. Although there are some countertenors who do have the high notes in their 'normal' voice they're incredibly rare!

[music13732]

I am a counter tenor, have been my whole life. I use nothing BUY falsetto to achieve the range I need to sing. So You might want to check your facts before stating something like that!

[pcostafloripa]

Incredible! Beautiful. Maravilhoso Lindo.

It is wonderfull. I in Florianópolis and seeing such kind of music and musicians.

[Jeffster09]

Wow. is this man using falsetto?

[Dauria007]

splendid!

[palcika1]

Congrats, you're very good.

[andreasscholl]

Your singing makes me happy!!

[norabatty22]

oh my goodness! What a beautiful voice and wonderful technique - it sounds effortless

[emh2120]

very beautiful ian

[divalunar]

great voice!

[sebastian12312]

what a wonderful technic and control over his voice and breathing

[dannyboythegreat]

Beautiful, I love it.

[pautalux]

Very good performance of a not easy music. Congratulations to the three of you. Worth the subscription.

[pautalux]

the four, I meant

[dksf]

Utterly lovely...singing like an angel!!

[osoleo]

Really a FIRST RATE performance, and a superb piece of music....ahhhh, the genius of mankind!

[escottish140]

Great tone and pitch! You are a FABULOUS! Such a beautiful and clear voice. I'd buy your CD in an instant! Keep up the GREAT WORK!

[llum82]

marvellous  your voice is really amazing thanks for sing like you do

[topogiorno1980]

Very clear voice... Supperb!!!

[vonFulda1987]

It's marvellous! Why don't you have any records? I asked in all the shops where I live, but they haven't got anything by you. Could you tell me where and how I can get a record?

[bripat22]

lovely crystal clear tone- please Record!!! You are very talented

[ianthecountertenor]

Funny thing... I have a debut recording with the American Bach Soloists Orchestra planned for April 2008!

[robertvgupta]

congrats, ian!

[Henspert]

April 2008? 2007 would be nicer. I am buying your CD or Videos. Oh, it is not a funny thing, it is a Great thing! Congratulations.

[kool1800]

Ian you are sooo cute and amazing at this.Can't believe it:)))

mary

[bladiyo]

You are very very good, and very good performer too

[drgonspirit]

sweet and clear singing. Awesome! Keep it up! ~> from another countertenor

[dennisneo]

Your nickname is not accurate. It should be "I am THE countertenor". Bravo!

[ianthecountertenor]

Thanks, that's rather funny :-)

[dschuetz11]

Ensemble is very good. Kudos to violinist. Really well-done

[dschuetz11]

Excellent singing. Wonderful violinist!

[lacrima18]

It was a really really reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaly awesome performance

[tacv]

great loved it....

[firebreathone]

astonishingly well sung

:)

[Farinell0]

Bravo. Very nice voice and interpretation!

[CWG40]

beautiful!

[christian2M]

amazing voice. Bravo!

[gehaktmolen]

well done

[andreasscholl]

I own a record with these songs, sung by the lost Aarleen Auger.

These interpretation comes close to hers.

When come to sing in Holland or Belgium?

I will be there....

Verry nice!!!!

X

[mariokalogeropoulos]

Bravissimo!!!

[Yossi1960]

Beautiful interpretation