At 2:26 PM -0700 7/23/05, Mark D Lew wrote:
Castrati sang minor roles, too. Most of the Handel operas have multiple castrato roles. In Rinaldo, for instance, in addition to the title role, Eustazio was also a castrato originally. (I think the part is cut altogether in later edition.)
I think the typical cast in the 27 Metestasian libretti was 2 female sopranos (prima donna and seconda donna), 2 male sopranos (primo uomo and secondo uomo, presumeably castrati), a tenor, and 1 to 3 other characters. Small casts, and pretty darned soprano-heavy! (The opera ain't over 'til the fat castrato sings??) Whether Mozart followed that tradition in his Italian operas I don't know, but it was definitely the Italian tradition.
John -- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
