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A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G 3 to D 5 or E 5, [1] although a sopranist (a specific kind of countertenor) may match the soprano's range of around C 4 to C 6. [2]
A castrato (Italian; pl.: castrati) is a male singer who underwent castration before puberty in order to retain a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice can also occur in one who, due to an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity .
It is a type of tenor voice with a compass not much wider than that of the coeval baritenor, but able to sustain far higher tessiture.It means that the basic range remained substantially the classic one, from C 3 to C 5: only the best baritenors, however, were able to reach up to such heights and used to pass anyway to the falsettone (or strengthened falsetto) register [2] about G 4; for ...
Michael Maniaci (born May 3, 1976) is an American opera singer. Possessing a male soprano voice, Maniaci is noted for his claim to be able to sing into the upper soprano range without resorting to falsetto, an otherwise common phonation for men who sing in high registers, such as countertenors.
His 2004 biography of Alessandro Moreschi was chosen by the Tablet magazine as one of its Books of the Year for 2005; (it was re-issued in a larger second edition as Moreschi and the Voice of the Castrato in 2008 [3]). In June 2005 Clapton became a Doctor of Liberal Arts of the Liszt Ferenc Music University, Budapest.
A sopranist is able to sing in the soprano vocal range which is approximately between C 4 and C 6, though at times may expand somewhat higher or lower.Men of all voice types can possess the wide-ranged and effective falsetto or head voice needed to produce the contralto, mezzo-soprano and soprano vocal ranges.
Philippe Jaroussky (French pronunciation: [filip ʒaʁuski]; born 13 February 1978) is a French countertenor. He began his musical career with the violin, winning an award at the Versailles conservatory, and then took up the piano before turning to singing. Unusually for a countertenor, Jaroussky performs entirely in falsetto register.
The nature of the haute-contre voice has been the subject of much debate. Historically, English writers have translated the term as "countertenor" which is not particularly helpful since the meaning of that latter term has also been the subject of considerable musicological controversy; both terms are ultimately derived from the Latin contratenor (see countertenor).