tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post1665513692204781817..comments2024-03-27T21:41:50.122-07:00Comments on Iron Tongue of Midnight: A Change of VoiceLisa Hirschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-8102535852900129262015-12-21T16:06:19.195-08:002015-12-21T16:06:19.195-08:00Just checking the Fledermaus libretto, Orlofsky is...Just checking the Fledermaus libretto, Orlofsky is 18:<br /><br />"Ich habe in meinen achtzehn Jahren vierzig durchlebt, Doktor Falke. Alles langweilt mich; ich kann nicht mehr lachen. Ja, meine Millionen sind mein Unglück."<br /><br />And many of his lines are faintly lewd:<br /><br />"In meiner Villa hat jede Dame das Recht, sich zu verhüllen oder zu enthüllen, so weit es ihr beliebt."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-41029226608508049852015-12-16T22:28:09.838-08:002015-12-16T22:28:09.838-08:00So poignant: "She was the last singer alive i...So poignant: "She was the last singer alive in Vienna who had known Mozart." Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-19062630114216500282015-12-16T22:22:59.755-08:002015-12-16T22:22:59.755-08:00That is truly remarkable, up there with Supervia&#...That is truly remarkable, up there with Supervia's debut at 15, which seems to have really happened.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-51226637368571123232015-12-16T21:49:52.011-08:002015-12-16T21:49:52.011-08:00The first Barbarina, Anna Gottlieb, was 12 at the ...The first Barbarina, Anna Gottlieb, was 12 at the time. Five years later she was also the first Pamina. She must have been quite precocious. There is a Wikipedia article about her.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-70252293738348132582015-12-16T21:05:44.708-08:002015-12-16T21:05:44.708-08:00Baritone is completely totally wrong! In every way...Baritone is completely totally wrong! In every way!<br /><br />I once saw Cherubino sung by a teen-age girl. I think she was about 15 or 16, and she could really sing. This was in a small house, the 850-seat Lesher Theater in Walnut Creek.<br /><br />Um, yes, Orlovsky sung by boy would be weird! And yes re Germany.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-34319993520251109572015-12-16T12:38:13.328-08:002015-12-16T12:38:13.328-08:00I know I've heard of performances, possibly at...I know I've heard of performances, possibly at the Met, with Orlofsky sung an octave down by a baritone. How wrong-headed can you get!<br /><br />If you really want an alternative approach, why not use an actual boy? You would need someone with an unusually strong voice, and in a relatively small theater. Of course, this would change a sly sex joke into something truly creepy -- Orlofsky as an avatar, not of Cherubino, but of Miles in The Turn of the Screw.<br /><br />Still, someone somewhere in Germany must have thought of this, wouldn't you think?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-40336742401500475012015-12-16T10:48:23.341-08:002015-12-16T10:48:23.341-08:00You're completely right, and switching Baba th...You're completely right, and switching Baba the Turk from a bearded lady to a countertenor also defeats part of the joke in <i>The Rake's Progress</i>.<br /><br />I have to admit that Nemzer has such an astounding voice that I'd go hear his Orlofsky anyway.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-22358433656630603122015-12-15T18:16:42.144-08:002015-12-15T18:16:42.144-08:00Most of these alternative ways of casting Orlofsky...Most of these alternative ways of casting Orlofsky seem to me to miss the joke. The point of trouser roles was that they were a way of representing very young men, voice metaphorically not changed yet. Cherubino is 14, Octavian is 17. Orlofsky has seen and done so much, he's bored with everything -- by implication this includes sex. And <i>he's a teenager</i>. The joke is actually daring (also politically: only an aristocrat could lead such a debauched life at such a tender age) and a little sick.<br /><br />Having him played by a countertenor, an adult male with a beard, completely loses this, and instead associates him with the heroic treble roles in baroque opera. Having him played by a woman, especially a slender, young-looking woman, associates him with Cherubino, with notes of sexual ambiguity and perversity. Why can't people see this?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com