There's absolutely no reason why so many of today's Handelian tenors are tenorinos, haute-contres, and leggeros
EXCEPT that, like light-voiced countertenors palely approximating the robust sound of the alto, mezzo, and soprano castrati of Handel's day, they seem to have managed to persuade those who haven't spent any time doing their music history homework (reading contemporary accounts of Charles Burney and others of performances by singers employed by Handel, including John Beard, does not leave one with the impression that Handel's favourite tenor sounded even remotely "featherlight" in the style of Michael Padmore, Yann Beuron, Paul Agnew, et al. - lovely singers though they may be.) A generation after Handel's death, John Hawkins in his
General History of the Science and Practice of Music, wrote of Beard:
"Instead of airs that required the delicacy of Cuzzoni, or the volubility of Faustina,...he [Handel] hoped to please by songs, the beauties whereof were...adapted to a tenor voice, from the natural firmness...whereof little more is expected than an articulate utterance of the words, and a just expression of the melody; and he was happy in the assistance of a singer possessed of these and many other valuable qualities."
Sesto in
Cesare in modern casting has become the virtually exclusive domain of lyric mezzos; indeed, the role was originated by Margherita Durastanti, a soprano. But it was sung by tenors in all three revivals of the opera that occurred in Handel's lifetime (Francesco Borosini in 1725, Annibale Pio Fabri "Il Balino" in 1730, and Giovanni Battista Pinacci in 1732) - so one has to wonder whether Handel actually
preferred a tenor in the role, and only gave it to Durastanti as a salve to her rather large ego, given that the only other soprano in the opera, Cleopatra, went to Durastanti's archrival, Francesca Cuzzoni.
So while I have no problem in theory with your singing the Sesto arias, two things suggest it's a bad idea:
(1) Current casting trends make it doubtful that a tenor would evem be considered for the part.
(2) Sesto in the opera is conceived as a teenage boy, not a full-grown man - which suggests a less-robust tenor voice.
Bigger-voice tenors with agilitą (an absolute must for any Handelian singer) should take a look at arias from the operatic roles Handel composed for John Beard:
- Lurcanio in
Ariodante (Del mio sol vezzosi rai; Tu vivi, e punito; Il tuo sangue, ed il tuo zelo
- Oronte in
Alcina (Semplicetto! a donna credi?; Č un folle, č un vile affetto; M'inganna, me n'avveggo...Un momento di contento)
- Aminta in
Atalanta (S'č tuo piacer, chio mora; Diedi il core ad altra Ninfa)
- Varo in
Arminio (Al lume di due rai; Mira il Ciel, vedrai d'Alcide)
- Vitaliano in
Giustino (All'armi, o Guerrieri; Vanne sģ, superba, vą; Amici, tutto devo a vostra fedeltą...Il piacer della vendetta)
- Fabio in
Berenice (Vedi l'ape che ingegnosa)
Handel also wrote the majority of his tenor oratorio roles for Beard, including these from Handel's dramatic oratorios:
Jonathan in
Saul
Samson
Jupiter/Apollo in
Semele
Simeon/Judah in
Joseph and His Brethren
Hyllus in
Hercules
Belshazzar
Judas Maccabaeus
Jephtha
Beard sang the tenor part in the vast majority of London revivals of
Messiah in Handel's lifetime (the part had been split between two local tenors at the premiere in Dublin), and it's hard to imagine a "lightweight" being able to make the hair on the back of one's neck stand up as it most definitely
should during "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron".
Beard didn't originate either of Handel's two tenor-father roles, Bajazet in
Tamerlano or Massimo in
Ezio. The first was originated by Francesco Borosini, and later revived by Pinacci; the second was originated by Pinacci. Both of these tenors also, as I noted earlier, sang Sesto in various revivals of
Giulio Cesare.
Tenor and musicologist Neil Jenkins has written a biography of John Beard in which he speculates, in the last chapter, about the tenor's vocal qualities and abilities. I urge any tenor interested in understanding Handel's vocal expectations of the tenor music he wrote for Beard to download and read this article:
Chapter 14: Beard's Vocal Legacy
--
Karen Mercedes - contralto
singwiththespirit [at] yahoo [dot] com
http://artfuljesus.0catch.com/karenmercedes.html
