A unique voice, a sensational light

At the end of one of his recitals, an undiplomatic admirer approached the renowned British countertenor Alfred Deller to ask him: “Are you a eunuch?” (“¿Es usted un eunuco?”). To which the singer answered with ingenuity and a high opinion of himself, “I’m unique” (“Soy único”).

For a man to sing in an extremely high voice, there is no need for a surgeon’s knife! What is required is a considerable command of vocal technique. The 18th century was the golden age of the castrati with legendary names like Senesino, Caffarelli or Farinelli. The last of them all, Allessandro Moreschi, died in 1922, leaving a phonographic testimony of a voice in tatters.Before then, countertenors and male falsetto voices were making their mark, and they reached stratospheric heights without being castrated.

The Argentine countertenor Franco Fagioli belongs to the aristocracy of unique voices with Deller as the pioneer figure. The 20th century recouped the magic of the highest notes at the same time as recovering centuries of musical repertory from the depths. Aside from a fascination for this distinctive sound, present in all phases of the Baroque period, there was also a foray into frontier repertoire: belcantismo, for example, where melodies return to life beneath an exceptional prism. Quite the experience.

Programme
​​​​​​Francesco Cavalli, Delizie contente che l’alma beate
Alessandro Scarlatti, Già il sole dal Gange
Marc’Antonio Cesti, Intorno all’idol mio
Antonio Lotti, Pur dicesti, o bocca bella
Georg F. Händel, “Di speranza un bel raggio … Venti, turbini” - Rinaldo
Domenico Scarlatti, Keyboard Sonata in G Minor, Kk. 347
Geminiano Giacomelli, “Sposa, non mi conosci” - La Merope
Wolfgang A. Mozart, “Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio” - La clemenza di Tito
Vincenzo Bellini, Ma rendi pur contento Malinconia, ninfa gentile
Gaetano Donizetti, Amore e morte  Me vojo fa na casa
Gioachino Rossini, “Mura felici” -La donna del lago, “Marche et réminiscences pou mon dernier voyage” de la colección Péchés de viellesse (piano solo)
Saverio Mercadante,Scena e cavatina: «Dove m’aggiro ... Era felice un dì ... Sì bel contento in giubilo» de Andronico