Hello!

My name is Cilie, I'm 21 years old and I live in Denmark. I come from a fairly non-musical family (although my mother used to play the trombone), but fortunately one of my primary school teachers introduced me to Händel's Music for the Royal Fireworks, and since then I’ve been a devoted admirer of baroque music in general and the work of Händel in particular.

As countertenors are rather common in recordings of this type of music I have always taken them for granted, and I didn’t pay any special attention to the high male voice until a couple of months ago when I attended a performance of Partenope at the Royal Danish Opera with Andreas Scholl as Arsace. Since then I’ve been completely obsessed. My poor friends and relatives have had to suffer my excited ramblings about everything from Farinelli’s ornamentation techniques to Michael Maniaci’s vibrato and René Jacobs’ opinion about who knows what. I must say that they have been very tolerant with me, but I’m quite sure that they will be almost as happy as I am that I stumbled across this wonderful site and the opportunity to vent my opinions and enthusiasm to someone else.

I just hope that you guys will bear with me and that I might be able to contribute a little to the discussions on this forum. I must admit that I have had no real training in music, but I’m an avid reader and I enjoy sharing what I learn, as well as learning from others.

Anyway, that’s all (and more than enough) from me for now, I think.

It's my pleasure to have you here. The site is fairly new and we don't have many members and few of them visit as frequently as I'd like. We have one other member from Denmark here, BaroqueFever, you may know her from her contributions at YouTube.

If you have not heard the male soprano Randall Wong before, I recommend that you listen to him when you have the chance. His voice has the purity, flexibility and beauty of a true soprano but yet he is able to sing down into the baritone register. I also recommend that you listen to the male soprano Radu Marian who is an exceptional musician and has a truly beautiful and agile soprano voice. There's also the male soprano Patrick Husson who has sung first soprano in Allegri's Miserere, singing the long solo phrase in one breath.

There are many other very great singers which I'd love to mention, but those are my three personal favourites .

Oh, Thank you for mentioning Patrick Husson. I haven't heard of him before but I'll be sure to check him out as soon as possible.

I have listened to quite a few of Wong's and Marian's recordings on the internet, however, and I absolutely agree that they are both skilled singers with very remarkable voises. While I'm grateful that people take the trouble to upload recordings it's unfortunate that the restrictions on file sizes does not allow for the most optional sound quality, especially as it seems difficult to find cds with these singers. Do you know of they are available from any online store?

By the way, I was wondering if you could tell me how to change my avatar? When I go to edit avatar in user cp there seems to be no option allowing me to upload a picture.

I've added a Where to buy? field for each CD in Discographies - Singers. I've already added a Where to buy? link to a few albums and will steadily add one for each CD over the next three weeks. However, if you're looking for a particular CD and its Where to buy? link hasn't been added, you may send me a PM and I will add it within 24 hours .

To add an avatar, follow this link Male Sopranos & Altos - Edit Avatar.

Dear Ciliega,
Welcome to the site. I hope that you drive much pleasure from the music, information, and interaction with other members.

You need not be too selfconscious about not having a lifetime experience with Baroque music. Understanding is based not only on quality experience but also one's own natural abilities. In addition to IQ, humans apparently have at least seven sub-sets of IQ, including musical. You may well have a natural understanding of music and, therefore, enjoy it more than many other people. In contrast, two of my closest friends have listened to good music for 60 years, yet they both admit that they truly do not understand music. They do not grasp the logic of musical structure and cannot tell the difference between, for example, soprano voices nor the difference between female and male voices. The fact that you can appreciate the remarkable beauty of Scholl's voice indicates that you may have a special sense about music.

There is much good information on this site and some fine people who can help answer questions. And if you prefer not to post a question or comment, you may send a personal message to one of us, and we will be glad to try to help you.
Best wishes.

i wanted to say welcome to our new member.
You sound very interested. I like that.

I want to welcome you too! And bring on the discussions! I will love it!!!! I drive my friends crazy because only I share the passion and they look at me like I am out of my mind! Baroque music is passion. Do you have aspirations to sing Countertenor? I'd love to hear you. I am trying to rejuvenate my upper register since I have allowed it to go fallow since my 20's. But I am determined to sing high! Anyway it is good to see young people with the passion for this music!!!

chris

I have tried this and there doesn't seem to be a way to add a picture. Is this a internet explorer thing? I use firefox so maybe that is the problem.

Doesn't work for IE either.

Note that the maximum size of your avatar image is 125 by 125 pixels and 48.8 KB. What format is the image?

I have a 100x100 pixel jpg file to upload. But the problem is that there is no prompt for uploading a user file. It just indicates no avatar and that is all.

c.

This was my mistake, sorry . You should be able to upload an avatar now .

Thank you! That is much better!

c.

Thank you all for being so welcoming and encouraging, I really appreciate it.

Puer Aeternus, that “Where to buy?” field is extremely helpful; I’ve been searching fruitlessly for many of these CDs, and now I’ll finally be able to get my hands on them.

mradaChris, as I’m a girl I can’t really sing countertenor, but I am considering taking singing lessons all the same. I think I’m probably a contralto, so I might be able to do some of the same repertoire, if it turns out I can sing at all that is.


Well, thanks again, and merry Christmas.

Interesting, real contraltos are very rare ( most are actually mezzos afaik ). It's nice to hear that you can use the new feature in the Singers section. I still have many CDs to add, but I'm hope I'll have time to finish it before my Christmas break is over.

Contralto's are rare! That would be nice if you were! Good luck on figuring out if you are a singer. I think most people are and that you just need proper training to get the most of one's voice.

CHeers,
chris...