This recording of eight motets for solo voice and continuo by French Baroque composer André Campra (he called them petites motets in contrast to the grands motets that involved choral forces) definitely falls into the novelty category. Featuring liner notes by a theologian and a dedicatory quotation from Emily Dickinson, the disc was nicely recorded in a Sweden's Drottningholm Cathedral by an Italian counterenor (or, as he prefers to say, "sopranist"). The singer, Angelo Manzotti, indicates that he "has perfected a ...
Read More
This recording of eight motets for solo voice and continuo by French Baroque composer André Campra (he called them petites motets in contrast to the grands motets that involved choral forces) definitely falls into the novelty category. Featuring liner notes by a theologian and a dedicatory quotation from Emily Dickinson, the disc was nicely recorded in a Sweden's Drottningholm Cathedral by an Italian counterenor (or, as he prefers to say, "sopranist"). The singer, Angelo Manzotti, indicates that he "has perfected a singing technique that is fundamentally different from that of traditional countertenors; rather than adopting the mechanism of falsetto for reproducing the treble voice of the castratos, he has developed through experimentation upon himself a method of allowing to vibrate when necessary only the front part of the vocal cords, thereby reducing their length to that within a woman's larynx, which is naturally shorter than a man's."Does it work? Is he really doing what he says...
Read Less
Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2024 Rovi Corporation.