Classical CD: Michael Maniaci “Mozart Arias For Male Soprano”

Michael Maniaci

Mozart Arias For Male Soprano (Telarc)

By Don Heckman

The words “male soprano” may sound like a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron.  And it largely has been so for the past century and more.  Nonetheless, a substantial catalog of music was composed for male sopranos, mostly in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.  And historical references to their work reach as far back as the fifth century and as recently as the mid-19^th century.

The overwhelming majority of those male sopranos were eunuchs, castrated before puberty to retain the range of a prepubescent voice with the lung and breath power of an adult male.  Only a few recordings of an actual castrato remain – from a scratchy cylinder recording by Alessandro Moreschi made in 1904 (reportedly well past his prime).  But the quality and the challenges of the music composed for these remarkable artists – especially during the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries – clearly indicate the length and breadth of their extraordinary abilities.

Over the years, a very few male sopranos grew to maturity with similar capabilities as the result of endocrinological conditions.  Other high male vocalizing is present in countertenors and in falsetto singing.  But none of those conditions are the source of male soprano Michael Maniaci’s voice.  In the liner notes to this CD he explains that “While my vocal cords lengthened and thickened somewhat, they didn’t do so to the extent that most men experience. My voice comfortably goes to a soprano high C, and I’m most comfortable in the two octave register from high C to middle C.”

“Comfortable” is an understatement to describe Maniaci’s performance in this collection of Mozart arias, accompanied by the Boston Baroque, directed by Martin Pearlman.  The first notes of the recitative and aria Ah qual gelido orror…il padre adorato from Idomeneo instantly make it clear that we are hearing a remarkable soprano voice – clear, airy, moving freely into the top notes, yet delivered with a stunning degree of strength and power.   Here, as elsewhere in the program, Maniaci affirms that he is not simply an unusual musical phenomenon, he is also a gripping interpretive artist.

The lovely aria Ah se a morir mi chiama from Lucio Silla reveals yet another quality – a soaring lyricism rendered with subtle dynamic control and utterly fluid ornamentation.   And the Allegro, Alleluja from the motet Exsultate, Jubilate provides the opportunity for coda displaying Maniaci’s brilliant, high wire vocal articulation.

But for this listener, the aria Parto, ma tu ben mio from La Clemenza Di Tito is the highlight of the album, largely because Mozart composed such a gorgeous duet for soprano voice and clarinet (written for his close friend Anton Stadler).  Mancini brings it to life, winding supplely in and around the flowing clarinet lines performed superbly here – by Nina Stern or Diane Heffner (unfortunately the liner notes are not specific).

We’ll never actually know, of course, exactly what the castrati of the 17^th and 18^th centuries sounded like.  But, in Michael Maniaci’s voice, we hear qualities that surely come close to revealing the aural secrets of one of music history’s most fascinating and mysterious eras.

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