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Breeches role

A breeches role (also pants role or trouser role, or Hosenrolle) is one in which an actress appears in male clothing. Breeches, tight-fitting knee-length pants, were the standard male garment at the time these roles were introduced.[citation needed] The theatrical term travesti covers both this sort of cross-dressing and also that of male actors dressing as female characters. Both are part of the long history of cross-dressing in music and opera and later in film and television.

An Actress at Her Toilet, or Miss Brazen Just Breecht (John Collet, 1779)

In opera, a breeches role refers to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer. Most often the character is an adolescent or a very young man, sung by a mezzo-soprano or contralto.[1] The operatic concept assumes that the character is male, and the audience accepts him as such, even knowing that the actor is not. Cross-dressing female characters (e.g., Leonore in Fidelio or Gilda in Act III of Rigoletto) are not considered breeches roles. The most frequently performed breeches roles are Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro), Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Hansel (Hansel und Gretel) and Orpheus (Orpheus and Euridice), though the latter was originally written for a male singer, first a castrato and later, in the revised French version, an haute-contre.[citation needed]

Because non-musical stage plays generally have no requirements for vocal range, they do not usually contain breeches roles in the same sense as opera. Some plays do have male roles that were written for adult female actors, and (for other practical reasons) are usually played by women (e.g., Peter Pan); these could be considered modern-era breeches roles. However, in most cases, the choice of a female actor to play a male character is made at the production level; Hamlet is not a breeches role, but Sarah Bernhardt once played Hamlet as a breeches role. When a play is spoken of as "containing" a breeches role, this does mean a role where a female character pretends to be a man and uses male clothing as a disguise.[citation needed]

History

When the London theatres re-opened in 1660, the first professional actresses appeared on the public stage, replacing the boys in dresses of the Shakespeare era. To see real women speak the risqué dialogue of Restoration comedy and show off their bodies on stage was a great novelty, and soon the even greater sensation was introduced of women wearing male clothes on stage. Out of some 375 plays produced on the London stage between 1660 and 1700, it has been calculated that 89, nearly a quarter, contained one or more roles for actresses in male clothes (see Howe). Practically every Restoration actress appeared in trousers at some time, and breeches roles would even be inserted gratuitously in revivals of older plays.

Some critics, such as Jacqueline Pearson, have argued that these cross-dressing roles subvert conventional gender roles by allowing women to imitate the roistering and sexually aggressive behaviour of male Restoration rakes, but Elizabeth Howe has objected in a detailed study that the male disguise was "little more than yet another means of displaying the actress as a sexual object". The epilogue to Thomas Southerne's Sir Anthony Love (1690) suggests that it does not much matter if the play is dull, as long as the audience can glimpse the legs of the famous "breeches" actress Susanna Mountfort (also known as Susanna Verbruggen):

You'll hear with Patience a dull Scene, to see,
In a contented lazy waggery,
The Female Mountford bare above the knee.

Katharine Eisaman Maus also argues that as well as revealing the female legs and buttocks, the breeches role frequently contained a revelation scene where the character not only unpins her hair but as often reveals a breast as well. This is evidenced in the portraits of many of these actresses of the Restoration.

Breeches roles remained an attraction on the British stage for centuries, but their fascination gradually declined as the difference in real-life male and female clothing became less extreme. They played a part in Victorian burlesque and are traditional for the principal boy in pantomime.

Opera

Historically, the list of roles that are considered to be breeches roles is constantly changing, depending on the tastes of the opera-going public. In early Italian opera, many leading operatic roles were assigned to a castrato, a male castrated before puberty with a very strong and high voice. As the practice of castrating boy singers faded, composers created heroic male roles in the mezzo-soprano range, where singers such as Marietta Alboni and Rosamunda Pisaroni specialised in such roles.[1] (See Xerxes below.)

Currently, all castrato roles are being reclaimed by men. As the training and use of countertenors becomes more common, there are more men with these very high voices to sing these roles.

Casting directors are left with choices such as whether to cast the young Prince Orlofsky in Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus for a woman or man; both commonly sing the role. When played by a mezzo, the prince looks like a woman, but sounds like a boy. When played by a counter-tenor, he looks like a man, but sings like a woman. This disparity is made even clearer if, as in this case, there is also spoken dialogue.

The term travesty (from the Italian travesti, disguised) applies to any roles sung by the opposite sex.[2]

A closely related term is a skirt role, a female character to be played by a male singer, usually for comic or visual effect. These roles are often ugly stepsisters or very old women, and are not as common as trouser roles. As women were not allowed to sing on stage in the Papal States until the end of the 18th century,[3] although not elsewhere in Europe,[4] many female operatic roles which premiered in those areas were originally written as skirt roles for castrati (e.g. Mandane and Semira in Leonardo Vinci's Artaserse). The Madwoman in Britten's Curlew River and the Cook in Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges are later examples. The role of the witch in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, although written for a mezzo-soprano, is now more regularly[citation needed] sung by a tenor, who sings the part an octave lower. In the same opera the "male" roles of Hänsel, the Sandman, and the Dewman are however meant to be sung by women.

Operas with breeches roles include:

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Budden J., "Breeches part" in: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.
  2. ^ Budden J., "Travesty" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.
  3. ^ The ban on women performing on stage was imposed by Pope Sixtus V in 1588. It was never legally enforceable in the Legations (Bologna, Ferrara and the Romagna) and was occasionally disapplied in Rome too, in particular from 1669 (during the papacy of erstwhile librettist Clement IX) to 1676, at the instigation of Queen Christina of Sweden, who was a fan of opera (Celletti, Rodolfo (2000). La grana della voce. Opere, direttori e cantanti (2nd edition). Rome: Baldini & Castoldi; chapter: "Nella Roma del Seicento", p by. 37 ff (in Italian) ISBN 88-80-89-781-0). The ban remained in force until 1798 when the French invaded Rome and a Roman Republic was proclaimed (Kantner, Leopold M, and Pachovsky, Angela (1998). 6: La Cappella musicale Pontificia nell'Ottocento. Rome: Hortus Musicus; p. 24 (in Italian) ISBN 8888470247).
  4. ^ Women were banned from Lisbon's stages too for several decades in the second half of the 18th century. The prohibition, however, was not generally observed throughout the Portuguese Empire — not even in Oporto and occasionally in Lisbon itself (Rogério Budasz (2019). Opera in the Tropics. Music and Theater in Early Modern Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press; p. 238. ISBN 978-0-19-021582-8)
  5. ^ Bärenreiter, Kassel (BA 4079a) notes

Further reading

  • Howe, Elizabeth (1992). The First English Actresses: Women and Drama 1660–1700. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Maus, Katharine Eisaman (1979). "'Playhouse Flesh and Blood': Sexual Ideology and the Restoration Actress". New York: Harcourt Brace Anthology of Drama (1996).
  • Pearson, Jacqueline (1988). The Prostituted Muse: Images of Women and Women Dramatists 1642–1737. New York: St. Martin's Press.

breeches, role, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january, 20. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Breeches role news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message A breeches role also pants role or trouser role or Hosenrolle is one in which an actress appears in male clothing Breeches tight fitting knee length pants were the standard male garment at the time these roles were introduced citation needed The theatrical term travesti covers both this sort of cross dressing and also that of male actors dressing as female characters Both are part of the long history of cross dressing in music and opera and later in film and television An Actress at Her Toilet or Miss Brazen Just Breecht John Collet 1779 In opera a breeches role refers to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer Most often the character is an adolescent or a very young man sung by a mezzo soprano or contralto 1 The operatic concept assumes that the character is male and the audience accepts him as such even knowing that the actor is not Cross dressing female characters e g Leonore in Fidelio or Gilda in Act III of Rigoletto are not considered breeches roles The most frequently performed breeches roles are Cherubino The Marriage of Figaro Octavian Der Rosenkavalier Hansel Hansel und Gretel and Orpheus Orpheus and Euridice though the latter was originally written for a male singer first a castrato and later in the revised French version an haute contre citation needed Because non musical stage plays generally have no requirements for vocal range they do not usually contain breeches roles in the same sense as opera Some plays do have male roles that were written for adult female actors and for other practical reasons are usually played by women e g Peter Pan these could be considered modern era breeches roles However in most cases the choice of a female actor to play a male character is made at the production level Hamlet is not a breeches role but Sarah Bernhardt once played Hamlet as a breeches role When a play is spoken of as containing a breeches role this does mean a role where a female character pretends to be a man and uses male clothing as a disguise citation needed Contents 1 History 2 Opera 3 See also 4 Footnotes 5 Further readingHistory EditWhen the London theatres re opened in 1660 the first professional actresses appeared on the public stage replacing the boys in dresses of the Shakespeare era To see real women speak the risque dialogue of Restoration comedy and show off their bodies on stage was a great novelty and soon the even greater sensation was introduced of women wearing male clothes on stage Out of some 375 plays produced on the London stage between 1660 and 1700 it has been calculated that 89 nearly a quarter contained one or more roles for actresses in male clothes see Howe Practically every Restoration actress appeared in trousers at some time and breeches roles would even be inserted gratuitously in revivals of older plays Some critics such as Jacqueline Pearson have argued that these cross dressing roles subvert conventional gender roles by allowing women to imitate the roistering and sexually aggressive behaviour of male Restoration rakes but Elizabeth Howe has objected in a detailed study that the male disguise was little more than yet another means of displaying the actress as a sexual object The epilogue to Thomas Southerne s Sir Anthony Love 1690 suggests that it does not much matter if the play is dull as long as the audience can glimpse the legs of the famous breeches actress Susanna Mountfort also known as Susanna Verbruggen You ll hear with Patience a dull Scene to see In a contented lazy waggery The Female Mountford bare above the knee Katharine Eisaman Maus also argues that as well as revealing the female legs and buttocks the breeches role frequently contained a revelation scene where the character not only unpins her hair but as often reveals a breast as well This is evidenced in the portraits of many of these actresses of the Restoration Breeches roles remained an attraction on the British stage for centuries but their fascination gradually declined as the difference in real life male and female clothing became less extreme They played a part in Victorian burlesque and are traditional for the principal boy in pantomime Opera EditHistorically the list of roles that are considered to be breeches roles is constantly changing depending on the tastes of the opera going public In early Italian opera many leading operatic roles were assigned to a castrato a male castrated before puberty with a very strong and high voice As the practice of castrating boy singers faded composers created heroic male roles in the mezzo soprano range where singers such as Marietta Alboni and Rosamunda Pisaroni specialised in such roles 1 See Xerxes below Currently all castrato roles are being reclaimed by men As the training and use of countertenors becomes more common there are more men with these very high voices to sing these roles Casting directors are left with choices such as whether to cast the young Prince Orlofsky in Johann Strauss II s Die Fledermaus for a woman or man both commonly sing the role When played by a mezzo the prince looks like a woman but sounds like a boy When played by a counter tenor he looks like a man but sings like a woman This disparity is made even clearer if as in this case there is also spoken dialogue The term travesty from the Italian travesti disguised applies to any roles sung by the opposite sex 2 A closely related term is a skirt role a female character to be played by a male singer usually for comic or visual effect These roles are often ugly stepsisters or very old women and are not as common as trouser roles As women were not allowed to sing on stage in the Papal States until the end of the 18th century 3 although not elsewhere in Europe 4 many female operatic roles which premiered in those areas were originally written as skirt roles for castrati e g Mandane and Semira in Leonardo Vinci s Artaserse The Madwoman in Britten s Curlew River and the Cook in Prokofiev s The Love for Three Oranges are later examples The role of the witch in Humperdinck s Hansel und Gretel although written for a mezzo soprano is now more regularly citation needed sung by a tenor who sings the part an octave lower In the same opera the male roles of Hansel the Sandman and the Dewman are however meant to be sung by women Operas with breeches roles include Ades s The Tempest Ariel is sung by a soprano Arne s Artaxerxes Arbaces is sung by a mezzo soprano Bellini s Bianca e Fernando Viscardo is sung by a mezzo soprano Bellini s Zaira Nerestano is sung by a mezzo soprano Bellini s I Capuleti e i Montecchi Romeo is sung by a mezzo soprano Berg s Lulu Der Gymnasiast a Schoolboy is sung by a contralto Berlioz s Benvenuto Cellini Ascanio is sung by a mezzo soprano Berlioz s Les Troyens Ascanio is sung by a soprano Catalani s La Wally Walter is sung by a soprano Chabrier s L etoile Lazuli the peddler is sung by a soprano Chabrier s Une education manquee Gontran de Boismassif is sung by a soprano Charpentier s David et Jonathas Jonathas is sung by a soprano La Pythonisse is sung by an haute contre which is a high pitched male voice similar to a Countertenor Corigliano s The Ghosts of Versailles Cherubino a recreation of the same character from Le nozze di Figaro is sung by a mezzo soprano Donizetti s Alahor in Granata Muley Hassem is sung by a contralto Donizetti s Anna Bolena Smeton is sung by a mezzo soprano Donizetti s Lucrezia Borgia Maffio Orsini is sung by a contralto Dvorak s Rusalka The Kitchen Boy is sung by a soprano Glinka s A Life for the Tsar Vanya is sung by a contralto Glinka s Ruslan and Lyudmila Ratmir is sung by a contralto Gluck s Orfeo ed Euridice Originally written for a castrato Orfeo is sung by a mezzo soprano contralto or counter tenor Gluck s Paride ed Elena Originally written for a castrato Paride is sung by a soprano Gounod s Faust Siebel is sung by a contralto a mezzo soprano or a soprano Gounod s Romeo and Juliet Stefano is sung by a soprano Hahn s Mozart The title is sung by a soprano Handel s Alcina Ruggiero is sung by a mezzo soprano Handel s Ariodante The role of Ariodante was premiered by a soprano castrato and is performed today by a mezzo soprano Lurcanio was originally written for contralto but later rewritten by Handel for tenor 5 In modern performances it is generally left to the director to decide whether to use contralto or countertenor or a lyric tenor Handel s Giulio Cesare Julius Caesar was originally written for an alto castrato and is today sung by a mezzo soprano or countertenor Sesto is sung by a soprano Handel s Rinaldo the title role Rinaldo sung at its premiere by a castrato is currently sung by a mezzo soprano or a countertenor Handel s Xerxes the title role Xerxes sung at its premiere by a castrato is currently sung by a mezzo soprano or a countertenor Haydn s La canterina The role of Don Ettore is sung by a soprano and the role of Apollonia is sung by a tenor Haydn s Lo speziale The role of Volpino is sung by a soprano Lecocq s Le petit duc the title role is sung by a soprano Humperdinck s Hansel und Gretel Hansel is sung by a mezzo soprano The Sand Man and The Dew Man sung by sopranos The Witch often sung by a tenor Janacek s From the House of the Dead Aljeja a young Tartar is sung by a mezzo soprano Massenet s Cendrillon the role of Le Prince Charmant was written for a soprano in some performances the role is taken by a tenor Massenet s Cherubin The title role is sung by a soprano Meyerbeer s Les Huguenots Urbain the page is sung by a mezzo soprano Monteverdi s L incoronazione di Poppea Nero is sung by a soprano today the role is often sung by a male tenor or contratenor Mozart s Le nozze di Figaro Cherubino is sung by a mezzo soprano Mozart s La clemenza di Tito Sesto and Annio are sung by sopranos Mozart s Idomeneo Idamante is sung by a mezzo soprano Mozart s Il re pastore Aminta was originally written for soprano castrato and in modern performances is sung by a lyric soprano Mozart s Lucio Silla Cecilio and Lucio Cinna are sung by sopranos Mozart s Ascanio in Alba Ascanio and Fauno are sung by sopranos Mozart s Mitridate re di Ponto Farnace is sung by a mezzo soprano or contralto and Sifare and Arbate are sung by sopranos However Farnace is commonly done by a countertenor Mozart s La finta giardiniera Ramiro is sung by a mezzo soprano Offenbach s Mesdames de la Halle Croute au pot the kitchen boy is sung by a soprano Madame Poiretapee Madame Madou and Madame Beurrefondu are sung by a tenor and two baritones Offenbach s Genevieve de Brabant Drogan the young baker is sung by a soprano Offenbach s Daphnis et Chloe Daphnis is sung by a mezzo soprano Offenbach s Le pont des soupirs The page Amoroso is sung by a mezzo soprano Offenbach s Les bavards The young poet Roland is sung by a contralto Offenbach s La belle Helene Oreste is sung by a mezzo soprano Offenbach s Robinson Crusoe Friday is sung by a mezzo soprano Offenbach s Les brigands The farmer Fragoletto is sung by a mezzo soprano Offenbach s La jolie parfumeuse The young clerk Bavolet is sung by a soprano Offenbach s Madame l archiduc Fortunato captain of the archduke s dragoons is sung by a mezzo soprano Offenbach s Le voyage dans la lune Prince Caprice is sung by a mezzo soprano Offenbach s The Tales of Hoffmann Nicklausse is sung by a mezzo soprano Offenbach s Orphee aux enfers Cupidon Cupid is sung by a soprano Pfitzner s Palestrina Ighino is sung by a soprano Silla by a mezzo soprano Ravel s L enfant et les sortileges the title role of The Boy is written for a mezzo soprano The Shepherd is sung by a mezzo soprano Rimsky Korsakov s The Snow Maiden Lel is sung by contralto Rossini s Tancredi Tancredi and Roggiero are sung by mezzo sopranos or contraltos Rossini s Bianca e Falliero Falliero is sung by a mezzo soprano Rossini s La donna del lago Malcolm is sung by a contralto Rossini s Le comte Ory Isolier is sung by a mezzo soprano Rossini s Semiramide Arsace is sung by a mezzo soprano Rossini s Otello the title role was written for a tenor but also was sung by mezzo soprano Maria Malibran Rossini s Guillaume Tell Tell s son Jemmy is sung by a soprano Gil Shohat s The Child Dreams The Child is sung by a soprano The Crippled Youth i e The Poet by a mezzo soprano Kaija Saariaho s L Amour de loin The Pilgrim is sung by a mezzo soprano Johann Strauss II s Die Fledermaus Prince Orlofsky is sung by a mezzo soprano almost always Richard Strauss s Salome The Page of Herodias is sung by a contralto Richard Strauss s Ariadne auf Naxos The Composer is sung by a mezzo soprano Richard Strauss s Der Rosenkavalier Octavian is sung by a mezzo soprano Tchaikovsky s The Queen of Spades Milovzor is sung by contralto Verdi s Un ballo in maschera Oscar Gustavus III s page is sung by a soprano Verdi s Don Carlos The page Thibault Tebaldo is sung by a soprano Wagner s Rienzi Adriano is sung by a mezzo soprano Wagner s Tannhauser The Young Shepherd is sung by a soprano Wagner s Parsifal Two novices in the all male society of Knights of the Grail are sung by sopranos Wagner s Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg Several apprentices are sung by women Weber s Oberon Puck is sung by a mezzo sopranoSee also EditBreeching boys Principal boy Travesti theatre Takarazuka Revue History of cross dressingFootnotes Edit a b Budden J Breeches part in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera Macmillan London and New York 1997 Budden J Travesty in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera Macmillan London and New York 1997 The ban on women performing on stage was imposed by Pope Sixtus V in 1588 It was never legally enforceable in the Legations Bologna Ferrara and the Romagna and was occasionally disapplied in Rome too in particular from 1669 during the papacy of erstwhile librettist Clement IX to 1676 at the instigation of Queen Christina of Sweden who was a fan of opera Celletti Rodolfo 2000 La grana della voce Opere direttori e cantanti 2nd edition Rome Baldini amp Castoldi chapter Nella Roma del Seicento p by 37 ff in Italian ISBN 88 80 89 781 0 The ban remained in force until 1798 when the French invaded Rome and a Roman Republic was proclaimed Kantner Leopold M and Pachovsky Angela 1998 6 La Cappella musicale Pontificia nell Ottocento Rome Hortus Musicus p 24 in Italian ISBN 8888470247 Women were banned from Lisbon s stages too for several decades in the second half of the 18th century The prohibition however was not generally observed throughout the Portuguese Empire not even in Oporto and occasionally in Lisbon itself Rogerio Budasz 2019 Opera in the Tropics Music and Theater in Early Modern Brazil New York Oxford University Press p 238 ISBN 978 0 19 021582 8 Barenreiter Kassel BA 4079a notesFurther reading EditHowe Elizabeth 1992 The First English Actresses Women and Drama 1660 1700 Cambridge Cambridge University Press Maus Katharine Eisaman 1979 Playhouse Flesh and Blood Sexual Ideology and the Restoration Actress New York Harcourt Brace Anthology of Drama 1996 Pearson Jacqueline 1988 The Prostituted Muse Images of Women and Women Dramatists 1642 1737 New York St Martin s Press Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Breeches role amp oldid 1129962345, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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