“Roma Travestita” / Bruno de Sá

There are several male “sopranistas” in the world who can sing songs for soprano, but Bruno de Sa is one of the most notable of them all. His tone is close to that of a woman’s voice, and he has a delicate yet perfect technique. His debut CD, “Roma Travestita (Transvestite Rome)” is a sort of “perversion” in which a man sings a role in an opera originally written for a woman. However, this was actually the practice in 17th- and 18th-century Italy, where Pope Sixtus V in 1588 forbade women to sing in the theater, which ironically led to the creation of male “castrato” singers in Europe. Incidentally, he is also the Pope who insisted on imposing “extreme penalties” on abortion. As a Japanese living in the modern age, I wonder which act is more ethically “inhuman” and “sinful”: “abortion” or “castration”?

The CD begins with an aria from Scarlatti’s “Griselda”, continues with Leonardo Vinci and Antonio Vivaldi, and closes with an aria from Niccolò Piccinni’s “Cecchina”. Interestingly, about half of the pieces are first-time recordings. Bruno de Sá sings the technical coloratura with ease and smoothness. His singing is nothing short of magnificent. #baroque #brunodesá #片山俊幸