Which two male singers would you select for the 'Flower Duet'?Yes, I know it's a stupid question, but it for fun. So take it this way and have fun. Update:There were no 'wrong' answers here and this was done for fun. If it were up to me three of you could share this 'best' answer equally. However, YA isn't set up that way. So please don't feel slighted is you answer wasn't selected.And I personally thank each of you who responded. As to picking a 'best' answer, I'm not sure my pick is the 'best' reply but it certainly is the funniest one.. Created by Doc Watson. entertainment-music-en - music-en - classical-en

If You Were Staging A Trans-Gender Version Of Lakme?

May 2021 5 158 Report

If You Were Staging A Trans-Gender Version Of Lakme?

Which two male singers would you select for the 'Flower Duet'?

Yes, I know it's a stupid question, but it for fun. So take it this way and have fun.

Update:

There were no 'wrong' answers here and this was done for fun. If it were up to me three of you could share this 'best' answer equally. However, YA isn't set up that way. So please don't feel slighted is you answer wasn't selected.

And I personally thank each of you who responded. As to picking a 'best' answer, I'm not sure my pick is the 'best' reply but it certainly is the funniest one.

Entertainment & Music / Music / Classical

hafwen

Verified answer

How about taking it one step further, and staging "Lakme" as a Reverse Trans-Gender production - ie. get two women playing the roles of males playing females? Sounds complex, I know, but it might work...

I think Charlotte Hellekant and Anne Sophie von Otter would be perfect - after all, they both starred as men in Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea" - Hellekant was a magnificent, ballsy Ottone, while von Otter was an unnervingly testosterone-fuelled Nero.

Yes, the more I think about it, the more I think it could work...thanks Doc, my imagination needed a good workout ;o)

Cheers,

Hafwen x

PS. Take a peek at my 2 questions in Classical, if you get a chance...I think they're going to expire pretty soon...

OpernKatz

Man. This is an odd thought experiment. I have a hard time imagining that duet in tenor-baritone transposition!

Anyhow... I'll go with Jonas Kaufmann as Lakme and Bryn Terfel as Mallika.

Alberich

Boy, it may be a "fun" question, but it's certainly taking a lot of intellectual energy - at least on my part - to come up with suitable candidates.

For the soprano trans-gender role, I think it would be natural for one to think of a castrato tenor; but since I don't know of any(don't care for this kind of singing), that leads up a blind alley.

So two tenors both of whom I consider to have had a rather feminine quality to their voice, was Jussi Bjorling and Stets(Svets/sp-?) Svanholm.

((after much looking, research, couldn't find any info. about this singer: he was considered a helden-tenor, and sang many times with Helen Traubel in the Wagnerian operas at the Met.))

It was much more difficult to come up with an appropriate male singer for the mezzo-/contralto role.

Robert Merrill, because he had a rich, colorful middle and up register, but not an overly strong bass, would be my candidate.

Will be very interesting to see what some of you other responders will come up with.

Next time, please don't make your "fun" questions so difficult,

Alberich