What is the best definition of a breeches role?
What is the best definition of a “breeches role”? when a female actress cross-dressed in male clothing.
Who was one of the most well known breeches role performing actresses?
During the century several actresses renowned for their breeches roles, including Peg Woffington, Frances Abington and Dorothy Jordan, attracted large audiences for their famous comedy performances.
Why are there pants roles in opera?
The nature of the trouser role was about to take a turn. By the middle of the 19th century, realism had prevailed. At last the tenor voice had come of age, and in its new-found power, it offered to opera the possibility of a more masculine hero. The heyday of the effeminate hero had passed.
What is a trouser or pants role music?
‘The trouser role’ or ‘Breeches role’ is a role in which an actress appears in male clothing (breeches being tight-fitting knee-length pants, the standard male garment in the classical era when breeches roles were introduced). In opera it can also refer to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer.
What was a breeches part?
: a theatrical role that is regularly or frequently played by an actress in male costume.
Why is idamante played by a woman?
(The tradition of having Idamante sung by a woman is in fact a very modern one.) The role of Isolier in Rossini’s Le Comte d’Ory (premiered in Paris in 1828) was written for a woman, and this role continues the tradition of having a young man (played by a woman) in erotic contact with another woman.
Who played the female roles in Restoration comedies?
Successful Restoration actresses included Charles II’s mistress Nell Gwyn, the tragedienne Elizabeth Barry, famous for an ability to “move the passions” and make whole audiences cry, the 1690s comedian Anne Bracegirdle, and Susanna Mountfort (Susanna Verbruggen), who had many roles written specially for her in the …
What kind of role is Cherubino?
Roles
| Role | Voice type |
|---|---|
| Figaro, personal valet to the count | bass |
| Cherubino, the Count’s page | soprano (breeches role) |
| Marcellina, Doctor Bartolo’s housekeeper | soprano |
| Bartolo, doctor from Seville, also a practicing lawyer | bass |
What are the roles in opera?
Opera Roles
- Soprano. Mezzo-soprano. Contralto. Tenor. Baritone.
- Bass. Countertenor. Treble. Bass-Baritone.
- Italian. German. English.
What is a pants role in music?
A breeches role (also pants role or trouser role, or Hosenrolle) is one in which an actress appears in male clothing. 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.
What is castrati music?
castrato, also called Evirato, male soprano or contralto voice of great range, flexibility, and power, produced as a result of castration before puberty. The castrato voice was introduced in the 16th century, when women were banned from church choirs and the stage.
What does the term breeches role mean in opera?
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 . In opera, a breeches role refers to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer.
What kind of clothes does an actress wear in a 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.
Why was the breeches role important in the restoration?
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.
What was the role of the breeches in Victorian burlesque?
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 .