Talk:Countertenor

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There have been some complaints that when countertenor men are hired for parts, this reduces the number of opportunities for women singers. I think this could be mentioned in the article, but I am not the editor to do it. Maybe a specialist in the field will know what to write. Pete unseth (talk) 15:16, 12 April 2025 (UTC)

: @{{u|Pete unseth}} Hmm... I don't think that concern is encyclopedic as it is an opinion, and one that I am skeptical of. Historically countertenors have had a difficult time getting hired to do anything, and had to fight for a place to exist in the classical music world. That still hasn't completely gone away. For example, if one looks at the List of performers at the Metropolitan Opera which includes all performers who have appeared in 100 or more performances at the Met there is not a single countertenor on the list. There are many women on the list. The Met has staged a few operas with countertenor leads during its history, but not that many. Jeffrey Gall (we lack an article on him) was the first countertenor to perform on the Met stage, and that happened in 1988 during the company's 105th season. Anthony Roth Costanzo is the only countertenor working at the Met this season, and he is appearing in only one of the Met's 18 operas. In contrast there are many many women employed as singers with the company.

:It's true that countertenors do occasionally get cast in breeches roles that are most often portrayed by mezzo-sopranos (although other female voice types do occasionally get a trouser role too), but in the grand scheme of things the employment of countertenors is still in comparison infrequent. They are usually stuck singing in the castrati rep, and depending on the director may or may not even be allowed to audition for a castrati part if the person is a traditionalist who will only hire women for the role. There are some contemporary operas with a part written specifically for a countertenor but that doesn't happen all that often. For that reason, it's difficult for countertenors to get a permanent position with an opera company (European houses have full time artists-in-residence, but most companies don't have a full-time paid spot on their roster for a countertenor, or if they do it is only one position). In contrast there are dozens of full time women singers working in every opera house in Europe. As a result, counter-tenors are typically independent contract workers brought in as a "guest artist" which gives them no access to the benefits given to full time employees. There is clearly not employment discrimination happening towards women, but one could make the argument that there is employment discrimination against countertenors if one were to look at the job opportunities for full time employment. Best.4meter4 (talk) 03:42, 19 May 2025 (UTC)