Gender
in opera

It may appear strange to you, but since women had to stay at home and constantly dust the tabletops, female roles were performed by men. The term “soprano”, which today describes women singing in the high tonal ranges, was used both for female singers and for a distinct class of male singers that has been discontinued since the 1830s.

These singers were called “castrato” singers and originally sang only in churches, where women were strictly forbidden to sing. As high – but not female – voices were in demand for the performance of church hymns, a new musical specialisation emerged in monasteries: young boys whose voice mutation was prevented by genital surgery, in order to be musically trained to perform high-pitched parts.42Sadie, S. 2001 (2nd ed) The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 5, p.267 In this way, the delicate tone of these boys’ voices was preserved even after puberty. Young castrato singers received intensive musical training in singing, music theory and musical instruments, often resulting in a greater degree of musical specialization than women of the same vocal ability, whose educational opportunities were limited because of prejudice against their sex.

Between 1680 and 1720, castrato singers enjoyed a golden age on the operatic stage as audiences and the aristocracy throughout most of Europe appreciated their special vocal abilities. The leading male roles were written for their type of voice and they enjoyed the support of powerful opera patrons.43Sadie, S. 1997. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 1, pp. 766- 767 Especially during the periods when women were banned from the stage in the 17th and 18th centuries, high-pitched female roles were performed by “castrato” singers. Nevertheless, the majority of “castrato” singers continued to be employed partly or exclusively by the church.44Rosselli, J. 1992. Singers of the Italian Opera: The history of a profession, p. 41

In terms of stage presentation, cross-dressing was common when there was need for a man to play a female role, and until the mid-18th century both men and women would play roles of the opposite sex for musical or dramatic purposes regularly. Apart from instances of female roles sung by castrato singers, men also appeared in female costume when the plot demanded it, and women played male characters that sung in the higher vocal register– see for example the role of Prince Orlofsky from Johann Strauss II’s operetta Die Fledermaus, below.

Since the beginning of the 19^th century, and especially after restrictions on female performance on stage were lifted, female sopranos experienced their own golden age that lasted until the first decades of the 20th century.45S. Rutherford, The Prima Donna and Opera, σ. 4. Despite society’s hostile attitude and their frequent vilification by journalists and music critics, the profession of opera singer was one of the first professions to give some women independent careers in music. Through the persistence of women and the support of some colleagues – composers, conductors, singers – who recognized the distorted association between moral decency and the right of women to practice their profession in public, the right of women to a career in singing was accepted earlier than other musical professions. Unlike other musical instruments, where women were employed exclusively as music teachers and positions in orchestras were strictly reserved for men until as recently as the 20th century, the profession of “soprano” gave female professional musicians the opportunity to become financially independent and to pursue musical careers as early as the 19th century.46από την Φάνη

And while here we have focused – perhaps unfairly – exclusively on the historical development of the profession of female singers, inequality in the arts concerns equally societal prejudice against LGBTQIA+ identities, disability and race. Moreover, bias and unequal treatment in the workplace similarly affects workers in the technical professions of opera, namely the people who support opera productions without performing on stage. In the article “Women in technical theatre, let’s change our future” published by London’s Royal Opera House in 2021, deputy director of technical and production Emma Wilson shared some of the difficulties faced by women in technical jobs in opera. Among them she counted being underestimated by male colleagues, limited childcare support, fewer opportunities for career progression, and the gender pay gap. She even reflected upon the fact that during her educational visits in schools, she noticed how girls still considered some technical professions in opera as “boyish” and could not imagine themselves in one.47https://www.roh.org.uk/news/women-in-technical-theatre-lets-change-our-future

The historically unequal treatment of women on and off the operatic stage, has inspired movements against the gender pay gap in the arts, as well as social movements such as #MeToo that monitor the behaviour of organisations and businesses on gender-related issues. Opera, like any other art-space, should encourage all humans, regardless of gender identification, race, nationality, sexual identity, physical and mental constitution, and disability, to express themselves and share their talent with the public. Similarly, it must protect their right to work in technical positions without prejudice, and secure the equal treatment of all its members. Each society defines its own morality and it is important that our own legacy becomes the message that, at least in art, we actively try to support all humans because – and not in spite of the fact that – we are all different.