Out this month - Women as Men in opera

Helen Shermann in Donizetti's
L'Assedio di Calais for ETO
Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

My article on operatic roles en travestie, women playing men, is out in this month's Classical Music Magazine. The article combines a brief historical overview with interviews with Australian mezzo-soprano Helen Shermann (who played Aurelio in Donizetti's L'Assedio di Calais and Nerone in Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea, both for English Touring Opera) and Sarah Connolly (whose travesty roles have included Octavian, Bellini's Romeo and Handel's Julius Cesar amongst many others). It also looks at the erotic aspect, the tempting site of a pair of women's legs in an age when convention kept them covered up.

Further information from Classical Music Magazine's website