Talk:Artaserse (Vinci)

Voice Types

Why does the "Voice Types" column of the "Roles" table reflect information only about the original cast, rather than about the work more generally? Vinci's opera exists beyond its original production, particularly since it was re-staged multiple times in the years immediately following the premiere. Listing certain roles as "castrato" or "en travesti" implies that such casting was part of Vinci's original vision, when in fact the historical evidence indicates that the gender of the singers was not set in stone. (For instance, in a 1731 production in Parma, Vittoria Tesi Tramontini played Mandane opposite Farinelli's Arbace.)

I suggest changing the heading of the table to clarify that the information it contains is limited to the first cast only (as it stands, this is not clear), or changing the contents of the "Voice Types" column to reflect voice types only, as this would be less misleading. Zopyrus (talk) 16:29, 26 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I think the table should remain as it is, in line with wide-spread practice for opera articles here. Instead, a new section, "Performance practice", could be inserted which explains the changes you mention. Such a section should be placed before "Roles" (see WP:WikiProject Opera/Article guidelines#Sections) and could start with (a slightly rephrased version of) the current sentence "It premiered during the carnival season ..." -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 05:50, 27 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]