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{{Short description|Voice type in French opera}}
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The '''''haute-contre''''' (plural ''hautes-contre'') was the primary French operatic [[tenor]] voice, predominant in French [[Baroque music|Baroque]] and [[Classicism|Classical]] [[French opera|opera]], from the middle of the seventeenth century until the latter part of the eighteenth century.

==History==
This voice was predominantly used in male solo roles, typically heroic and amatory ones, but also in comic parts, even ''[[en travesti]]'' (see apropos the portrait reproduced below and representing [[Pierre Jélyotte]] made up for the female title role of [[Jean-Philippe Rameau|Rameau]]'s ''[[Platée]]''). [[Jean-Baptiste Lully|Lully]] wrote 8 out of 14 leading male roles for the voice; [[Marc-Antoine Charpentier|Charpentier]], who was an haute-contre himself, composed extensively for the voice-part, as did Rameau and, later, [[Christoph Willibald Gluck|Gluck]].

The leading ''hautes-contre'' of the [[Académie Royale de Musique]] that created the main roles of Lully's operas, at the end of the seventeenth century, were [[Bernard Clédière]] (who started off as a ''taille'', a lower Tenor voice type) and [[Louis Gaulard Dumesny]]. Notable ''hautes-contre'' of the eighteenth century's first half included firstly [[Jacques Cochereau]], [[Louis/Claude Murayre]] and [[Denis-François Tribou]], who revived Lully style and operas in the twenties and in the thirties,<ref>Weller, ''op. cit.''</ref> then the mentioned Pierre Jélyotte and his substitutes, [[François Poirier]] et {{ill|Jean-Paul Spesoller de Latour|lt=Jean-Paul Spesoller de Latour|it}}, all of whom sang Rameau's operas and Lully's revivals for the Académie Royale de Musique, and finally [[Marc-François Bêche]], who was engaged mainly in performances at court.<ref name="Sawkins">Sawkins, ''op. cit.''</ref> After these came [[Joseph Legros]], for whom Gluck wrote his main ''haute-contre'' roles, which included the title role in the 1774 version of ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice|Orphée et Eurydice]]'', and Achilles in ''[[Iphigénie en Aulide]]''. There is also an extensive repertoire of music for this voice in French ''[[airs de cour]]'' and in French solo cantatas of the Baroque period; ''hautes-contre'' sang in choirs as well, taking the part above the ''taille''.
[[File:Jelyotte as Platee.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Jélyotte in the title-role of Rameau's ''Platée'', by [[Charles-Antoine Coypel]] c.1745]]

==Vocal features==
The nature of the ''haute-contre'' voice has been the subject of much debate. Historically, English writers have translated the term as "[[countertenor]]" which is not particularly helpful since the meaning of that latter term has also been the subject of considerable musicological controversy; both terms are ultimately derived from the Latin ''contratenor'' (see [[countertenor]]). It is now generally accepted that the ''hautes-contre'' sang in what voice scientists term "modal" (i.e. "speaking" voice), perhaps using falsetto for their highest notes. A typical solo range for this voice was C<sub>3</sub> to D<sub>5</sub> considering that French eighteenth-century [[pitch (music)|pitch]] was as much as a whole tone lower than that of today.<ref name="Sawkins" /> Though this high-pitched range might lead one to think of the ''haute-contre'' as a light voice, historical evidence does not bear this out: Jélyotte was much praised for the strength of his high register,<ref>Cyr, ''op. cit.'', p 292</ref> the astronomer and traveller [[Jérôme Lalande|Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande]] commenting that "one takes more pleasure in hearing a large voice than a small one." Lalande stated that Jélyotte's range was identical to that of the famous tenor [[Angelo Amorevoli]]. He also remarked that "all those who succeeded Legros had to shout to arrive at the tones of an haute-contre, except for {{ill|Jean-Joseph Rousseau|lt=Rousseau|it}}, but he had the smallest sound."<ref>so quoted by Mary Cir (''ibidem'') from de Lalande’s ''Voyage en Italie'' (2/1786), p. 204-5. The date Cyr traces de Lalande’s statements back to, 1768, is evidently a misprint as it widely precedes the facts reported: Jean-Joseph Rousseau was then only seven years old and Legros had just started his career and was very far from retiring. The alleged publication date of de Lalande’s ''Voyage en Italie'', or rather, of its (second) edition whence the quotation is reported to have been drawn, 1786, is likelier to be the right one</ref>

The ''haute-contre'' is regarded by some authorities as similar to, or indeed identical with, the voice-type described in Italian as ''[[tenore contraltino]]''. Although not unknown at an earlier date (for example the title-role in [[Mozart]]'s ''Mitridate''), roles for this voice were particularly numerous at the beginning of the nineteenth century: for example Lindoro in [[Rossini]]'s ''[[L'italiana in Algeri]]'' or Rodrigo in [[Otello (Rossini)|''Otello'']]. Rossini also wrote roles in French for this type of voice, which may thus be regarded as a direct continuation of the earlier ''haute-contre'' tradition. These include the protagonist of ''[[Le Comte Ory]]'', Néocles in ''[[Le siège de Corinthe]]'' and Arnold in ''[[William Tell (Rossini)|''Guillaume Tell'']]'', all of which were written for the great French tenor [[Adolphe Nourrit]].

==Modern performances==
Recently, with a revival of interest in and the performance of French baroque repertoire, several high tenors have come to prominence in ''haute-contre'' repertoire. These include [[Mark Padmore]],<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2002/10/10/bmpad10.xml The Great Communicator – article in Telegraph.co.uk 10 October 2002]{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Anders J. Dahlin, [[Rogers Covey-Crump]], [[Jean-Paul Fouchécourt]], [[Paul Agnew]] and [[Cyril Auvity]]. None of these sing the French Baroque repertoire to the exclusion of all others, and all are involved, to a greater or lesser extent, in the performance of mainstream tenor repertoire.

==Repertoire==

See [[List of French haute-contre roles]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

*Cyr, M: "On performing 18th-century Haute-Contre Roles", ''Musical Times'', vol 118, 1997, pp 291–5, later reproduced in Cyr, M., ''Essays on the Performance of Baroque Music. Opera and Chamber Music in France and England'', Ashgate Variorum, Aldeshot (UK)/Burlington, VT (USA), 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-7546-5926-6}} (essay no. IX)
*{{Cite Grove |last=Sawkins |first=Lionel |title=Haute-contre}} [Stanley Sadie (ed), ''The new Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Oxford University Press, 1992, vol. 4]
*Philip Weller, "Tribou, Denis-François", in Sadie, Stanley (ed.), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-19-522186-2}} (IV, p.&nbsp;808)

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[[Category:Voice types]]
[[Category:Opera terminology]]