According to Robert Dawson Scott in "The man with the 300-year-old voice":
[Maniaci] does not sing falsetto, nor does he have a baritone register, as counter-tenors do. On the other hand, he is whole and male (he obviously shaves; he assures me he is fertile). It is just that some quirk in his development led to all the appurtenances of puberty appearing except one – his larynx did not grow along with the rest of him. As a consequence, his voice never broke. . . .
He may be the only man on the planet who can sing [the role of Atis in Reinhart Keiser's 1711 opera The Fortunes of King Croesus] at pitch, which goes up to a B natural, two octaves above middle C. Maniaci’s speaking voice is light and high, but, because he is an adult with a stocky frame, it is oddly resonant, like a rather fruity maiden aunt. His singing voice probably comes close to those castrati voices of long ago – although with only one antique recording available we can only really guess.
Here's Maniaci's performance of the full Mozart Alleluia uninterrupted by commentary. Also, here are soprano Lucia Popp and countertenor Andreas Scholl (below)for comparison.
I have to say, I was all set to get creeped out by the sound, but that is some beautiful, transcendent stuff. I'm impressed!
Posted by: Mel | July 31, 2008 at 02:36 PM
It really is "beautiful, transcendent." And his technique is flawless. Those runs are HARD. He's an incredible artist.
Posted by: gail | July 31, 2008 at 07:40 PM