The rarely heard opera Prunehilde in Pittsburgh by composer Giuseppe diPalomino features a famously difficult duet for soprano and horse. Many opera companies won’t even consider the piece and neigh-sayers abound. Casting is a particular challenge because, while plenty of sopranos over the years have been happy to accept the title role, finding a suitable singing horse has always been more difficult.
“It’s not just the two-plus octave range,” said well known equine vocalist Pierre Cheval de Voix, “nor even the high tessitura, which is formidable. No, the real problem lies in keeping the two soloists together—the soprano inevitably wants unrestrained rubato just when the horse has found a nice comfortable gait. When the two fail to mesh, the audience always blames the horse! It really steams my stirrups!”
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