Rachel Cowgill interviews Robert Crowe about his work as a male soprano and research on Giovanni Battista Velluti, the last operatic castrato. Robert and Rachel discuss the differences between the castrato, countertenor, and male soprano voices, how the public reacted to Velluti in nineteenth-century London, and what it means to be an artist at the end of an era. This episode features extracts from Robert's award-winning CD, 'The Romantic Castrato' (Toccata Classics, 2020), on which he sings music from Velluti's repertoire. Clip 1: ‘Eco o numi’ from Carlo Magno by Giuseppe Nicolini. Clip 2: ‘Nel cor più non mi sento’ from La Molinara by Giovanni Paisiello. Clip 3: ‘Ah can I think of days gone by?’ by Thomas Welsh. Thanks to Martin Anderson and David Weuste for generously allowing us to play these tracks. You can stream 'The Romatic Castrato' or buy it here: https://toccataclassics.com/product/the-romantic-castrato/ Rachel Cowgill's profile: https://www.york.ac.uk/music/staff/academic/rachelcowgill/ Robert Crowe's website: https://www.robertcrowe.com/ Bent Notes is produced by the LGBTQ+ Music Study Group: https://www.lgbtqmusicstudygroup.com/

Dr Hannah Marie Robbins on the queerness of the MGM film of The Wizard of Oz, the iconic status of Judy Garland, and all things Broadway-meets-Hollywood. Hannah's UoN profile: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/humanities/departments/music/people/hannah.robbins Hannah's Twitter: @drhannahrobbins

Ryan Persadie discusses his work on queer Indo-Caribbean spaces in Toronto. A scholar-activist-artist, he performs as Tifa Wine, and reflects on how he uses drag to bridge ethnomusicological theory and praxis. Tifa Wine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tifa.wine/ Ryan's page: https://wgsi.utoronto.ca/person/ryan-persadie/

Jack Doyle and Marie Bennett discuss the afterlife of Freddie Mercury: his enduring status as a queer icon for multiple generations, the tensions between his public and private personas, and what it is that made his performances so spectacular. Marie's co-edited book with David Gracon: https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/Music-and-Death/?k=9781838679460(see her chapter "Mercury's Message to Go On With the Show") A really great Medium article by Jack: https://medium.com/@jackdoyle_76250/the-trans-take-towards-a-trans-public-history-deb1bc9d822b The LGBTQ+ Music Study Group: https://www.lgbtqmusicstudygroup.com/