How to Solve the Tenor Shortage

Disclaimer: I'm a bass-baritone.

I wonder why all the high-C's in music. But people seem attracted to extremes.

The extreme of extremes is Gaetano Donizetti’s Opera “La Fille du Regiment” with nine (count them, nine) straight high-C's. Pavarotti made them sound easy.

But I worry whether what I feel is overexposure of such feats [0] motivates a few and discourages many by setting an extreme expectation.

I suspect that there are many instances in which a composer created fiendishly difficult pieces to showcase a performer (including themself ... no Liszt or Rachmaninoff in particular)

Recommended: and to be honest, I think that WQXR's Operavore channel has a pretty diverse selection, compared to more "popular" channels.

[0] Select Operavore Channel at https://www.wqxr.org/streams/