Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. A breeches role (also pants role or trouser role or "hosenrolle") is a role in which an actress appears in male clothing (breeches being tight-fitting knee-length pants, the standard male garment at the time breeches roles were introduced). In opera it can also refer to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer. Most often the character is an adolescent or a very young man, sung by a mezzo soprano or contralto, or, occasionally, a male countertenor. The operatic concept of the breeches role assumes that the character is male, and the audience accepts him as such, even knowing that the actor is not. Cross-dressing female characters (e.g. Leonore in Fidelio or Gilda in Act III of Rigoletto) — are not considered breeches roles. The most often-performed breeches roles are Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro), Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), and Orpheus (Orpheus and Euridice).

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