Vocalist.org archive


From:  John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...>
John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...>
Date:  Fri May 18, 2001  4:07 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Count Rodolfo.......too bassy for a baritone?


Other listers must have more knowledge of the performing tradition of this
particular role, but: leafing throught the vs shows a range of G-Eb with a
moderately high tessitura suggesting a baritone with good low notes rather
than a real bass, though Rodolfo is an 'authority figure'. The role also
has none of the brevity I would associate with a 'Stehbass', and no really
low notes.
You have asked an avatar of THE question for those of us in the baritone
world who covet the bass repertoire! It's something that I have argued over
with myself and researched ad nauseam, so here's a number of points that I
came up with:

1. Roles are often written for specific voices, who may or may not possess
any proportion of the attributes of their designated voice type.
2.Roles must inevitably be subsequently sung by other kinds of voices,
sometimes re-defining the character of the role.
3.The composers of the classical period, broadly speaking, called any
man's voice lower than a tenor a 'bass'. Mozart's Figaro, described as a
bass, is really a bass-baritone, and works very well as a regular baritone
(the Count Almaviva, also called 'bass', is definitely a baritone). Wagner
asked for a 'hoher Bass' for Wotan, which turns out to be a bass-baritone.
I suspect that the heavy bass was a rarity and that (only my opinion)
professional singers billed as 'bass' were usually bass-baritone or baritone.
4.The pitch employed at a particular place and time often has some bearing
on the vocal character of a role. Pitch in Milan in 1831 was no higher than
A=450, and
5.If you have to artificially darken your voice *for an entire aria* your
listeners will not have heard *you* in all your vocal glory. But it might
still work in a pinch. I often have to sing bass, and produce a lighter
sound than a real bass, but if one sings beautifully (and audibly) the
audience will be happier than if it were a real bass with an ugly sound. I
believe it was probably so in classical times too. If a role has moving
notes at the bottom of the staff it could be considered truly 'bass'. That
almost never happens, I think because composers know that baritones are
going to be singing much of the time.
6. How the accompaniment works may give you an idea of the composer's
expectations: everything getting very quiet and spare for moderately low
notes suggests he doesn't expect a lot of power; the vocal line being
doubled by cellos and/or contrabasses allows a singer some latitude in
which octave to palce a note or passage - I've had the experience of
singing notes which gave the impression of being an octave lower because of
a sympathetic accompaniment. Mozart's accompaniment of Sarastro exemplifies
both of these principles. john

At 02:52 PM 5/17/01 -0700, you wrote:
>
>Hi everyone...
>I am a senior baritone vocal performance major... I am
>currently working on Count Rodolfo's aria, "Vi
>Ravviso". It's pretty long, but it's gorgeous. The
>score calls for a bass to sing this. I am do not have
>typically bass qualities to my voice. My question is:
>Is the Bellini material written for a bass to bassy
>for a baritone? I have done other material written
>for basses, like "Non piu andrai", so I don't really
>have a problem with it. My voice teacher, on the
>other hand, wonders if we are wasting time on such a
>large chunck of music when it's not what part I sing.
>Any opinions?????
>
>Thanks,
>Trevor
>
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John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

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