consalus@h... wrote:
> I was intrigued by Mr. Oda's comment on the rarity of true basso
> profundo voices. How can one tell a true basso profundo? By the
> general descriptions I've seen, it's just a few low notes that most
> basses can manage.
Dear Kyle,
It's much more about depth of tone than of pitch. Most bass-baritones
can growl down into a profundo's range, but the quality is totally
different. When a true profundo sings his low C, it fills the room and
feels like your head is getting a massage. A bass-baritone singing the
same note is using the strohbass register, which has a very buzzy,
compressed sounding timbre.
I had a friend who was literally 7 feet tall, and his normal speaking
voice was around low D. It sounded like a foghorn, and you could hear
him even a large lecture hall even when he spoke casually to the
person next to him. He could easily sing a deep A.
The reason there's confusion between the terms "true bass" "schwarz
bass" and "basso profundo" is because all three are very rare, but the
basso profundo is rare even among the real basses. A regular true bass
has a reliable low D and sings Sarastro, the commandante or
Sparafucile. It's possible the first two were written by Mozart for a
true profundo, as the range does not extend past high D, and Mozart
was lucky enough to know some really exceptional singers. All three
roles are possible to do with a regular "schwarz bass" and most often
are. (Sparafucile tops out at Eb, I think) I think Kurt Moll is a good
example of the typically dark tone of a schwarz bass.
The only explicitly basso profundo role in the operatic literature I
know of is from Maxwell-Davies' "The Lighthouse". If you want to hear
one in a Phillip Glass film score, Koyaanisqatsi, check out the first
sound file at this link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000AEDU/vocalistint00-20
Generally, the profundo has much more work in ensembles, where they
provide a wonderful harmonic foundation. The "operatic" profundo is
almost non-existent, because there is no repertoire. This is why it is
not even an offical fach. Russian choral literature calls for this
voice, but I imagine the bass sections are mostly strohbass
specialists, not true profundi.
Hope this is helpful...
Tako
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