Bass-baritone

Bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the title role in Der fliegende Holländer, Wotan/Der Wanderer in the Ring Cycle and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Wagner labelled these roles as Hoher Bass ("high bass")—see fach for more details.
The bass-baritone voice is distinguished by two attributes. First, it must be capable of singing comfortably in a baritonal tessitura. Secondly, however, it needs to have the ripely resonant lower range typically associated with the bass voice. For example, the role of Wotan in Die Walküre covers the range from F2 (the F at the bottom of the bass clef) to F4 (the F above middle C), but only infrequently descends beyond C3 (the C below middle C). Bass-baritones are typically divided into two separate categories: lyric bass-baritone and dramatic bass-baritone.
Bass-baritones should not be confused with their vocal cousin—the so-called Verdi baritone. This type of Italianate baritone voice has a brighter tone colour and sings at a slightly higher tessitura than that possessed by the bass-baritone. In addition to the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, its natural home is to be found in operatic music composed after about 1830 by the likes of Donizetti, Ponchielli, Massenet, Puccini and the verismo composers.
The term bass-baritone is roughly synonymous with the Italian vocal classification basso cantante; for example, in the Verdian repertoire, Philip II in Don Carlos is sung by a true bass, while Ferrando in Il trovatore is often taken by a bass - baritone, though the two roles' ranges are very similar. In Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande the role of Golaud, created by Hector Dufranne, sits between Pelleas (high baritone) and Arkel (bass). Some of the classical Mozart baritone roles such as Don Giovanni, Figaro and Gugliemo—composed before the term "baritone" gained currency—are occasionally played by a bass-baritone.
Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas usually featured a comic bass-baritone character, created to make use of D'Oyly Carte company member Richard Temple.
In short: the bass-baritone is a voice that has the resonant low notes of the typical bass allied with the ability to sing in a baritonal tessitura. Colloquially, it refers to a voice with a range and tone somewhere between a bass and a baritone.
The bass-baritone's required range can vary tremendously based on the role, with some less demanding than others. Many bass-baritones have ventured into the baritone repertoire, including (among others) Leopold Demuth, Georges Baklanoff, Rudolf Bockelmann, George London, Thomas Stewart, James Morris, and Bryn Terfel.
Repertoire
The following operatic parts are performed by bass-baritones but sometimes by high basses:
Don Pizarro, Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven
Golaud, Pelléas et Mélisande by Claude Debussy
Olin Blitch, Susannah by Carlisle Floyd
Méphistophélès, Faust by Charles Gounod
Leporello, Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Figaro, The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Core bass-baritone operatic parts:
Escamillo, Carmen by Georges Bizet
Igor, Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin (also sung by 'standard' baritones)
Porgy, Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin
The 4 Villains, Les contes d'Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach
Scarpia, Tosca by Giacomo Puccini (also sung by 'standard' baritones)
Dutchman The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner
Hans Sachs Die Meistersinger by Richard Wagner
Wotan Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner
Amfortas Parsifal by Richard Wagner
Bass-baritone parts in Gilbert and Sullivan works:
Trial by Jury: Usher
The Sorcerer: Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre
H.M.S. Pinafore: Dick Deadeye
The Pirates of Penzance: The Pirate King
Patience: Colonel Calverley
Iolanthe : Lord Mountararat
Princess Ida: King Hildebrand
The Mikado: The Mikado of Japan
Ruddigore: Sir Roderic Murgatroyd
The Yeomen of the Guard: Sergeant Meryll
The Gondoliers: Don Alhambra del Bolero
Other bass-baritone parts:
Roméo et Juliette by Hector Berlioz
Symphony No.15 by Rued Langgaard
Cantabile, symphonic suite by Frederik Magle
Gurre-Lieder by Arnold Schoenberg
See also
Soprano
Alto
Tenor
Baritone
Bass
References
Voice types
Opera terminology
Pitch (music)