# Baritone Club: The Baritone Worship Thread



## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

RULES OF BARITONE CLUB:

1. Absolutely NO tenors or sopranos allowed! _(for full effect, imagine backward "s" on "tenors")_

2. Basses and bass-baritones are allowed as guests!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

graziesignore said:


> RULES OF BARITONE CLUB:
> 
> 1. Absolutely NO tenors or sopranos allowed! _(for full effect, imagine backward "s" on "tenors")_
> 
> 2. Basses and bass-baritones are allowed as guests!












Excellent!!

*Piero Cappuccilli*


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Bastianini/Hvorostovsky/Merrill/London/Quilico/Warren/Elvira


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

*Quinn Kelsey* as Paolo Albiani in _Simon Boccanegra_. Hope he sings the title role before long.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

George Petean as Belcore in Elisir. He will be doing Germont at the Royal Opera this spring, alternating with Franco Vassallo and The Baritone Who Shall Not Be Spoken of Here.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

By the way, I can't figure out if Milnes' hair in that clip is live, or if it's Memorex. That is Rameyesque hair for sure.

And now, TWO baritones for the price of one!!!


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

*graziesignore*


> 1. Absolutely NO tenors or sopranos allowed! (for full effect, imagine backward "s" on "tenors")


I'm going to disregard this rule because there are so many wonderful duets between baritones and tenors or sopranos 
case in point:





Dmytro Gnatyuk 





Thomas Allen





Leonard Warren


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## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

Guest. John Tomlinson cus I like his Oliver Reed/Keith Moon rock-star Wotan.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Here's something I used to watch all the time as a college student:






My favorite part occurs around 19:34.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Here is a short but interesting Italian documentary about Giuseppe Kaschmann:






More on Kaschmann, in a language I can't even identify, much less understand (Serbo-Croat?)


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

The great Gerard Souzay sings Lully's 'Il faut passer':






And again, in Rameau's 'Soleil, on a détruit tes superbes asiles' from Les Indes Galantes






I would definitely listen to more baroque opera (or whatever that is) if there were more recordings of it by singers of Souzay's calibre. That Rameau aria is one of my favourite Souzay records of all time.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

A wonderful duet for baritone and bass:






An unforgettable performance by Vladimir Chernov:






And my favorite baritone in my favorite baritone aria:


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Bastianini/Hvorostovsky/Merrill/London/Quilico/Warren/Elvira


For me it's Milnes, Tibbett, Merrill, De Luca, Kelsey, Chernov, Keenlyside, Allen, Hvorostovsky, and the underrated Dwayne Croft, one of the first baritones I ever heard:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> *graziesignore*
> 
> I'm going to disregard this rule because there are so many wonderful duets between baritones and tenors or sopranos


Well you can post em but I won't watch em. I prefer my baritones undiluted with sopranos.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Baritone/bass duet. Now that's a proper duet.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Guests 

[slight synch problems but doesn't affect the sound]


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

*Simon Keenlyside* 

I was lucky enough to see him reprise this role last year. He received a tremendous ovation.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

And now for something completely different...






I love baritones even when they are scuzzy and need a shower


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Now this is a very sensible thread. My boys are Peter Mattei, Gerald Finley, Markus Eiche, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Simon Keenlyside, Quinn Kelsey, Christian Gerhaher, and plenty of others, but that will do for now. My favourite:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Now this is a very sensible thread.


I thought you'd approve!! 



mamascarlatti said:


> My boys are Peter Mattei, Gerald Finley, Markus Eiche, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Simon Keenlyside, Quinn Kelsey, Christian Gerhaher, and plenty of others, but that will do for now. My favourite:


Nice selection!!


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

HMMM, We know where to find Annie and Natalie now.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

*MATTIA BATTISTINI* *(1856-1928)*

They called him "the king of baritones." Note the date of his birth. He sang till he was nearly seventy. In most of these these recordings you are hearing the superb and unimpaired vocal technique of a man in his fifties.

Un Ballo in Maschera 



Don Carlo 



Werther 



Ernani 



Don Giovanni 



Lucia di Lammermoor 



Don Sebastiono 



La Traviata 



"Occhi di fata" (Denza) 



"Ideale" (Tosti)


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

We need some baritone love.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

graziesignore said:


> We need some baritone love.


Indeed and love your selection! Thanks for reviving the thread especially as some of our videos have disappeared.

Here is one of my favourites - Ettore Bastianini


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Check this out: Teddy Tahu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Tahu_Rhodes


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## Ginger (Jul 14, 2016)

Christian Gerhaher


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Let's see how today's popular baritones measure up to the great singers of yesteryear. What do you think guys?

Mariusz Kwiecień






Željko Lučić






Quinn Kelsey


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

mamascarlatti said:


> Now this is a very sensible thread. My boys are Peter Mattei, Gerald Finley, Markus Eiche, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Simon Keenlyside, Quinn Kelsey, Christian Gerhaher, and plenty of others, but that will do for now. My favourite:


One of the things that makes me wonder if I hear things differently than others is the strange, inexplicable phenomenon that Peter Mattei isn't a *GIGANTIC* star yet. I only heard him for the first time in the 2013 Met Parsifal and was flabbergasted at how great his Amfortas is. He's equally great as Wolfram in Tannhauser, his Onegin is fantastic, his bits and pieces from the St Matthew Passion is astonishing, and I usually only like basses doing those bits. I don't know why he hasn't been recorded in everything yet.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

It's only that one assumes that a voice is the only thing that earns one buzz, or even a voice plus stage presence. There are a lot of great singers who should have been bigger stars or better known names... but it has to do with a lot of different factors. There are increasingly fewer big spotlights for singers to be in ... and alas... when ex-tenors are now singing as baritones... *ahem* well that's fewer spotlights. 

Also, alas, no one in the opera world ever goes crazy over great new baritones... not like they lionize sopranos and tenors... and it's just not FAIR is it?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

graziesignore said:


> It's only that one assumes that a voice is the only thing that earns one buzz, or even a voice plus stage presence. There are a lot of great singers who should have been bigger stars or better known names... but it has to do with a lot of different factors. There are increasingly fewer big spotlights for singers to be in ... and alas... when ex-tenors are now singing as baritones... *ahem* well that's fewer spotlights.
> 
> Also, alas, no one in the opera world ever goes crazy over great new baritones... not like they lionize sopranos and tenors... and it's just not FAIR is it?


:scold:

No it's not fair!!

It doesn't happen with opera, but in a programme for a concert or a sacred oratorio, the bass is always listed at the end even if he has more to sing than a tenor.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

What is everyone's opinion on the best and juiciest roles for baritones? Any repertoire... encompassing demanding singing material, great arias, and good (or at least vivid) characters?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

graziesignore said:


> What is everyone's opinion on the best and juiciest roles for baritones? Any repertoire... encompassing demanding singing material, great arias, and good (or at least vivid) characters?


A couple of my favourites:

Macbeth in Verdi's _Macbeth_






Don Giovanni in Mozart's _Don Giovanni_


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

graziesignore said:


> What is everyone's opinion on the best and juiciest roles for baritones? Any repertoire... encompassing demanding singing material, great arias, and good (or at least vivid) characters?


If I were a baritone I'd love to play Alberich. Of course I'd ideally be shorter. Are there reverse platform shoes?


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

graziesignore said:


> What is everyone's opinion on the best and juiciest roles for baritones? Any repertoire... encompassing demanding singing material, great arias, and good (or at least vivid) characters?


Macbeth.


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## trem0lo (Sep 14, 2016)

One of my favorites.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

trem0lo said:


> One of my favorites.


Verrrry nice! Thank you and a new name for me.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

*Arthur Endrèze*

From Thomas's _Hamlet_:









"Fille des rois", from Meyerbeer's _L'Africaine_





Singing "Promesse de mon avenir", from Massenet's _Roi de Lahore_: http://artlyriquefr.fr/son/Odeon 123021 -
%20Endreze%20-%20Roi%20de%20Lahore.mp3

*Vanni-Marcoux*
From Massenet's _Panurge_:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Sherril Milnes is standing almost lonely at the top at his prime!


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

graziesignore said:


> What is everyone's opinion on the best and juiciest roles for baritones? Any repertoire... encompassing demanding singing material, great arias, and good (or at least vivid) characters?


Don Giovanni and Figaro (Mozart)
Guillaume Tell (Rossini)
Nelusko, Saint-Bris, Nevers, and Hoel (Meyerbeer)
Hans Sachs and Wotan (Wagner)
Hamlet (Thomas)
Athanael (Massenet)
Nabucco, Macbeth, Rigoletto, Posa, Jago and Falstaff (Verdi)
Scarpia (Puccini)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

And ....... drum role ..................... *Rigoletto!*


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

SimonTemplar said:


> *Arthur Endrèze*
> 
> From Thomas's _Hamlet_:
> 
> ...


Endreze is new to me. Another great, untalked-about French singer. Marvelously steady, clear vocalism, diction and musicianship. Also, I want his hair. :lol:


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

And for more authentic French singing...

Martial Singher - a singer I'd never heard of, but what a voice! What elegance and grace!


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Not enough love for Heldenbaritones in this thread imo. No Hotter, London, Schorr for instance


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

The Ukrainian dramatic baritone Mykola Kondratyuk. For those of you who never understood what I meant when I said a mighty, dramatic baritone voice is more heroic than a tenor....you will now. The tenor voice is not capable of the _authority_ produced by a voice like this.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> The Ukrainian dramatic baritone Mykola Kondratyuk. For those of you who never understood what I meant when I said a mighty, dramatic baritone voice is more heroic than a tenor....you will now. The tenor voice is not capable of the _authority_ produced by a voice like this.


Vickers? Melchior? Caruso?

Maybe "authority" for you is an attribute of father figures with low voices. It's an understandable association, but an association is what I think it is. Culturally, we associate authority with mature maleness. I can find any voice of any range or gender authoritative, if it's capable of power and incisive declamation.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Vickers? Melchior? Caruso?
> 
> Maybe "authority" for you is an attribute of father figures with low voices. It's an understandable association, but an association is what I think it is. Culturally, we associate authority with mature maleness. I can find any voice of any range or gender authoritative, if it's capable of power and incisive declamation.


Fair enough. In fact, one needs a reasonable level of authority simply to sing opera in the first place. That said, certain types of voices career a more authoritative flavor by virtue of vocal power and/or timbre. I don't make strong associations between authority and masculinity, as much as I hear a "crying" quality in the tenor voice which gives it less authority most of the time. Most of the more authoritative singers I can think of are actually sopranos (Joan Sutherland comes to mind immediately).


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Fair enough. In fact, one needs a reasonable level of authority simply to sing opera in the first place. That said, certain types of voices career a more authoritative flavor by virtue of vocal power and/or timbre. I don't make strong associations between authority and masculinity, as much as I hear a "crying" quality in the tenor voice which gives it less authority most of the time. Most of the more authoritative singers I can think of are actually sopranos (Joan Sutherland comes to mind immediately).


Agree. Callas was more authoritative than any Dramatic Baritone.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Top 5:
1. Bastianini
2. Hvorostovsky
3. Merrill
4. Ruffo
5. Gobbi
Also ran: Mattei/Elvira


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> Agree. Callas was more authoritative than any Dramatic Baritone.


sometimes. other times not so much.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> sometimes. other times not so much.


Of course, only when needed. Otherwise, it's finesse all the way..


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

I have to disagree with that. I think the lower the voice, the more authority it carries. Unless the voice is really lyric.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

graziesignore said:


> What is everyone's opinion on the best and juiciest roles for baritones? Any repertoire... encompassing demanding singing material, great arias, and good (or at least vivid) characters?


Top 5 baritone roles:
1.Scarpia
2. Rigoletto
3. Posa
4.Iago
5.Onegin
Also ran:The Don


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

sospiro said:


> Let's see how today's popular baritones measure up to the great singers of yesteryear. What do you think guys?
> 
> Mariusz Kwiecień
> 
> ...


You're short in the hatch, Mac. You've just GOT to include Gerald Finley.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

nina foresti said:


> Top 5 baritone roles:
> 1.Scarpia
> 2. Rigoletto
> 3. Posa
> ...


The #1 role for a baritone is Wotan!


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