# Tenors who sound baritone-like



## russetvelvet (Oct 14, 2016)

...in a good way, I mean. The other day I stumbled upon this very good rendition of _Vesti la Giubba_ by Vladimir Galouzine:






It was quite amazing to hear such a dark and powerful timbre out of a tenor. Any others like him? Except our well-know Jonas, of course.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Kurt Baum comes to mind as a tenor with a genuinely large and dark voice that still sounds like a Tenor but much more powerful. Kaufmann and similar voices' artificial darkness isn't something I'd look for in a singer.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

this fellow----> Simon Keenlyside??


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Jonas Kaufmann and Placido Domingo spring to mind. Tenors with a heavier vocal weight tend to have a baritonal quality (just as dramatic sopranos can have a mezzoish quality).

I tend to think that dramatic voice types should have a darker sound.

N.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Ramon Vinay Ramon Vinay


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Ludwig Suthaus
Hans Hopf
James King
Siegfried Jerusalem
And of course, Lauritz Melchior

Melchior, King, and Jerusalem all began their careers as baritones. I'm not sure about Suthaus and Hopf.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

wkasimer said:


> Ludwig Suthaus
> Hans Hopf
> James King
> Siegfried Jerusalem
> ...


Suthaus's voice teacher supposed at first that he'd be a baritone, but discovered otherwise. Suthaus debuted as a tenor.

There are a few recordings of Melchior as a 23-year-old baritone, of which this one has the best sound:






Good as he sounds, there's something in the voice, some suppressed brilliance, that wants to break out and soar. Or am I just projecting?


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## davidglasgow (Aug 19, 2017)

Renato Zanelli made excellent records as both baritone and tenor - oddly he did not sound particularly dark as Otello (compared to, say, Vinay or Giacomini) and he did not sound as tenor-like as Melchior or Domingo as a baritone: he was really plausible in both camps.

Vinay made a very convincing baritone late in his career - his Iago alongside Mario del Monaco does not sound contrived at all


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> Good as he sounds, there's something in the voice, some suppressed brilliance, that wants to break out and soar. Or am I just projecting?


Not at all. While he was still singing baritone, a colleague told him that he was a "tenor with the lid on".


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

davidglasgow said:


> Vinay made a very convincing baritone late in his career - his Iago alongside Mario del Monaco does not sound contrived at all


I don't think that Vinay really changed much in his technique to sing tenor roles - he always sounded the same, regardless of whether he was singing Otello or Iago.

He was, BTW, a superb Telramund at Bayreuth in 1962.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

ldiat said:


> this fellow----> Simon Keenlyside??


Thought he was a baritone!


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

The great Carlo Bergonzi started off as a baritone before switching to higher notes


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

The Conte said:


> Jonas Kaufmann and Placido Domingo spring to mind.
> 
> N.


Kaufmann has the distinction (or otherwise) of recording Das Lied von der Erde singing both parts.

Domingo always sounds like a tenor to me even when he is singing baritone roles


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

Now that I'm with French Opera, I need to applaud my Favourite Faust singer, and one of the few that is able to sing the epic first aria "Rien! En vain j'interroge" and still sound like the elder Faust of Act I:

Francisco Araiza. Play at 8:20






I mean, I think he is baritonal enough but really compelling in French opera. I also really like his tenor part in the Giulini Das Lied von der Erde.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Giuseppe Giacomini













James King













others which have been mentioned
- Jonas Kaufmann (I don't think his voice is fake, his passaggio is just a little weird)
- Ramon Vinay


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Suthaus's voice teacher supposed at first that he'd be a baritone, but discovered otherwise. Suthaus debuted as a tenor.
> 
> There are a few recordings of Melchior as a 23-year-old baritone, of which this one has the best sound:
> 
> ...


It's not just you. Still sounds very much like a tenor here imo.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> Kurt Baum comes to mind as a tenor with a genuinely large and dark voice that still sounds like a Tenor but much more powerful. Kaufmann and similar voices' artificial darkness isn't something I'd look for in a singer.


ooo! Thank you for the introduction. Will listen to more of this singer!


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> ooo! Thank you for the introduction. Will listen to more of this singer!


You're welcome. Here is a funny story for you in this video


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Nevermind LOL I said something stupid.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Franco Corelli had a voice that was both dark yet full of squillo at the same time.


It was a powerful and formidable voice, but not particularly dark, and certainly not baritonal.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> It was a powerful and formidable voice, but not particularly dark, and certainly not baritonal.


See, I should stick to sopranos and mezzos like I usually do! I have been properly corrected;-) Thanks.


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