# Single Round: The people that walked in darkness Tozzi, Hines



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)




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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I really love this aria from The Messiah. I was lucky to grow up in a church with a great church music program with lots of classical music and we did it at Xmas and Easter plus Haydn's Creation.
I really love Phillippe Sly's version but he can't really compete with the powerful voices of our two candidates. Still, I am sure some of you can enjoy his beautiful lyric bass and his dashing good looks. He has good musical instincts. I love his Don Giovanni. He looks just like an ex of mine;-)


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I have confessed before that I am not a big fan of the lower voices and I find it difficult to choose between Tozzi and Hines, liking one here and the other there. But I do find that, to my ears, Tozzi’s voice is brighter and his tone clearer throughout his compass. But I wouldn’t pass up either if I didn’t have to choose for the purposes of this contest.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

I like Handel. And I like basses. It's a pity they are relatively rare in baroque opera. Both singers are very good. Half-deaf as I am, at least to music, can only assess singing in general and like or dislike the timbre. So I do and prefer Tozzi. Another day it could be Hines. 
We also have a modern singer here, out of competition. I find him good, and he has additional advantages of being a skilled actor and agility on stage. It's very interesting what professional musicians do think about him.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

It's amusing to hear, behind Tozzi, the enriched harmonization and woodwind sonorities that we once tended to feel the open textures of Baroque music cried out for. Presumably this is Beecham's work, and it's quite nice for what it is. Tozzi was known for his basso cantante style, and he sings with impeccable legato. Hines is heavier of tone and manner, which works very well in the dramatic recitative (which I like much more than the aria and regret to find missing from the Tozzi), but is a little overbearing in the aria. Neither of them rescues the piece from the heaviness which, apparently, didn't bother people back when sobriety and pompousness were felt to be defining qualities of "sacred music." Beween the two, I slightly prefer Tozzi for his greater elegance.

Philippe Sly, in the modern Baroque manner, dumps the ballast and gives the music a pulse. His slender bass is cleanly focused, responsive to his expressive intentions, and easy on the ear. Occasionally there's a bit of tricking around with the phrases that feels self-conscious in that peculiarly HIP way of proclaiming "authenticity" (this applies to the conducting as well), but I can live with it. It keeps me awake.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Well I'll be honest and say that I can't really take the slow tempi and portentousness of either the Tozzi or HInes version. When it comes to Baroque opera, I now prefer my textures leaner and my tempi generally (though not always) swifter. Certainly I prefer the swifter tempo of Sly's version and, if he were part of the competition, I'd be choosing his version, which was the only one that really kept my interest to the end.

If I have to choose between Tozzi and Hines, then I'll go for Tozzi as I prefer the sound of his voice, but really I wasn't a fan of either.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

ColdGenius said:


> I like Handel. And I like basses. It's a pity they are relatively rare in baroque opera.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

hammeredklavier said:


>


Cute. But to me it sounds more like Gilbert and Sullivan than Handel, or even like Anna Russell parodying Gilbert and Sullivan parodying Handel. I think it's partly the utter blockiness of the tune, which a first-rate composer like Handel would have found a way to relieve with irregularities and extensions.

Of course, that's merely my objective opinion...


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

...............................


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Easy for me. First of all I am a lover of good strong bass voices even though I do not prefer English or German verse.
But the richness of Jerome Himes bass sound comes through much more vividly for me so it was no contest. Tozzi sounds more like a bass-baritone to me.


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