# BARITONE TOURNAMENT (Bonus Matchup): Mattei vs Keenlyside



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Peter Mattei, Sweden, 1965- (L vs Stracciari 9-2)

https://www.talkclassical.com/69242-baritone-tournament-bonus-matchup.html






Simon Keenlyside, UK, 1959- (L vs Gobbi 15-1)

https://www.talkclassical.com/69257-baritone-tournament-request-gobbi.html






'Oh du mein Holder Abenstern' from Wagner's _Tannhäuser_.

Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I'm surprised not to have liked Mattei more than I did in what would seem an ideal role for him. His slender lyric baritone has an appealing warmth, but he lacks a consistent vocal legato, without which this music is just not itself; syllables and the notes attached to them tend to be articulated as separate entities, as if Mattei were pressing keys on a harmonium, and the effect is rather cool. Keenlyside shows how it's done (though perhaps not quite how it was done in 1930!), and succeeds as well in projecting the text through varied dynamics and a sense of urgency where appropriate. He has the richer vocal quality too, for which I was grateful the moment he began singing following Mattei.

For that 1930 way of doing things, we can turn to Joseph Schwarz:






(A propos of nothing, I seem to recall photos of Keenlyside singing something - Don Giovanni? - without wearing a shirt, and it seems to me that his front and back might be enjoyed every bit as keenly as his side.)


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

We were listening at about the same time, Woodduck. I enjoyed Mattei a little more than you, but, as soon as Keenlyside started on the recitative, I knew I was going to pick him, the voice so much richer and firmer. I felt he also engaged more with the text.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> We were listening at about the same time, Woodduck. I enjoyed Mattei a little more than you, but, as soon as Keenlyside started on the recitative, I knew I was going to pick him, the voice so much richer and firmer. I felt he also engaged more with the text.


I'm always a little embarrassed when those greeting the new day in the Old World find me indulging my habit of staying up late, but it's precisely the interval between Pacific coast time and London time that creates a temptation I can rarely resist. These singing matches come on just as I'm about to turn in, and I become completely helpless and have to listen to them. It's damnable. Why are bad habits so much fun?


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

This one is a tough choice. Keenlyside does more with the text than Mattei, particularly in the passage just before the aria proper, and is generally more attentive to the words. But Mattei's singing sounds absolutely effortless, which is something that I always admire; I sense a certain amount of effort in Keenlyside's version, and I hear the individuality in his voice that I hear in Mattei's.

BTW, if you can find it, Mattei was absolutely magnificent in the role at the Met a few years ago, with the late Johan Botha in the title role. Has Keenlyside ever sung this on stage?


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> For that 1930 way of doing things, we can turn to Joseph Schwarz:


Thanks for the reminder about Schwarz, one of the greatest baritones on record. It's a shame that he isn't better known, but I guess that's what happens when you die just before the advent of the electrical recording process.

His successor in Berlin, Heinrich Schlusnus, was no slouch, either:


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Peter Mattei is among my favorite contemporary singers. While he doesn't sing in the old style I've come to prefer, at least he _has_ a chest voice and manages to sound natural and pleasant (to me, this is the most important thing). a lot of current baritones sound kinda...dorky. generally, they're a little less whiny than modern tenors, but they still tend to sound more like theatre kids than being convincing father figures, villains, kings, etc.

In contrast, Peter Mattei....actually sounds like a normal guy. His approach is straightforward (not over-interpreted for the sake of having more "depth". that just comes off weird and distracting, not more "musical" as people doing so would like to believe), non-awkward, someone a bit more accessible to people who didn't geek out on Shakespeare during adolescence (not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just you don't generally want to look like that in the middle of a performance, especially when your voice type predisposes you to villains and authority figures)


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

I also enjoy Mattei quite a bit for his effortless singing and tight vibrato. And the higher passage from 1:25 onwards is sung beautifully, modern baritones should take notice!
I'm not generally a fan of Keenlyside but nothing is against him here, oh maybe just a bit of "throatiness" in middle register and occasionally flappy vibrato.
Mattei is the clear winner for me.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Both had lovely voices. The first, Mattei gave a clean and very mellow performance. But Keenlyside gave it a richer and fuller rendering.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

I like Mattei's voice more, but the way he uses it less. I like Keenlyside's voice less, but the way he uses it more. Tie.


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