# Give me the bass: do any of you like any basses of the last 30 years?



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I actually have a very good representation of historic basses for the contest but aside from the wonderful Sam Ramey I am clueless about basses in the last 30 years. I actually get the feeling the best basses and baritones are historic. I can stick with them but if you want to suggest some more recent ones I'll check them out. I now have about 60 bass selections for the contest and about 730 selections total. About half my selections are sopranos as I know them best and by far they have the best selection. It is much easier to get 6 or 9 selections for sopranos as opposed to lower voices. I'm going to do a poll. Shall I stick with historic basses or diversify.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Samuel Ramey, Rene Pape, Cesare Siepi, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Ruggero Raimondi, Kurt Moll
Perhaps in the last 40/50 years!  I’m not a bass guy.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Samuel Ramey, Rene Pape, Cesare Siepi, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Ruggero Raimondi, Kurt Moll
> Perhaps in the last 40/50 years!  I'm not a bass guy.


I do have some Siepe, I just didn't know what era he was. Thanks. I remember someone saying that early Ghiaurov is best but they don't always give dates. I think of modern as being post 70's. Perhaps I am wrong.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Willard White, Simon Estes, John Tomlinson, Aage Haugland, Mikhail Petrenko, John Relyea, Donald McIntire


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

I may be forgetting someone, but over the last 30 years I think Moll is the only one who can give historic basses a contest. The responses show how dire the bass situation is as many of the singers listed are bass baritones who often sang baritone roles.

I think if you're to do contests with modern singers it should be against other modern singers because historically they don't stand a chance.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I do have some Siepe, I just didn't know what era he was. Thanks. I remember someone saying that early Ghiaurov is best but they don't always give dates. I think of modern as being post 70's. Perhaps I am wrong.


I think more of 1950+.
Some that fit that bill are Christoff, Siepi, Treigle, Ghiuarov (married to Freni I think?), Pinza (at the end of his run)


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Bonetan said:


> I may be forgetting someone, but over the last 30 years I think Moll is the only one who can give historic basses a contest. The responses show how dire the bass situation is as many of the singers listed are bass baritones who often sang baritone roles.
> 
> I think if you're to do contests with modern singers it should be against other modern singers because historically they don't stand a chance.


I hate to agree with this, but in general I do - depending, that is, on how much the competitive aspect of the exercise matters to us. A close sports match is more enjoyable than a wipe-out. In singing, though, there are things to learn that we'll miss if we don't hear examples from past and present side by side. I see value in both approaches.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Becca said:


> Willard White, Simon Estes, John Tomlinson, Aage Haugland, Mikhail Petrenko, John Relyea, Donald McIntire


Thanks for reminding me of John Tomlinson; Helga Dernesch calls him Tom Johnlinson.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> I think more of 1950+.
> Some that fit that bill are Christoff, Siepi, Treigle, Ghiuarov (married to Freni I think?), Pinza (at the end of his run)


I have all of them. I must be doing ok. After Bonetan and Woodduck agreeing, I am not going to bust my butt finding new basses when the best were historic.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> I think more of 1950+.
> Some that fit that bill are Christoff, Siepi, Treigle, Ghiuarov (married to Freni I think?), Pinza (at the end of his run)


If those guys are modern so are Elvis, wonder bread and I Love Lucy!

We could debate how to break down the recorded history of singing into periods and "ages" (Golden Age, Silver Age, etc.), which might be fun, but singing in the immediate postwar years was unmistakably different from what it's become subsequently. The '50s through the '70s might not have been the Golden Age of opera, but thanks to the confluence of technology and the remains of a great singing tradition it was the golden age of opera recordings, producing most of the recordings of complete operas which most of us still look to today as favorites and reference recordings. Many of us didn't know how good we had it when within our lifetimes it was possible to assemble more than one - or even one! - great cast for a performance or recording of a Verdi or Wagner opera.

Now we know how good we had it. As the song says, you don't know what you've got till it's gone.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Thanks for reminding me of John Tomlinson; Helga Dernesch calls him Tom Johnlinson.


He only pretty much sings obscure stuff or very long Wotan pieces on Youtube. Treigle sings mostly hymns but I already had him singing an aria, one of the few he sings.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

duplicate post..........


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Becca said:


> Willard White, Simon Estes, John Tomlinson, Aage Haugland, Mikhail Petrenko, John Relyea, Donald McIntire


Also Georg Zeppenfeld, Günter Groissböck, and Matti Salminen. Going back a bit, Martti Talvela.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

You could also add Paolo Montarsolo - but then you'd need to do one for basso buffo

P.S. One of the more popular current singers of the buffo roles is Alessandro Corbelli who considers himself to be a baritone, which I'd probably agree with.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Im remembering a few more: Bonaldo Giaiotti, Paul Plishka, Giulio Neri, Nicola Zaccaria, Fernando Corena, that were part of my operatic listening experience.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Samuel Ramey. Other than that, stick to historical basses (and even then, there...haven't been that many good basses in any era, especially not real basses rather than crushed down baritones)


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Samuel Ramey. Other than that, stick to historical basses (and even then, there...haven't been that many good basses in any era, especially not real basses rather than crushed down baritones)


I'd rather give you quality to choose from rather than represent the curent scene.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

So I think what stymied me was the fact that Pape was about the only one mentioned that I thought of as modern. 

This should be fun!


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

MAS said:


> Samuel Ramey,* Rene Pape*, Cesare Siepi, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Ruggero Raimondi, Kurt Moll
> Perhaps in the last 40/50 years!  I'm not a bass guy.


everything....except this.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Samuel Ramey. Other than that, stick to historical basses (and even then, there...haven't been that many good basses in any era, especially not real basses rather than crushed down baritones)


My first experience singing opera on stage was a production of Barber with Ramey hired to sing Basilio. He was a hero of mine at the time so I was PUMPED. He ended up canceling and I've yet to forgive him :lol:


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Bonetan said:


> My first experience singing opera on stage was a production of Barber with Ramey hired to sing Basilio. He was a hero of mine at the time so I was PUMPED. He ended up canceling and I've yet to forgive him :lol:


Did you ever meet him to tell him?


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## Aerobat (Dec 31, 2018)

From the more modern era, add Paata Burchuladze - at least until he went into politics for a while...


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

ScottK said:


> Did you ever meet him to tell him?


Nope! But I'm hoping I'll have the opportunity...


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Any basses of the last 30 years?
Well there is a dearth from 1990 to 2020. Off the top of my head I can only think of Ramey, Talvela, Furlanetto, Mastroni (new) and Schrott. Some of the best are really bass-baritones.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Any basses of the last 30 years?
> Well there is a dearth from 1990 to 2020. Off the top of my head I can only think of Ramey, Talvela, Furlanetto, Mastroni (new) and Schrott. Some of the best are really bass-baritones.


Well I feel proud of my search as I had ended up including most all of them and just added Furlanetto. Mastroni doesn't have much yet but he sounds great. He has no interesting competitors in the arias he does. I am now in a good position on basses. When last I reported I had 60 bass videos but just this week I have added 40 new ones. I finally found good resources for recommended Wagnerian basses and some are amazing. I lead with a big Wagner selection presently. I had a friend hear Tavela live and he said he was amazing. I have found a really hot really wonderful Russian bass who never knew of Putin who may be new to some of you. He is a very powerful actor. He was not only a very famous Boris, a real basso role, but sang baritone roles well also. While singing tons of roles, he was one of the most prestigious voice teachers in Russia, so he knew his craft. Just you wait.


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## Tere (Jul 28, 2020)

Alvaro Ramirez:


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Past decade I heard Furlanetto live several times in Don Quichote, Don Carlo, Simon Boccanegra and Nabucco and liked him despite of being on the brink of retirement. All five Attilas were sung by Abdrazakov (does anyone else sing it now?) I also heard him as Felipe II, after Furlanetto he's the only option I'm agree with. There is Stanislav Trofimov, seen and heard with constant pleasure in The life for the Tzar, Verdi's Requiem, I Vespri, La Forza, Tzar's bride (unfortunately not in Don Carlo). Schrott and Pape stuck in memory as Procida and Gurnemanz respectively. Dmitri Belosselsky was good in small part in Giovanna D'Arco and, according to broadcast, as Boris. Pavel Kudinov has a vast repertoire, but I heard him as Polifemo in the Porpora's opera of the same name. Also in barocco I heard Alastair Miles in Alcina. Ildebrando D'Arcangelo and Luca Pisaroni were nice in Don Giovanni. Mikhail Petrenko mentioned above (to my surprise) is very uneven, in my opinion, sometimes he sings some Wagner parts and, unexpectedly, Khovansky well. But he can't sing Gremin at all. Eugeny Nikitin is a bass-bariton, good in Russian and German repertoire, but strange sounding in italian. Vladimir Matorin was famous Boris, I heard him in The Love to the three oranges. 
It was all about live performances. In relatively modern broadcasts and recordings I can remember Gunter Groissbock, Vito Priante, Matti SalminenSalminen and, of course, Samuel Ramey.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Any basses of the last 30 years?
> Well there is a dearth from 1990 to 2020. Off the top of my head I can only think of Ramey, Talvela, Furlanetto, Mastroni (new) and Schrott. Some of the best are really bass-baritones.


How could I forget Pape??


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

And Alessandro Corbelli, who sang with several generations of Cenerentolas and Filles du regiment.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Christopher Purves. But he is bass-bariton, as I know.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

I am pretty happy with Michele Pertusi, who appears regularly in Norma.

I feel like appologising about it, because some people are not so satisfied with him, and I do not understand these nuances. I am simply happy he is really a bass, not a baritone.

EDIT: Heck, I am not appologising anymore, I like him and that's it !


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## alanloveard9 (8 mo ago)

Becca said:


> Willard White, Simon Estes, John Tomlinson, Aage Haugland, Mikhail Petrenko, John Relyea, Donald McIntire


McIntyre is/was actually a bass-baritone. Thanks to my living in Sydney during the height of his career. I heard him several times at the Sydney Opera House.
There is an excellent biography at Sir Donald McIntyre, Baritone


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Check out some of the YT videos of Russian bass Alexander Vinogradov. Here he is in _Nabucco_:


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

For Wagnerian roles there is Georg Zeppenfeld who is quite good. However, the best bass I've heard recently is Gunther Groissboeck.

N.


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## Montarsolo (5 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I actually have a very good representation of historic basses for the contest but aside from the wonderful Sam Ramey I am clueless about basses in the last 30 years. I actually get the feeling the best basses and baritones are historic. I can stick with them but if you want to suggest some more recent ones I'll check them out. I now have about 60 bass selections for the contest and about 730 selections total. About half my selections are sopranos as I know them best and by far they have the best selection. It is much easier to get 6 or 9 selections for sopranos as opposed to lower voices. I'm going to do a poll. Shall I stick with historic basses or diversify.


Nice question. I am a bass specialist (and I am not a bass but I like the voice type). Great basses from last 30 years (since 1990) are: .... I don't know.

Ramey/ Raimondi / Salminen etc. (born in de 40's) seems to be the last generation of good basses. I remember a review from times back where Scandiuzzi was called the best bass of his generation in Italian opera. The comment was made that this also says something about the current generation of basses.

We don't have basses like Greindl, Frick, Moll, Talvela. Or basso buffo's like Dara, Montarsolo, Corena. Or basses like Ghiaurov, Siepi, Vinco, Giaiotti, Raimondi for the Italian opera's.

I like this voice but don't know how he is in opera.


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