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They are villains, kings, fathers, and they are the lowest male voices in opera. Baritone, bass-baritone and bass — we learn about the qualities required to embody these complex images from the legends of modern opera.
Frequent but unusual
The baritone is the most common male voice, but it is far from common. Warm, versatile, the lowest possible, it is usually inherent in complex and multifaceted characters in operas. Composers draw on this vocal range to give the performance a dramatic dimension. Ludovic Tezier is one of the most famous baritones in the world.
«A baritone is a character who in a romantic opera often personifies or experiences evil, catastrophe, tragedy. If this does not happen to him, then he somehow induces these events, makes the outcome bad,» he says. In general, these are rather gloomy, rather tragic characters, it is very interesting to embody them on stage.»
Giuseppe Verdi, who fell in love with this type of voice, opened the way for baritones in the opera. He maximized the potential of baritone parts in the operas Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, Rigoletto or Falstaff. «The baritones were looking for a match for the tenor, who was sometimes an evil double,» recalls Jules Cavalier, editor-in-chief of the magazine L'Avant-Scène Opéra. «On stage, they are proud heroes who want to defend their honor and oppose the tenors.»
Ludovic Tezier teaches students perfect diction during master classes at the Paris Opera Academy. «I pay a lot of attention to text, diction and meaning, and that's actually the job of a baritone,» he confirms. «When you're a great soprano, a great tenor, sometimes you have to change the vowels a little to stretch out that dizzying range. The baritone has other resources, other qualities, and last but not least, the ability to clearly sing the text.»
Powerful people
Bass-baritone is an impressive voice that combines the features of baritone and bass. They tend to have a specific body type to help maintain such a powerful range. «Bass-baritones are often very tall people, with a powerful torso, shoulders, strong body. They have a large head and a powerful neck, hiding large vocal cords, which give tremendous sound power, and also, due to their length, allow them to reach an extreme range, says Gary Coward, lecturer at the Royal Opera House in London.
Powerful people with a multifaceted stage presence: in Puccini's Tosca, the protagonist is the object of desire for the perfidious Baron Scarpia, chief of police, who is sung by a bass-baritone «He's a very dark-colored baritone who plays the role of a villain,» comments Jules Cavalier, «Scarpia is the archetypal bass-baritone. It has this darkness. He is depraved, he personifies evil».
Scarpia is one of the most important roles for Welsh opera star Bryn Terfel. “There are roles that you look forward to,” he says. “When I have Tosca, I get so excited. With this opera, you are carried away by a wave of incredible emotions. This is a very difficult job in terms of vocals. doesn't look like someone who runs 10 miles a day, but I swim a lot.It's good for a voice resource, I know I can sing a long phrase in one breath.»
Furlanetto: The Bass Privilege
The bass is the deepest range of the voice and is rare. During his almost fifty-year career, Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto has created many complex characters. «Bass is an exceptional voice, because all bass parts are not only vocals, you also have to be a real interpreter. You get kings, high priests, devils,» he says. — You really get used to the character and suffer when he suffers. Everything has to come from the heart, honestly.»
«We tend to associate deep voices with maturity,» Coward adds. theater, the sound seems to envelop and caress.»
«Low voices are reminiscent of velvet, good Bordeaux wine, very full-bodied,» says Cavalier. — The voices of virtuosos, tenors and sopranos are like stars in the night sky. But they cannot shine unless there is a deep blue sky behind them. Magic happens at the junction of two phenomena.»