Abaritone[1] is a type ofclassical[2] malesingingvoice whosevocal range lies between thebass and thetenorvoice-types. It is the most common male voice.[3][4] The term originates from theGreekβαρύτονος (barýtonos), meaning "low sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second F belowmiddle C to the F above middle C (i.e.F2–F4) in choral music, and from the second G below middle C to the G above middle C (G2 to G4) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of baritone include the baryton-Martin baritone (light baritone), lyric baritone,Kavalierbariton, Verdi baritone, dramatic baritone,baryton-noble baritone, and the bass-baritone.
The first use of the term "baritone" emerged asbaritonans, late in the 15th century,[5] usually in Frenchsacredpolyphonic music. At this early stage it was frequently used as the lowest of the voices (including the bass), but in 17th-century Italy the term was all-encompassing and used to describe the average male choral voice.
Baritones took roughly the range as it is known today at the beginning of the 18th century, but they were still lumped in with their bass colleagues until well into the 19th century. Many operatic works of the 18th century have roles marked as bass that in reality are low baritone roles (orbass-baritone parts in modern parlance). Examples of this are to be found, for instance, in the operas and oratorios ofGeorge Frideric Handel. The greatest and most enduring parts for baritones in 18th-century operatic music were composed byWolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They include Count Almaviva inThe Marriage of Figaro, Guglielmo inCosì fan tutte, Papageno inThe Magic Flute andDon Giovanni.[6]
In theatrical documents, cast lists, and journalistic dispatches that from the beginning of the 19th century till the mid-1820s, the termsprimo basso,basse chantante, andbasse-taille were often used for men who would later be called baritones. These included the likes ofFilippo Galli,Giovanni Inchindi, andHenri-Bernard Dabadie. The basse-taille and the proper bass were commonly confused because their roles were sometimes sung by singers of either actual voice part.[7]
Thebel canto style of vocalism which arose in Italy in the early 19th century supplanted thecastrato-dominatedopera seria of the previous century. It led to the baritone being viewed as a separate voice category from the bass. Traditionally, basses in operas had been cast as authority figures such as a king or high priest; but with the advent of the more fluid baritone voice, the roles allotted by composers to lower male voices expanded in the direction of trusted companions or even romantic leads—normally the province of tenors. More often than not, however, baritones found themselves portraying villains.
The principal composers of bel canto opera are considered to be:
The prolific operas of these composers, plus the works of Verdi's maturity, such asUn ballo in maschera,La forza del destino,Don Carlos/Don Carlo, the revisedSimon Boccanegra,Aida,Otello andFalstaff, blazed many new and rewarding performance pathways for baritones.Figaro inIl barbiere is often called the first true baritone role. However, Donizetti and Verdi in their vocal writing went on to emphasize the top fifth of the baritone voice, rather than its lower notes—thus generating a more brilliant sound. Further pathways opened up when the musically complex and physically demanding operas ofRichard Wagner began to enter the mainstream repertory of the world's opera houses during the second half of the 19th century.
The major international baritone of the first half of the 19th century was the ItalianAntonio Tamburini (1800–1876). He was a famous Don Giovanni in Mozart's eponymous opera as well as being a Bellini and Donizetti specialist. Commentators praised his voice for its beauty, flexibility and smooth tonal emission, which are the hallmarks of a bel canto singer. Tamburini's range, however, was probably closer to that of a bass-baritone than to that of a modern "Verdi baritone". His French equivalent was Henri-Bernard Dabadie, who was a mainstay of theParis Opera between 1819 and 1836 and the creator of several major Rossinian baritone roles, includingGuillaume Tell. Dabadie sang in Italy, too, where he originated the role of Belcore inL'elisir d'amore in 1832.
The most important of Tamburini's Italianate successors were all Verdians. They included:
Giorgio Ronconi, who created the title role in Verdi'sNabucco
Francesco Pandolfini [ca], whose singing at La Scala during the 1870s was praised by Verdi
Antonio Cotogni, a much lauded singer in Milan, London and Saint Petersburg, the first Italian Posa inDon Carlos and later a great vocal pedagogue, too
Filippo Coletti, creator of Verdi's Gusmano inAlzira, Francesco inI masnadieri, Germont in the second version ofLa traviata and for whom Verdi considered writing the (unrealized) operaLear[8]
Among the non-Italian born baritones that were active in the third quarter of the 19th century, Tamburini's mantle as an outstanding exponent of Mozart and Donizetti's music was probably taken up most faithfully by a Belgian,Camille Everardi, who later settled in Russia and taught voice. In France,Paul Barroilhet succeeded Dabadie as the Paris opera's best known baritone. Like Dabadie, he also sang in Italy and created an important Donizetti role: in his case, Alphonse inLa favorite (in 1840).
Luckily, thegramophone was invented early enough to capture on disc the voices of the top Italian Verdi and Donizetti baritones of the last two decades of the 19th century, whose operatic performances were characterized by considerable re-creative freedom and a high degree of technical finish. They includedMattia Battistini (known as the "King of Baritones"), Giuseppe Kaschmann (bornJosip Kašman) who, atypically, sang Wagner's Telramund and Amfortas not in Italian but in German, at theBayreuth Festival in the 1890s;Giuseppe Campanari;Antonio Magini-Coletti;Mario Ancona (chosen to be the first Silvio inPagliacci); andAntonio Scotti, who came tothe Met from Europe in 1899 and remained on the roster of singers until 1933.Antonio Pini-Corsi was the standout Italianbuffo baritone in the period between about 1880 andWorld War I, reveling in comic opera roles by Rossini, Donizetti andPaer, among others. In 1893, he created the part of Ford in Verdi's last opera,Falstaff.
Notable among their contemporaries were the cultured and technically adroit French baritonesJean Lassalle (hailed as the most accomplished baritone of his generation),Victor Maurel (the creator of Verdi's Iago, Falstaff and Tonio inLeoncavallo'sPagliacci),Paul Lhérie (the first Posa in the revised, Italian-language version ofDon Carlos), andMaurice Renaud (a singing actor of the first magnitude). Lassalle, Maurel and Renaud enjoyed superlative careers on either side of the Atlantic and left a valuable legacy of recordings. Five other significant Francophone baritones who recorded, too, during the early days of the gramophone/phonograph wereLéon Melchissédec andJean Noté of the Paris Opera andGabriel Soulacroix,Henry Albers andCharles Gilibert of the Opéra-Comique. The Quaker baritoneDavid Bispham, who sang in London and New York between 1891 and 1903, was the leading American male singer of this generation. He also recorded for the gramophone.
The oldest-born star baritone known for sure to have made solo gramophone discs was the Englishman SirCharles Santley (1834–1922). Santley made his operatic debut in Italy in 1858 and became one of Covent Garden's leading singers. He was still giving critically acclaimed concerts in London in the 1890s. The composer ofFaust,Charles Gounod, wrote Valentine's aria "Even bravest heart" for him at his request for the London production in 1864 so that the leading baritone would have an aria. A couple of primitive cylinder recordings dating from about 1900 have been attributed by collectors to the dominant French baritone of the 1860s and 1870s,Jean-Baptiste Faure (1830–1914), the creator of Posa in Verdi's original French-language version ofDon Carlos. It is doubtful, however, that Faure (who retired in 1886) made the cylinders. However, a contemporary of Faure's, Antonio Cotogni, (1831–1918)—probably the foremost Italian baritone of his generation—can be heard, briefly and dimly, at the age of 77, on a duet recording with the tenorFrancesco Marconi. (Cotogni and Marconi had sung together in the first London performance ofAmilcare Ponchielli'sLa Gioconda in 1883, performing the roles of Barnaba and Enzo respectively.)
There are 19th-century references in the musical literature to certain baritone subtypes. These include the light and tenorish baryton-Martin, named after French singerJean-Blaise Martin (1768/69–1837),[9] and the deeper, more powerful Heldenbariton (today's bass-baritone) of Wagnerian opera.
Mozart continued to be sung throughout the 19th century although, generally speaking, his operas were not revered to the same extent that they are today by music critics and audiences. Back then, baritones rather than high basses normally sang Don Giovanni – arguably Mozart's greatest male operatic creation. Famous Dons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries included Scotti and Maurel, as well as Portugal'sFrancisco D'Andrade and Sweden'sJohn Forsell.
The verismo baritone, Verdi baritone, and other subtypes are mentioned below, though not necessarily in 19th-century context.
The dawn of the 20th century opened up more opportunities for baritones than ever before as a taste for strenuously exciting vocalism and lurid, "slice-of-life" operatic plots took hold in Italy and spread elsewhere. The most prominentverismo baritones included such major singers in Europe and America as the polishedGiuseppe De Luca (the first Sharpless inMadama Butterfly),Mario Sammarco (the first Gerard inAndrea Chénier),Eugenio Giraldoni (the first Scarpia inTosca),Pasquale Amato (the first Rance inLa fanciulla del West),Riccardo Stracciari (noted for his richly attractivetimbre) andDomenico Viglione Borghese, whose voice was exceeded in size only by that of the lion-voicedTitta Ruffo. Ruffo was the most commanding Italian baritone of his era or, arguably, any other era. He was at his prime from the early 1900s to the early 1920s and enjoyed success in Italy, England and America (in Chicago and later at the Met).
The chief verismo composers wereGiacomo Puccini, Ruggero Leoncavallo,Pietro Mascagni,Alberto Franchetti,Umberto Giordano andFrancesco Cilea. Verdi's works continued to remain popular, however, with audiences in Italy, the Spanish-speaking countries, the United States and the United Kingdom, and in Germany, where there was a major Verdi revival in Berlin between the wars.
Outside the field of Italian opera, an important addition to the Austro-German repertory occurred in 1905. This was the premiere ofRichard Strauss'sSalome, with the pivotal part of John the Baptist assigned to a baritone. (The enormous-voiced Dutch baritoneAnton van Rooy, a Wagner specialist, sang John when the opera reached the Met in 1907). Then, in 1925, Germany'sLeo Schützendorf created the title baritone role inAlban Berg's harrowingWozzeck.[11] In a separate development, the French composerClaude Debussy's post-Wagnerian masterpiecePelléas et Mélisande featured not one but two lead baritones at its 1902 premiere. These two baritones,Jean Périer andHector Dufranne, possessed contrasting voices. (Dufranne – sometimes classed as a bass-baritone – had a darker, more powerful instrument than did Périer, who was a true baryton-Martin.)
Characteristic of the Wagnerian baritones of the 20th century was a general progression of individual singers from higher-lying baritone parts to lower-pitched ones. This was the case with Germany'sHans Hotter. Hotter made his debut in 1929. As a young singer he appeared in Verdi and created the Commandant in Richard Strauss'sFriedenstagand Olivier inCapriccio. By the 1950s, however, he was being hailed as the top Wagnerian bass-baritone in the world. His Wotan was especially praised by critics for its musicianship. Other major Wagnerian baritones have included Hotter's predecessorsLeopold Demuth, Anton van Rooy,Hermann Weil,Clarence Whitehill,Friedrich Schorr,Rudolf Bockelmann andHans-Hermann Nissen. Demuth, van Rooy, Weil and Whitehill were at their peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries while Schorr, Bockelmann and Nissen were stars of the 1920s and 1930s.
One of the best known Italian Verdi baritones of the 1920s and 1930s,Mariano Stabile, sang Iago and Rigoletto and Falstaff (atLa Scala) under the baton ofArturo Toscanini. Stabile also appeared in London, Chicago and Salzburg. He was noted more for his histrionic skills than for his voice, however. Stabile was followed byTito Gobbi, a versatile singing actor capable of vivid comic and tragic performances during the years of his prime in the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. He learned more than 100 roles in his lifetime and was mostly known for his roles in Verdi and Puccini operas, including appearances as Scarpia opposite sopranoMaria Callas as Tosca atCovent Garden.
Perhaps the first famous American baritone appeared in the 1900s. It was the American-born but Paris-basedCharles W. Clark who sang Italian, French and German composers. An outstanding group of virile-voiced American baritones appeared then in the 1920s. The younger members of this group were still active as recently as the late 1970s. Outstanding among its members were the Met-based VerdiansLawrence Tibbett (a compelling, rich-voiced singing actor),Richard Bonelli,John Charles Thomas,Robert Weede,Leonard Warren andRobert Merrill. They sang French opera, too, as did the American-born but also Paris-based baritone of the 1920s, and 1930sArthur Endreze.
Also to be found singing Verdi roles at the Met, Covent Garden and the Vienna Opera during the late 1930s and the 1940s was the big-voiced Hungarian baritone,Sandor (Alexander) Sved.
The leading Verdi baritones of the 1970s and 1980s were probably Italy'sRenato Bruson andPiero Cappuccilli, America'sSherrill Milnes, Sweden'sIngvar Wixell and the Romanian baritoneNicolae Herlea. At the same time, Britain's SirThomas Allen was considered to be the most versatile baritone of his generation in regards to repertoire, which ranged from Mozart to Verdi and lighter Wagner roles, through French and Russian opera, to modern English music. Another British baritone,Norman Bailey, established himself internationally as a memorable Wotan and Hans Sachs. However, he had a distinguished, brighter-voiced Wagnerian rival during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s in the person ofThomas Stewart of America. Other notable post-War Wagnerian baritones have been Canada'sGeorge London, Germany'sHermann Uhde and, more recently, America'sJames Morris.
Among the late-20th-century baritones noted throughout the opera world for their Verdi performances wasVladimir Chernov, who emerged from the formerUSSR to sing at the Met. Chernov followed in the footsteps of such richly endowed East European baritones asIppolit Pryanishnikov (a favorite of Tchaikovski's),Joachim Tartakov (an Everardi pupil),Oskar Kamionsky (an exceptionalbel canto singer nicknamed the "Russian Battistini"),Waclaw Brzezinski (known as the "Polish Battistini"),Georges Baklanoff (a powerful singing actor), and, during a career lasting from 1935 to 1966, theBolshoi'sPavel Lisitsian.Dmitri Hvorostovsky andSergei Leiferkus are two Russian baritones of the modern era who appear regularly in the West. Like Lisitsian, they sing Verdi and the works of their native composers, including Tchaikovsky'sEugene Onegin andThe Queen of Spades.
In the realm of French song, the bass-baritoneJosé van Dam and the lighter-voicedGérard Souzay have been notable. Souzay's repertoire extended from the Baroque works ofJean-Baptiste Lully to 20th-century composers such asFrancis Poulenc.Pierre Bernac, Souzay's teacher, was an interpreter of Poulenc's songs in the previous generation. Older baritones identified with this style include France'sDinh Gilly andCharles Panzéra and Australia'sJohn Brownlee. Another Australian,Peter Dawson, made a small but precious legacy of benchmark Handel recordings during the 1920s and 1930s. (Dawson, incidentally, acquired his outstanding Handelian technique from Sir Charles Santley.) Yet another Australian baritone of distinction between the wars wasHarold Williams, who was based in the United Kingdom. Important British-born baritones of the 1930s and 1940s wereDennis Noble, who sang Italian and English operatic roles, and the MozartianRoy Henderson. Both appeared often at Covent Garden.
Prior to World War II, Germany's Heinrich Schlusnus, Gerhard Hüsch and Herbert Janssen were celebrated for their beautifully sung lieder recitals as well as for their mellifluous operatic performances in Verdi, Mozart, and Wagner respectively. After the war's conclusion,Hermann Prey andDietrich Fischer-Dieskau appeared on the scene to take their place. In addition to his interpretations of lieder and the works of Mozart, Prey sang in Strauss operas and tackled lighter Wagner roles such as Wolfram or Beckmesser. Fischer-Dieskau sang parts in 'fringe' operas by the likes ofFerruccio Busoni andPaul Hindemith as well as appearing in standard works by Verdi and Wagner. He earned his principal renown, however, as a lieder singer. Talented German and Austrian lieder singers of a younger generation includeOlaf Bär,Matthias Goerne,Wolfgang Holzmair andJohannes Sterkel (which are also performing or have performed regularly in opera),Thomas Quasthoff,Stephan Genz [de] andChristian Gerhaher. Well-known non-Germanic baritones of recent times have included the ItaliansGiorgio Zancanaro andLeo Nucci, the FrenchmanFrançois le Roux, the CanadiansGerald Finley andJames Westman and the versatile AmericanThomas Hampson, his compatriotNathan Gunn and the EnglishmanSimon Keenlyside.
Baritone vocal range (G2–G4) notated on thebassstaff (left), and (A2–A4) on the piano keyboard in green with middle C (C4) shown by a black dot
Thevocal range of the baritone lies between thebass and thetenorvoice types. The baritone vocal range is usually between the second G below middle C (G2) and the G above middle C (G4).[citation needed] Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second F belowmiddle C to the F above middle C (i.e.F2–F4) in choral music,[citation needed] and from the second A below middle C to the A above middle C (A2 to A4) in operatic music.[citation needed]
Within the baritone voice type category are seven generally recognized subcategories: baryton-Martin baritone (light baritone); lyric baritone;Kavalierbariton; Verdi baritone; dramatic baritone;baryton-noble baritone; and the bass-baritone.
The baryton-Martin baritone (sometimes referred to as light baritone)[13] lacks the lower G2–B2 range a heavier baritone is capable of, and has a lighter, almost tenor-like quality. Its common range is from C3 to the B above middle C (C3 to B4).[14] Generally seen only in French repertoire, thisFach was named after the French singerJean-Blaise Martin. Associated with the rise of the baritone in the 19th century, Martin was well known for his fondness forfalsetto singing, and the designation 'baryton Martin' has been used (Faure, 1886) to separate his voice from the 'Verdi Baritone', which carried the chest register further into the upper range.[6] This voice type shares theprimopassaggio andsecondo passaggio with the Dramatic Tenor and Heldentenor (C4 and F4 respectively), and hence could be trained as a tenor.
The lyric baritone is a sweeter, milder sounding baritone voice, lacking in harshness; lighter and perhaps mellower than the dramatic baritone with a highertessitura. Its common range is from the A below C3 to the A♭ above middle C (A2 to A♭4).[15] It is typically assigned to comic roles.
TheKavalierbariton baritone is a metallic voice that can sing both lyric and dramatic phrases, a manly, noble baritonal color. Its common range is from the A below low C to the G above middle C (A2 to G4).[citation needed] Not quite as powerful as the Verdi baritone who is expected to have a powerful appearance on stage, perhaps muscular or physically large.
The Verdi baritone is a more specialized voice category and a subset of the Dramatic Baritone. Its common range is from the G below low C to the B♭ above middle C (G2 to B♭4).[17] A Verdi baritone refers to a voice capable of singing consistently and with ease in the highest part of the baritone range. It will generally have a lot ofsquillo.Verdi baritone roles in opera:
The dramatic baritone is a voice that is richer, fuller, and sometimes harsher than a lyric baritone and with a darker quality. Its common range is from the G half an octave below low C to the G above middle C (G2 to G4). The dramatic baritone category corresponds roughly to the Heldenbariton in the GermanFach system except that some Verdi baritone roles are not included. The primo passaggio and secondo passaggio of both the Verdi and dramatic baritone are at B♭ and E♭ respectively, hence the differentiation is based more heavily on timbre and tessitura. Accordingly, roles that fall into this category tend to have a slightly lower tessitura than typical Verdi baritone roles, only rising above an F at the moments of greatest intensity. Many of thePuccini roles fall into this category. However, it is important to note that, for all intents and purposes, a Verdi Baritone is simply a Dramatic Baritone with greater ease in the upper tessitura (Verdi Baritone roles center approximately a minor third higher). Because the Verdi Baritone is sometimes seen as a subset of the Dramatic Baritone, some singers perform roles from both sets of repertoire. Similarly, the lower tessitura of these roles allows them frequently to be sung by bass-baritones.
Thebaryton-noble baritone is French for "noble baritone" and describes a part that requires a noble bearing, smooth vocalisation and forceful declamation, all in perfect balance. This category originated in theParis Opera, but it greatly influencedVerdi (Don Carlo inErnaniandLa forza del destino; Count Luna inIl trovatore;Simon Boccanegra) and Wagner as well (Wotan;Amfortas). Similar to the Kavalierbariton.
The bass-baritone range extends from the F below low C to the F or F♯ above middle C (F2 to F4 or F♯4).[18] Bass-baritones are typically divided into two separate categories: lyric bass-baritone and dramatic bass-baritone.[19]
Inbarbershop music, the baritone part sings in a similar range to the lead (singing the melody) however usually singing lower than the lead. A barbershop baritone has a specific and specialized role in the formation of the four-part harmony that characterizes the style.
The baritone singer is often the one required to support or "fill" the bass sound (typically by singing thefifth above the bass root) and to complete a chord. On the other hand, the baritone will occasionally find himself harmonizing above the melody, which calls for a tenor-like quality. Because the baritone fills the chord, the part is often not very melodic.
Inbluegrass music, the melody line is called the lead. Tenor is sung an interval of a third above the lead. Baritone is the fifth of the scale that has the lead as a tonic, and may be sung below the lead, or even above the lead (and the tenor), in which case it is called "high baritone". Conversely, the more "soul" baritones have the more traditional timbre, but sing in a vocal range that is closer to the tenor vocal range. Some of these singers includeDavid Ruffin,[20]Wilson Pickett,Otis Redding,Tom Jones,[21]Michael McDonald,[22] andLevi Stubbs of theFour Tops.[23]
^Seesholtz, John Clayton (1 May 2012)."The origin of the Verdi baritone".Journal of Singing.68 (5):521–526.Archived from the original on 12 April 2024. Retrieved26 May 2023.
Faure, Jean-Baptiste (1886)La voix et le chant: traité pratique, Heugel, published in English translation asThe Voice and Singing (Francis Keeping and Roberta Prada, translators), Vox Mentor, 2005.
Matheopoulos, H. (1989)Bravo – The World's Great Male Singers Discuss Their Roles, Victor Gollancz Ltd.
Bruder, Harold, liner notes,Maurice Renaud: The Complete Gramophone Recordings 1901–1908,Marston Records, 1997. (Discusses Renaud and many of his baritone contemporaries as well as the stylistic change in operatic singing at the turn of the 20th century.) Retrieved 4 March 2008.
