Abass-baritone is amalesinger whose voice is quite low, like a deepbaritone, but not quite as low as really deepbass. People started to describe some singers as "bass-baritones" in the19th century, particularly when thecomposerRichard Wagner wroteoperas which needed singers with that kind ofheroic voice. Wagner's roles for bass-baritone include: the Dutchman inDer fliegende Holländer, Wotan/Der Wanderer in theRing Cycle and Hans Sachs inDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Wagner called these rolesHoher Bass ("high bass").
Some bass-baritones often singbaritone roles. Others prefer to singbass roles.
Famous singers who have been, or are, described as bass-baritone includeHans Hotter,José van Dam,Thomas Quasthoff,Friedrich Schnorr,John Shirley-Quirk,Bryn Terfel andWillard White.
