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BASSO BUFFO
A bass (or basso in Italian) is a male singer who sings in the lowest vocal range of the human voice. A typical bass has a range extending from around the F below the bottom of the bass clef to the E above middle C (i.e. F2-E4). [1] Bass is also used to refer to a low speaking voice.
Types
In classical music, and particularly in opera, the following distinctions are often made among different kinds of bass voices:
- Basso profondo (frequently spelled basso profundo in English, also French basse noble) is a particularly deep and resonant voice. It may reach the D, C or even B flat below the bass clef, but is most distinguished by its dark and cavernous timbre. This kind of bass typically plays an older man. In Russian choir or music sung by Buddhist monks it is even one octave lower than normal bass range.
- Basso cantante (French basse chantante) is a lighter, more lyrical voice, perhaps with a slightly higher range. A typical role in opera is Escamillo from Bizet's Carmen.
- Basso buffo literally means "comic bass." It is used to describe operatic roles that do not call for lyrical, elaborate singing but do require a strong comic acting ability. A typical role in opera is Don Bartolo from Rossini's opera Il barbiere di Siviglia.
- Bass-baritone is a voice with the resonant low notes of the typical bass but with the ability to sing in a baritonal tessitura. Sometimes it also refers to a voice with a range and tone somewhere between a bass and a baritone. A typical role in opera is Wotan from Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Bass roles in opera
- Sarastro, The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Basso Profondo.
- Bartolo, The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Basso Buffo.
- King Phillip and the Grand Inquisitor, Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi. Basso Cantante and Basso Profondo.
- Baculus, Der Wildschütz by Albert Lortzing. Schwerer Spielbass.
- Osmin, Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Basso Buffo.
- Don Pasquale, Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti. Basso Buffo.
- Don Alfonso, Cosi Fan Tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Bass-Baritone.
- Zaccaria, Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi. Lyric Bass.
- Mephistofeles, Faust by Charles Gounod. Lyric Bass.
- König Marke, Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner. Dramatic bass.
- Banquo, Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi. Dramatic bass.
- Dottore Grenvil and Marchesse d'Obigny, La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi.
- Leporello, Masetto, and the Commandant Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Bass roles in operettas
Bass roles in musicals
See also
References
- ^ OWEN JANDER, LIONEL SAWKINS, J. B. STEANE, ELIZABETH FORBES: 'Bass', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 14 June 2006), <http://www.grovemusic.com>
External links
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