Dear List,
High notes seem to carry further than low notes, and middle notes seem to
have more (subjective) power. Is there anything in print, online or in a
lister's imagination quantifying this?
Perhaps my question will be clearer if I explain why I'm asking it:
despite having sung choral bass for many years, down to a slavic low B in
one case, I'm painfully aware of the weakness of my low notes compared with
my middle and upper notes. Depending on a number of factors, I should have
a Brahms Requiem coming up in which I must sing the baritone solos - in
comparing recordings I note that Tom Krause, while having a very
Fischer-Dieskau approach to the text, has monster low notes unmatched by
F-D. Maybe it's a trick of the recording, but almost all of the great
repertoire was written before the age of electronic tricks and baritones
are expected to have pretty strong low notes, especially in ensembles. So
much so that today basses are often cast in baritone roles such as Don
Giovanni, Falstaff, the Rheingold Wotan etc.
In the last few performances I am often anxiously canvassing people for
"Was my G audible?" Pathetic really. They say it was, but what does that mean?
I want to know what is really expected of a baritone in the bottom end,
preferably something that I could test. Sorry to be so long-winded, but I
hunger to know. john
John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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