Artist description SINGING-Operatic Bass, mostly self trained although I have studied, in the early sixties with Rhode Island voice teacher Herta Sperber. My voice extends from high F sharp down to low C if I sing every day. My vocal philosophy is-"A partial voice expresses a partial soul". ***************THE BASS VOICE- Of all the voice categories the basso is probably the most unusual. Consider the variety of subdivisions; bass-baritone (between bass and baritone in range and quality), basso cantante (smooth legato but with a baritonal quality), bass buffo (comic bass), basso nobile (sonorous and majestic with a "true bass" quality), basso profondo (the most sonorous of all voices, the "super heavyweight" division) and contrabasso (lowest of all voices). The last two mentioned are very often confused, they are not the same. A basso profondo is not necessarily extremely low in range, it is the quality, not frequency of pitch that determines the classification. The great Spanish basso profondo, Jose Mardones, arguably the most profondo of all voices ever recorded could sing the tenor aria Celeste Aida! But his low notes were relatively weak. In fact the superb Danish tenor Lauritz Melchior could probably hit lower frequencies than Mardones. Do not misunderstand, Mardones was truely seismic in his resonance "no one could even come close to that sound!" according to Rosa Ponselle who sang with all the great bassos of her day. Contrabassos, on the other hand, were not neccesarily "deep" in quality, but could hit extremely low frequencies such as one might hear in Russian choruses, sometimes going as low as E natural contrabass, far lower than Mardones. Other great profondos were the Italian Giulio Neri (a sea of sound) who could hit a profondo low C in full voice!, Alexander Kipnis the great Jewish basso profondo with an excellent "filatura" pianissimo which was an impressive contrast to his depth and volume. Jerome Hines, great volume and "muscularity" to his fine voice. David Ward, highly underated in my opinion. In one eight minute aria from Monteverdi's "Il Ballo Delle Ingrate" , Ward sang four low Cs in true profondo quality! The amazing African-American Paul Robeson was a true profondo in my view, listen to his "Joe Hill" and you will see what I mean. YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED

Music Style OPERATIC

Musical Influences Cesare Siepi,Mario Petri,Jerome Hines,Giulio Neri and Samuel Ramey

Location JOHNSTON, RHODE ISLAND - USA

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