Great *Italian* Baritones of the Twentieth Century

With very few exceptions, baritones today simply do not rise to the level of baritones of previous generations. Upon revisiting the recordings of the great baritone luminaries of the twentieth century, you'll quickly realize that the baritone voice has undergone a steep process of degradation — not only in terms of teaching, vocal technique, and professional skill, but even in terms of what many people today, including opera professionals in positions of casting, understand a proper baritone sound to be. The baritone was never supposed to be a vague middle voice. It was not supposed to be a slightly darker tenor, a pleasant lyric voice with lower notes, or a generic male singer placed between tenor and bass. The great baritone voice had bronze, bite, authority, line, diction, nobility, menace, and command. Thus, before I can discuss today’s baritones, I felt it necessary to create a refresher video for the general public: a reminder of what baritones actually used to sound like — and therefore what they ought to sound like. The list, of course, is not exhaustive. In this video, you’ll hear eight great, iconic baritones of the twentieth century: Mattia Battistini Titta Ruffo Giuseppe Danise Apollo Granforte Ettore Bastianini Piero Cappuccilli Giorgio Zancanaro Leo Nucci In subsequent videos, I’ll discuss other major baritones from different schools, eras, and vocal categories, before addressing the shortage of truly great baritones on today’s stages. #opera #classicalmusic #baritone #operasinger #vocaltechnique #verdi #belcanto