The lowest voice pitch

Speaking voice and singing voice do not necessarily conform. And finding your own vocal home is often not that easy and cannot be determined from the outset. Especially not for someone who doesn't come from a "vocal specialist environment". I, for example, was a total vocal greenhorn. A music lover who played the piano with great pleasure and ambition and also enjoyed going to a lot of opera performances, but someone who could never have dreamed of ever singing professionally on stage. In such a case, it is helpful if close relatives and acquaintances can instinctively identify a talent or ability from the singing they often hear in the shower and tell you about it. If the person concerned then comes to the conclusion that they have at least a usable, promising instrument, they go to a real connoisseur to sing for them and get an initial professional opinion.

In my case, this was the tenor Professor Franz Lukasovsky at the mdw, to whom I sang Wolfram's "Abendstern" aria from Tannhäuser. After all, I thought I was a future lyric baritone. But after he had me sing a few scales to test out my range, his conclusion was: "I'm going to have to disappoint you, you're not a baritone, at best a bass-baritone, but you're probably even heading towards bass." Moving towards bass means that at the age of 19 or 20, you are a long way from having a sustainable bass voice, but there are certain signs that you might one day achieve it. So you're only moving in the realm of possibility...

So, for the entrance exam to the Vienna University of Music, I switched gears and concentrated on bass roles, specifically Sarastro in The Magic Flute: not least because I was able to accompany myself on the piano. And what does a vocal greenhorn do in search of his own vocal sound in such a case? He often, very often (perhaps even too often) listens to a favorite singer - and imitates him consciously or unconsciously. In my case, this was Kurt Moll, which was amusingly obvious to the jury during the entrance examination. In other words, at the beginning: someone has to recognize where you are heading and someone should also make it clear to you that everyone has a very special voice and that you shouldn't try to walk around as a vocal copy of someone else, as this will sooner or later lead to a dead end.

In addition to talent, good material and a good teacher, the bass-to-be needs patience. A lot of patience. The maturing process takes years and, above all, often longer than with other voice types. While the lighter sopranos sometimes climb the biggest stages in leading roles as early as their 20s, all you hear as a bass at the same time is: "Not bad, in 15 years you could be considered as a Wagner bass." Nevertheless, persevering means almost as much to a young person as mastering a Zen task. Or, to put it another way: As a young bass, you're like a red wine winemaker. You regularly go to the cellar to see if the wine, i.e. the voice, is already "ready" - and for a very long time you are always disappointed. However, important things happen during this time. Laying and consolidating the foundations for a later career. The vocal range is carefully expanded and the technique is gradually developed - hand in hand with this also goes the familiarization with one's own voice. In which pitch range, in which tessitura do I generally feel comfortable and can maintain the muscle tone, where is the passaggio, i.e. the transitional range where I have to start covering the sound? How flexible is my voice in general? There are also other factors that require an honest decision. For example, am I at all up to certain roles in terms of the physical energy required, i.e. the stamina, which type of role do I basically come closest to in terms of personality structure, etc.? In this entire discovery process, your own wishful thinking is of little use. With a heavier, firmer voice, for example, a bass-baritone Figaro or Leporello is out of reach, regardless of whether you would have liked to have established yourself here as well. And vice versa. If you lack blackness and profound depth, you'd better not dream of the Grand Inquisitor or a Claggart in Billy Budd .

The generally standardized specialist categories are in truth only theoretical, even in the bass range. None of them exist in their pure form; there are overlaps and hybrid forms everywhere. It is not for nothing that the term "intermediate subject" exists. Nevertheless, here are a few classifications that are often heard in the scene: Firstly, there is the classical basso cantante, the high-pitched, legato-rich bass in the Italian sense, which covers a broad spectrum from bel canto bass roles to Fiesco, Banco, Nabucco, Philipp II, Méphistophélès and Russian roles such as Gremin or Boris Godunov, among others. Depending on the instrument's robustness and security at the top, he can even extend his feelers into the heroic baritone range, meaning he can also include roles such as Wotan, Sachs, Dutchman or Barak in his repertoire. My great role models in this context are Alexander Kipnis, Ezio Pinza, Hans Sotin and Robert Holl. This is followed by the cantabile basso profondo, the lush, soft, low voices with the ability to produce beautiful cantilenas: Sarastro clearly belongs here, also Gurnemanz, Daland, Rocco, Osmin. Important representatives were Martti Talvela, Kurt Moll and long-time ensemble member Walter Fink.

And then there are the pitch-black, deep, heavy profondi with that certain bang in their voice, the ones where you can be frightened by the mere appearance of the singer in the audience - a historical example would be Gottlob Frick, more recently Eric Halfvarson, Matti Salminen or Kurt Rydl. The aforementioned Claggart or the Grand Inquisitor are prime examples of this fach. The quasi opposite is the bass buffo with roles such as Don Basilio in Barbiere, Don Magnifico in Cenerentola or
Mustafà in L'italiana in Algeri. What is required here is a very agile, flexible voice and a capacity for comedy. The Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier also needs this - but not only this. The Ochs is certainly one of the most demanding and challenging roles in the bass repertoire. Vocally and - even if this may sound strange - intellectually. The singer has to be extremely precise at all times, despite the parlando-like basic ductus - after all, you don't just sing a few arias, but are anchored in the ensemble and therefore jointly responsible for and dependent on everyone else in the team, especially in the first act. It's not for nothing that you are mentally very tired the next day.

Of course, some things are also due to the sound ideal of the respective era. In the past, a Nozze-Figaro or Don Giovanni was sung by a Cesare Siepi, i.e. darker than is generally the case today. And for George London's Dutchman, you first had to find a Daland with a good color contrast. Those responsible for casting should therefore always pay attention to the relationships, match the voices to each other and not blindly proceed according to category.

In any case, the individual performer will spend a lifetime balancing out what fits best, what might be a good fit and what they should better leave alone. Unfortunately, the current music industry plays it too safe for my taste, loves to categorize and therefore loves a certain sterility and uniformity. Incidentally, this applies to all voice types and genres. Of course, it would be risky to offer a Hagen singer a stand-in in a Bach oratorio rich in coloratura. But that
not completely out of the question. A little more creativity, confidence, willingness to experiment and, yes, daring would also do many of the decision-makers in casting matters good. Big things require courage, risk and trust - a work in progress in the best sense of the word. Almost all singers suffer from this fact. Fortunately, there are a few stages that are pleasant exceptions in this respect.

The later years compensate for the aforementioned test of patience at the beginning of a career and the long wait for the first important parts. Being vocally healthy until the age of 65 is absolutely no witchcraft for a bass if you always pay attention to sufficient vocal hygiene, which means: in addition to technical exercises, also devoting yourself to song singing, which requires and trains a fine vocal connection and a consciously intellectual approach. Of course, a good choice of roles also prevents vocal wear and tear. And so it is no wonder that many a bass remains on the opera stage until well over 70. With certain characters, the audience even expects a certain maturity, a wealth of human experience from the interpreter - this is the well-deserved blessing of age in the bass interpreter.