Dramatic Tenor Repertoire (V)

Exam Repertoire: ABRSM(I)

Which pieces are to be chosen in every step of the study process? Well, in my experience with a (dramatic tenor)student who wanted to take diploma exams with ABRSM, we chose carefully the repertoire he was able to sing every year. Here is the list.

DipABRSM.

For the Diploma, we had to choose pieces in different languages and from different musical periods and composers.In this first step, with the voice yet not completely developed, a must is the use of italian, but also pieces which begin in a low pitch or require the use of mezza di voce.

Gia il sole dal Gange, A. Scarlatti

Se il mio nome, Rossini

Après un Rève, Fauré

In the silent night, Rachmaninov

Liebesbotschaft, Schubert

Ich hab’im Traum geweinet, Schumann

Ein Traum, Grieg

Open thy marble jaws, O tomb, Händel

Deposuit potentes, Bach

Arie des Uriel, Haydn

Il mio tesoro, Mozart

The Choirmaster’s Burial, Britten

From this list only were to be sung a selection in exam, but all had a contribution to the developing of his voice. First, in italian, pieces by Scarlatti and Rossini are indeed healthy for the voice, and in very confortable tessitura, also helpful in looking for a beautiful and clear sound.

Pieces by Faure, Rachmaninov, Schubert and Schumann are also written in the same tessitura, but are intended to practice clear diction in different languages, correct style and mood, and the lieder/melodies musical and expression demands. Ein Traum by Grieg is a “classic” piece for dramatic voices (Flagstad, Melchior); you need some mezza di voce attacks in F, and a couple of resolutive and forte flat As.

The aria from Jephta is a low-middle tessitura piece, for practising mezza di voce, the singing of long vocal lines, and also useful as an introduction to dramatic expression. The fast aria by Bach, in latin, is a good introduction to fast roulades, written in a not too difficult tessitura, with some long low pitches, is perfect as the first Bach piece for a dramatic tenor voice. The aria from Die Schöpfung demands a beautiful line, carefully musical expression and could be also a first approaching similar in some way to Lohengrin‘s
In fernem Land.

The most difficult pieces from the list are the ones by Mozart and Britten. The Choirmaster’s Burial are intended to be a first piece from the 20th Century repertoire, with its difficulties in intonation and style, but it was chosen because is a good challenge for the student. And what about Mozart? Well, it’s a composer who is always demanding but at the same time healthy for the voice. In italian, Don Ottavio is written in a similar tessitura as for example Siegmund,and this aria in particular demands a voice able of lyrical and dramatic singing at the same time. It also demands a great mastery in breathing and the singing of roulades, and I think is the best choice for a dramatic tenor to enter opera world (this role was sung by tenors as Alberto Remedios, Thomas Moser or Hans Hopf).

Dramatic Tenor Repertoire (IV)

Let’s stop for a moment in our way of progresive repertoire for a dramatic tenor. We should consider some facts that many times are confused when people (musicians, critics, singers) talk about the characteristics of a dramatic tenor.

The first issue is register. Dramatic tenor doesn´t mean at all a voice of a tenor with no top notes. In fact, this particular type of tenor needs to have the most powerful and ringing top notes. For roles like Radames you need more than twenty B flats in one night, and not forget the high Bs and Cs in roles like Der Kaiser, Enée, both Siegfried or even Otello.

Dramatic doesn´t mean also singing forte all the time. On the contrary, dramatic voices are the ones which have to sing carefully with no pushing almost all the time, able of attacking piano or pianissimo every note in their register, especially the top ones (listen to the carefully pianissimi in voices like Leo Slezak or Bernd Aldenhoff) See for example the direct onset of flat Bs in the roles of Laka or Bacchus or Radames, or the high C in Götterdämmerung’s Siegfried, or the sustained As in Florestan, just to name a few. All this notes are much better emited with an initial mezza di voce and then quickly move to full voice. Listen to the onset of sound in singers like Jacques Urlus, Leo Slezak,Max Lorenz, Lauritz Melchior or the “economic” breathing of Wolfgang Windgassen.

Low notes are also a matter of misunderstanding. If you listen to Max Lorenz, you can notice that his first octave is always emited carefully, almost piano all the time, with no pushing or effort, but his notes are so well put in the mask, that they are heard without difficulty. So a dramatic tenor doesn´t need to force his low notes to sound like a bariton or a bass. What defines a dramatic tenor is the ability of sing robust high notes, with a lot of chest resonance, without losing the head resonance. Listen to Hans Beirer, a voice with the same colour and the same ringing in almost all its register.

Another important issue is tessitura. Especially while singing Wagner roles, the singer needs to sing again and again in passagio notes, from E to A. This tessitura is like singing for example Bach tenor arias (and in fact some training in singing Bach, like BWV 55, could be a real need for this type of tenor). Let’s not forget roulades, very useful for every singer. So baroque, classical and bel canto pieces will be always positive for studying.

Finally, let’s talk about an issue that is always completely wrong when you read any article in press or internet. If a dramatic tenor has a first career as a bariton is not because that’s the natural way, but is due to a mistake, from him or from his teachers. Lauritz Melchior was always a tenor, although he sang first as bariton. Yes, his voice colour in his low register could be confused with a bariton, but the other features of his voice of course not. Jacques Urlus sang only as tenor, and his voice colour is very much alike Melchior’s. Suthaus only sang as a bariton during his lessons but he was a tenor, and Lorenz, Aldenhoff, Slezak, Del Monaco, Beirer, Vickers, Windgassen, Dowd, Remedios,King,… were always tenors. With Svanholm the mistake was obvious, his colour is tenor for a trained ear even when singing some bariton piece. Vinay was probably a real bariton, something he had to confront at the end of his career; you can listen to his differente sound in passage when singing tenor pieces, and he never had ringing top notes. This mistake in classifying this type of voices is very common. Today we can name the case of Robert Dean-Smith, who started as a bariton even having a very lyrical voice (not dramatic at all but lyric-spinto).

Peter Hofmann in memoriam

German tenor Peter Hofmann, one of the last representatives of the Heldentenor fach, passed away on Nov. 26 due to pneumonia in a hospital in the German town of Selb. He was 66 years old and since 1999 he had retired from the artistic world due to Parkinson illness.

Peter Hofmann was born in Marienbad (Czech Republic) on August 22, 1944. His great physical shape togeteher with a low larynx technique (Del Monaco) allowed him both physically and vocally embody the ideal of Wagnerian tenor.

His musical career had begun when he was 16 as a singer and guitarist in a rock band. His operatic debut was in 1972 singing Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) in Lübeck, and then he sang for several opera companies in Germany.

His international breakthrough came with his debut in 1976 as Siegmund in the Bayreuth Festival, in the now legendary production of the Ring with the stage director Patrice Chéreau and conductor Pierre Boulez, and he was part of the festival until 1989.

He became a Wagner tenor (Siegmund, Loge, Stolzing, Lohengrin, Tristan, Parsifal), singing in Paris, Vienna, London, Chicago, San Francisco and New York (MET), and with conductors such as Karajan, Levine, Boulez and Bernstein.

With the decline of his vocal powers, he focused on his career as a rock and pop singer (which he never had abandoned), releasing a few albums that were big hits in Germany.

He ventured also into the field of musical, playing over 300 times, with his special voice, the leading role of The Phantom of the Opera in Hamburg production.

Dramatic Tenor Repertoire (III)

Baroque songs

In order to begin devoloping his passagio and higher notes, it is useful studying in first place baroque repertoire. The using of baroque vocal technique, falsetto and falsetto rinforzato, will be the way of improving vocal emission and gaining confidence in the middle and upper register.

A first group of pieces to try could be some Purcell songs.

You can begin with middle range pieces like “An evening Hymn”, “Fairest Isle” and “From Rosy bowers”, and after that try others like “Not all my torments”, “Sweeter than roses”, “Tis Nature’s Voice”, “If music be the food of love” or even “Lord, what is man”. They all have a range not upper than A and contain a lot of mezza di voce phrases, slow first tempos for warming the voice before singing faster, and above all the use of roulades, something that helps a lot in developing heavy voices.

This little group of pieces (choose one, two or three of them) could be used all your singer life, and come back to them again and again, in order to keep your voice light and fresh, and ready for more demanding repertoire.

Dramatic Tenor Repertoire (II)

A first attempt at Recital

The dramatic tenor voice has certain similarities to the baritone voice. That is shown physically with his passaggio note, E and not F like the other types of tenor voices. Like a baritone, the dramatic tenor can sing naturally and easily in the middle and low register. A first repertoire should take into account these characteristics and focus on middle or low tessitura pieces, which do not require a powerful voice.

A first recital could include some italian songs by Alessandro Scarlatti (like Toglieteme la vita ancor, La speranza que lusinga, O dolcissima speranza, Difesa non ha, Cara e dolce) and a song cycle in german like An die ferne Geliebte by Beethoven or even better Dichterliebe by Schumann.

The interpretation of relevance here is the exquisitely sung Schumann’s Dichterliebe by canadian tenor Jon Vickers. Listen carefully to his phrasing and especially the perfect use of mezza di voce. Any dramatic tenor should study well and follow that rendition as far as possible with his own voice.

Dramatic Tenor Repertoire (I)

What have in common opera or oratorio roles like Sanson (Händel), Idomeneo (Mozart), Admeto (Glück), Pollione (Bellini), Enée (Berlioz), Tristan (Wagner), Otello (Verdi), Don Jose (Bizet), Der Kaiser (Strauss) or Oedipus (Stravinski)?

Well, it’s not of course a complete list. And it’s also obvious they are all roles that were written for a tenor voice. But if we consider the demandings of the complete music in those famous works, we can realise that the tenor for those parts must have a ringing, rich, emotive and powerful voice.  This kind of voice is named  “Dramatic Tenor”, although historically speaking there are various subtypes, like the tenor robusto, the tenor di forza or the heldentenor.

The dramatic tenor is an uncommon voice. It can be quite easily confused with that of a lyric baritone or a lyric or spinto tenor when they haven´t developed their voices well, with free and proper vocal emission.

A real dramatic tenor needs a lot of patience. Their voices take time to develop, and it would be better not singing opera roles before his 40s. So, singing Lieder and Oratorio would be a good option in this case (even singing in a choir), or in case of singing opera, do it in lyric  or comprimario roles if it’s possible.

We are going to analyze (in next posts) the better repertoire for a voice of this type.

Listen now to the great Jacques Urlus singing a “Cujus Animam” by Rossini.

Soprano Voices in Puccini Operas

In Puccini heroines we find a variety of female characters, from the shy and delicate  women till the strong ones, and therefore voices from the most crystalline one to the  most dramatic and powerful.

For light and funny women, as Lauretta and Musetta, the light soprano.

For young women in love, as Liu and Mimi, the lyric soprano.

For women who suffer tragedies and injustices, as Manon, Butterfly and Suor Angelica, the spinto soprano.

For women with great strength and character, as Tosca, Minnie and Turandot, the dramatic  soprano.

Tenor Voice in Mozart Operas

In Mozart there was not a division of operatic voices similar to the one that exists  today. However, he composed his characters for specific singers with a certain vocal  characteristics. The careful vocal line and musical style requires a type of voice known  as lyrical or Mozart voice, but attending to different tessituras and acting demands, it  can be distinguished four different types of Mozart tenor.

Light or Bufo Mozart Tenor. Light, clear and flexible voice, great comic ability. Roles of  Don Basilio or Pedrillo, but also (in a more lower tessitura) Arbaces and Monostatos.

Contraltino Mozart Tenor. Vocal demands similar to Rossini contraltino, beeing in fact his  ancestor . Voice with some weight in the low tessitura but at the same time easy high  notes, and the ability to make great leaps intervals (twelfth or more). The ideal role for  this voice is Mitridate, but also Lucio Silla and Marzio demand this vocal type.

Lyric-spinto Mozart Tenor. Voice capable of lyrical singing (without losing the virility  that characterizes the roles), the realization of coloratura and great force in some  passages. It is the voice for Belmonte, Ferrando and Don Ottavio.

Dramatic or heroic Mozart Tenor. Wagnerian tenor predecessor, requires a certain volume in  his voice and great vocal presence. Able of sustained singing in the passagio tessitura,  and vocal weight in the middle and low registers. The roles of Tamino, Tito and Idomeneo  demand this type of voice.

“St. Ita’s vision” by Samuel Barber

Hermit Songs op.29 is a song cycle composed on a grant from the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation. It was premiered on October 30, 1953 at the Library of Congress Washington D.C. with the voice of the soprano Leontyne Price and the composer himself at  the piano.

The cycle is based on anonymous Irish texts from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries  written by monks and students, often at the margins of manuscripts they were copying or illustrating.  They are small poems, thoughts or comments, some very short, written in a surprisingly  direct today language, and they tell about daily life at that time, closer to nature and  God.

Barber had always felt a special attraction for irish culture and literature, and  the cycle composition began twelve months before its premiere after a trip to  Ireland in 1952.

In the case of St Ita’s vision, the number 3 from the cycle, the literal translation of  the existing text was considered inappropriate and was written again by Chester Kallmann.

We can see in the piece the great care of Barber in translating the text to music.

The first part, a recitative, shows in a dramatic declamatory style the plea of a woman who wants to have the Son of God as a baby to look after him. With a somewhat  more direct style, the narrator confirms that the wish has been granted.

Then the woman sings a real lullaby through variations on a simple melodic theme that  shows the deep lyrical and expressive Barber‘s sense, marking the sweet tone of the piece  with an andante con moto tempo.

The cooing of the baby in the arms of the woman is shown using the appropriate ternary tempo, the melody contour showing her diverse and changing emotions in doing it ,  even her pauses in the longer notes.

The piano part, mainly in arpeggios, contributes also to the sense of motion and the sweetness and dreamy atmosphere.



“Erlkönig” by Franz Schubert

Erlkönig (The Elf King) was probably composed in October 1815 during Schubert‘s most  active composition period (150 songs in just over a year). It has come down to us in  four versions that differ primarily in dynamics details, and it was finally published as  op.1 after unsuccessful attempts in the first volume of Goethe Lieder at the end of March  1821 . Apart from dynamic details, it contains bars here and there to facilitate the recovery  of the singer, added after rehearsals with baritone Johann Michael Vogl for the concert of  March 7th, 1821 in Kärtnertortheater (Vienna).

The text by Johann Wolfgang Goethe tells us the hurried journey through the  forest at night of a father taking his sick son riding back home to assist him. Along the way, the  father tried in vain to calm his child and allay their fears, because he tells how a (real  or imagined) figure, the Elf King, is strongly persuading him to go with him. Finally,  upon reaching home, the child has died.

This great ballad like any other exemplifies the dramatic lied with a perfect fusion  between poetry and music. The piece begins with the rapid triplets in octaves by the  piano, omnipresent throughout the work, introducing the fairy tale and terrorific  atmosphere, the constant motion and the hasty galloping horse, and the pounding of its  hooves on the ground.

Then the narrator and the three remaining characters will appear in turn, each one using a  distinctive vocal range and melodic and rhythmic figure. So the narrator, situated in the  middle range of the tessitura, always uses a minor key. The father,in the low range, uses  major and minor keys. The child in the high range and minor key, reflecting his childish   lighter voice and his terror. And finally, the Elf King, an ambiguous figure (we never  know if he is real o imagined) , has a waving vocal line that continuosly goes up and down  , with pianissimo arpeggios in the major key that reflects his persuasiveness and  falsehood.

Finally, the horse stops (ceasing the accompanying figure) and in a final dramatic  recitative (with final cadence that reflects the inevitability) the narrator tells us that  the child is dead.

For this piece, apart from the usual requirements for Lieder performance, some of the  vocal demandings are very close to those of the opera, and there have been great  performers of this work that belong to both genres. It is necessary a great sense of  drama, always transmitted through the voice and a minimum of gestures, and the ability to  change voice color to differentiate the narrator from the father, the son and the Elf  King.

If we look at the pitch range, even with the possibility of transport allowed for the  Lieder, this song is better for a middle voice (mezzo or baritone), or, between the high  voices, those with good middle and low notes (dramatic soprano or dramatic tenor).

In terms of style, despite being a classical piece, its text is essentially romantic.  However, the tempo and intonation must be keeped all the time, without ritardandos or  rubatos.  More freedom is allowed in the final recitative due to the needs of  expressiveness .

The piano player must have in mind the technical and expressive possibilities of a  fortepiano and limit him/herself while playing to the possibilities of that historical  instrument.