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Baritone and Bass

Episode 4 of 4

Antonio Pappano explores the great roles and singers through the prism of the main voice types. He concludes by looking at the baritones and basses.

Series in which conductor Sir Antonio Pappano explores the great roles and the greatest singers of the last hundred years through the prism of the main classical voice types - soprano, tenor, mezzo-soprano, baritone and bass. Through discussion, demonstrations and workshops, Pappano explores every aspect of the art of great singing.

Gods, demons, drunks, lechers, silly old codgers, double-dyed villains - life on stage for the bass is rarely dull. The baritone, meanwhile, is the most common male voice type, and yet the parts he sings - especially in the operas of Verdi - are anything but.

Pappano explores the lowest male voice types, and the roles they play, in comedy as well as tragedy. How do basses sing so low? What different qualities does a baritone bring to a Schubert song? He meets the Russian 'oktavists', who sing a whole octave lower than the standard bass. With the help of leading practitioners - Bryn Terfel, John Tomlinson, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Christian Gerhaher, Alessandro Corbelli and Willard White - Pappano uncovers the tricks of the trade. He examines in detail some key performances from the legendary basses and baritones of the past - Feodor Chaliapin, Tito Gobbi, Paul Robeson, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Boris Christoff , Nicolai Ghiaurov and Ezio Pinza.

59 minutes

Last on

Tue 12 Nov 2019 01:30
±«Óătv Four

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Te Deum, Tosca

    Performer: Bryn Terfel.

  • Stephen Sondheim

    Sweeney Todd

    Performer: Bryn Terfel.

  • Richard Wagner

    Das Rheingold

    Performer: Bryn Terfel.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Non piĂș andrai, Le nozze di Figaro

    Performer: Tito Gobbi.

  • Gioachino Rossini

    Largo al factotum, Il barbiere di Siviglia

    Performer: Tito Gobbi.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Tosca Ăš un buon falco, Tosca

    Performer: Tito Gobbi.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Alfin, t'ho colto, Falstaff

    Performer: Tito Gobbi.

  • Gioachino Rossini

    A un dottor della mia sorte, Il barbiere di Siviglia

    Performer: Alessandro Corbelli.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Va', vecchio John, Falstaff

    Performer: Tito Gobbi.

  • Franz Schubert

    An die mĂŒsik

    Performer: Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Neue Liebe, neues Leben

    Performer: Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau.

  • Franz Schubert

    Erlkönig D.328

    Singer: Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau. Performer: Gerald Moore.

  • Gustav Mahler

    Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen

    Performer: Christian Gerhaher.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Son Pereda son ricco d'onore, La forza del destino

    Performer: Ettore Bastianini.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Urna fatale del mio destino, La forza del destino

    Performer: Ettore Bastianini.

  • Charles Gounod

    Le veau d'or, Faust

    Performer: NicolaĂŻ Ghiaurov.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Solche hergelaufne Laffen, Die EntfĂŒhrung aus dem Serail

    Performer: Willard White.

  • Henry Purcell

    Wondrous machine! Ode for St Cecilia's Day

    Performer: John Tomlinson.

  • Richard Wagner

    Hoi-ho! GötterdÀmmerung

    Performer: John Tomlinson.

  • Harrison Birtwistle

    In dreams I remember, The Minotaur

    Performer: John Tomlinson.

  • Trad.

    Song of the Volga Boatmen

    Performer: Feodor Chaliapin.

  • Modest Mussorgsky

    Death of Boris, Boris Godunov

    Performer: Feodor Chaliapin.

  • Trad.

    Song of the Volga Boatmen

    Performer: Boris Christoff.

  • Modest Mussorgsky

    Death of Boris, Boris Godunov

    Performer: Boris Christoff.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Ella giammai m'amĂČ, Don Carlo

    Performer: Ferruccio Furlanetto.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    LĂ  ci darem, Don Giovanni

    Performer: Ezio Pinza.

  • Richard Rodgers

    Some Enchanted Evening, South Pacific

    Performer: Ezio Pinza. Composer: Oscar Hammerstein II.

  • Jerome Kern

    Ol’ Man River, Showboat

    Performer: Paul Robeson. Composer: Oscar Hammerstein II.
  • 00:04

    Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra: Rouslan Raychev

    Gioachino Rossini: The Barber of Saville: Overture

  • 00:51

    John Williams

    Fox Fanfare

Credits

Presenter Antonio Pappano
Executive Producer Mark Cooper
Series Producer David Jeffcock
Director Dominic Best
Producer Dominic Best
Participant Alessandro Corbelli
Participant Cecilia Gobbi
Participant Ferruccio Furlanetto
Participant Christian Gerhaher
Participant Vladimir Miller
Participant Bryn Terfel
Participant John Tomlinson
Participant Willard White

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