http://www.sfcv.org/2008/06/17/a-bass-for-all-seasons/ Eric Owens, asked his opinion about different classifications - /Q. I'm curious about the distinction between bass and bass-baritone. People often use the terms interchangeably. Half of your reviews call you a bass and half of them say bass-baritone. There's a baritone singing Wotan [in the San Francisco Opera production of /Das Rheingold/] right now. And on your recording of Verdi's /Requiem/ your low B sounds like a bass note to me!/ A. I know. Take a person like James Morris. He still calls himself a bass and he's sung many a baritone role. Sam Ramey still calls himself a bass when he could really call himself a bass-baritone. It varies from person to person. I think there are different colors [between the voice types]. When I hear James Morris, I hear a bass-baritone because he has a color that can go both ways. /Q. Did you hear the Fasolt singing in /Das Rheingold/ right now?/ A. Yes. Andrea Silvestrelli. I mean, that's a bass! Or Like Kurt Moll, those guys. I don't consider myself one of those kind of basses even though there's some crossover with the repertoire. Or people like Matti Salminen or, years ago, Matti Talvela. /He's the Finnish bass who died fairly young?/ Yes. What a voice that was. Amazingly sweet but really bass-y at the same time. /But you still do Sarastro and the lower roles. So what you're saying about your voice settling higher ... / It doesn't mean that I've lost the bottom. /So, King Phillip in /Don Carlo/?/ Oh, absolutely, that's a dream role to do, but I would also love to do Amfortas in /Parsifal/, which is higher. I just have to make sure, when I do certain roles back to back, that they aren't so incredibly different from each other. And it suits my personality because I love a variety of repertoire. Janos Gereben www.sfcv.org [log in to unmask] *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html