Heldentenor

Special categories include the tenore di grazia (many Rossini roles); the lyric tenor (eg Alfredo in La Traviata); the halfway house of the lirico-spinto tenor (Cavaradossi in Tosca); spinto (Canio in Pagliacci); and – for the major Wagner roles – the Heldentenor.

Who's who: the different voices in opera

Ashley Holland as the father, Nicholas Phan as the favourite son? really had the measure of the vocal writing, which in the latter case demands almost Heldentenor credentials, but the joint forces of the BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Chorus were magnificently focused and full-toned.

BBCSO/Robertson

Sometimes it's nice to be able to hear a Heldentenor of the first rank.

Archive 2009-05-01

Sometimes it's nice to be able to hear a Heldentenor of the first rank.

Listening to you...

I don't think a lyric tenor is the best choice or the original intent for Das Buch, though a Heldentenor with the ability to deal with the high end of the tessitura might be a little hard to find these days.

Archive 2008-04-01

I don't think a lyric tenor is the best choice or the original intent for Das Buch, though a Heldentenor with the ability to deal with the high end of the tessitura might be a little hard to find these days.

Another Buch

James King sings Parsifal, as he did for Pierre Boulez in 1970, with the same echt-Heldentenor tone and phrasing that he had at his best.

Speaking of Parsifal

This has the singer doing more or less a recital of some major Wagner Heldentenor bits.

Windgassen singt

He has a powerful voice, though not an outright Heldentenor, a smooth tone, and excellent German.

Giulini's Salzburg Das Lied

James King sings Parsifal, as he did for Pierre Boulez in 1970, with the same echt-Heldentenor tone and phrasing that he had at his best.

Archive 2007-07-01