Baritones

Pavel Lisitsian

February 7, 2018

Pavel Lisitsian (1911-2004) was a Russian baritone of Armenian heritage. He started work as a laborer. When his vocal talent was recognized he trained at the Leningrad Conservatory. His vocal career started in that city at the Maly Leningrad State Opera. From 1940 until his retirement from the opera stage in 1966 he was a […]

Dmitri Hvorostovsky – Arias and Duets

December 8, 2017

The great Russian baritone died on Nov 22, 2017, two and a half years after announcing that he was suffering from a brain tumor. He was born in 1962 and escaped a difficult environment by virtue of his singing ability. The Siberian singer was clearly the best Italian style baritone of his era. His voice […]

Finale 15 – Rigoletto Act 2

April 3, 2017

Rigoletto is an opera the marks the beginning of a new style of composing for Verdi. It is a work filled with invention, but the end of Act 2 reprises the Verdi of Nabucco and Ernani. Just belt it out and sweep the audience away. Of course, no one sings the concluding duet between Rigoletto […]

Riccardo Stracciari

December 22, 2016

Recently, I posted an article about my choices for the 10 best baritones of the 20th century. Absent from this list was Ricardo Stracciari (1875-1955). Stracciari was such a great singer that I am uncertain why I omitted him. He was born in Casalecchio di Reno and died in Rome. In between he sang at […]

The 10 Best Baritones of the 20th Century

October 9, 2016

My piece on the 10 best tenors of the 20th century proved popular, so here’s a go at the 10 best baritones of the same epoch. Again, I emphasize that what follows is merely a personal opinion. I make no claim to omniscience. Readers are encouraged to make their own list. Actually, there are 11 […]

Recording of the Week: Leonard Warren 10 CD Set

July 6, 2016

Leonard Warren (1911-60) was the greatest baritone I ever heard. In the major Verdi parts no one else was close. He had everything. A voice of immense size, incomparable high notes, and a velvet control over his great instrument. He made his career at the Met, appearing at that great house 657 times between 1938 and […]

Robert Merrill Rareties

February 15, 2016

Robert Merrill (1917-2004) was one of the 20th centuries greatest baritones. His career at the Metropolitan Opera overlapped those of all the other great American baritones. When he debuted at the Met in 1945 Lawrence Tibbett was still singing at the New York house while Leonard Warren was beginning his tenure as the world’s greatest […]

Lawrence Tibbett

May 20, 2015

Lawrence Tibbett (1896-1960) – born in Bakersfield, California – was the first in a succession of great American baritones who have been dominant performers at the Metropolitan Opera and throughout the world during much of the 20th century. He made his Met debut in 1923 as Lavitsky in Boris Godunov. For the next few years he […]

Antenore Reali – Italian Baritone

September 18, 2013

Antenore Reali (1897-1960)) was a baritone active from 1921 until 1952 when he was forced to retire because of ill health. Even serious opera lovers may not have heard of him. After listening to his recordings you will likely share my surprise at his obscurity. He may have gone relatively unnoticed for several reasons. His […]

Leonard Warren’s 100th Birthday

April 25, 2011

Leonard Warren was born April 21, 1911. No baritone within living memory has matched him in the great Verdi baritone roles Below is the big second act aria from the most challenging of Verdi’s baritone roles – the title character from Rigoletto. He sang this part 89 times with at the Met both in New […]

Dimitri Platanias

November 28, 2010

Dimitri Platanias is a Greek baritone just emerging onto the international stage. He has a big beefy baritone that seems ideal for Verdi. A great Verdi baritone is about as rare an operatic bird as can be found in the lyric aviary. The scarcity of the breed is the consequence of Verdi’s writing much of his […]

Giuseppe Taddei

June 4, 2010

The renowned Italian baritone Giuseppe Taddei died June 2 just short of his 94th birthday. Taddei made most of his career in Italy and Vienna. He didn’t sing at the Met until 1985 when at age 69 he debuted at the New York house in the title role of Verdi’s Falstaff. There are a number […]

Ettore Bastianini

January 5, 2009

Ettore Bastianini was born and died in Sienna (1922 – 1967). From 1945 to 1951 he sang as a bass. He was good enough to sing at La Scala. But by ’51 he was convinced that he was a baritone. He reworked his technique and debuted as a baritone in 1952 without a lot of […]

Leonard Warren – The Great Verdi Baritone

January 26, 2008

Before the sound of Leonard Warren’s great baritone fades from living memory, I thought I’d try to recollect the impression he made on me during the 20 or so times I heard him sing at the old Met. Born Leonard Warenoff in 1911, he was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. Like his colleague Rubin Ticker, […]