Baritone (or barytone) is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning ''deep (or heavy) sounding'', music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C (i.e. F₂–F₄) in choral music, and from the second G below middle C to the G above middle C (G₂ to G₄) in operatic music, but can be extended at either end.

History

The first use of the term "baritone" emerged as ''baritonans'' late in the 15th century, usually in French sacred polyphonic music. At this early stage it was frequently used as the lowest of the voices (including the bass), but in 17th century Italy the term was all-encompassing and used to describe the average male choral voice.

Baritones took roughly the range we know today at the beginning of the 18th century but they were still lumped in with their bass colleagues until well into the 19th century. Indeed, many operatic works of the 18th century have roles marked as bass that in reality are low baritone roles (or bass-baritone parts in modern parlance). Examples of this are to be found, for instance, in the operas and oratorios of George Frideric Handel. The greatest and most enduring parts for baritones in 18th-century operatic music were composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They include Count Almaviva in ''The Marriage of Figaro'', Guglielmo in ''Così fan tutte'', Papageno in ''The Magic Flute'' and the Don in ''Don Giovanni''.

19th century

The bel canto style of vocalism which arose in Italy in the early 19th century supplanted the castrato-dominated ''opera seria'' of the previous century. It led to the baritone being viewed as a separate voice category from the bass. Traditionally, basses in operas had been cast as authority figures such as a king or high priest; but with the advent of the more fluid baritone voice, the roles allotted by composers to lower male voices expanded in the direction of trusted companions or even romantic leads—normally the province of tenors. More often than not, however, baritones found themselves portraying villains.

The principal composers of bel canto opera are considered to be:

Gioachino Rossini (''The Barber of Seville'', ''William Tell'');

Gaetano Donizetti (''Don Pasquale'', ''L'elisir d'amore'', ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', ''Lucrezia Borgia'', ''La favorite'');

Vincenzo Bellini (''I puritani'', ''Norma'');

Giacomo Meyerbeer (''Les Huguenots''); and

the young Giuseppe Verdi (''Nabucco'', ''Ernani'', ''Macbeth'', ''Rigoletto'', ''La traviata'', ''Il trovatore'').

The prolific operas of these composers, plus the works of Verdi's maturity, such as ''Un ballo in maschera'', ''La forza del destino'', ''Don Carlos''/''Don Carlo'', the revised ''Simon Boccanegra'', ''Aida'', ''Otello'' and ''Falstaff'', blazed many new and rewarding performance pathways for baritones. Figaro in ''Il barbiere'' is often called the first true baritone role. However, Donizetti and Verdi in their vocal writing went on to emphasise the top fifth of the baritone voice, rather than its lower notes—thus generating a more brilliant sound. Further pathways opened up when the musically complex and physically demanding operas of Richard Wagner began to enter the mainstream repertory of the world's opera houses during the second half of the 19th century.

The major international baritone of the first half of the 19th century was the Italian Antonio Tamburini (1800–1876). He was a famous Don Giovanni in Mozart's eponymous opera as well as being a Bellini and Donizetti specialist. Commentators praised his voice for its beauty, flexibility and smooth tonal emission, which are the hallmarks of a bel canto singer. Tamburini's range, however, was probably closer to that of a bass-baritone than to that of a modern "Verdi baritone". His French equivalent was Henri-Bernard Dabadie, who was a mainstay of the Paris Opera between 1819 and 1836 and the creator of several major Rossinian baritone roles, including Guillaume Tell. Dabadie sang in Italy, too, where he was the first Belcore in 1832.

The most important of Tamburini's Italianate successors were all Verdians. They included Giorgio Ronconi, who created the title role in Verdi's ''Nabucco''; Felice Varesi, who created the title roles in Verdi's ''Macbeth'' and ''Rigoletto'' and was the first Germont in ''La traviata''; Antonio Superchi, who created Don Carlo is Verdi's ''Ernani''; Francesco Graziani, who created Don Carlo in Verdi's ''La forza del destino''; Leone Giraldoni, who created Renato in Verdi's ''Un ballo in maschera ''and was the first Simon Boccanegra; Enrico Delle Sedie, who was London's first Renato; Adriano Pantaleoni, who was renowned for his performances as Amonasro in ''Aida'' and in other Verdi works at La Scala, Milan; Francesco Pandolfini, whose singing at La Scala during the 1870s was praised by Verdi; Antonio Cotogni, a much lauded singer in Milan, London and Saint Petersburg, the first Italian Posa in Verdi's ''Don Carlo'' and later a great vocal pedagogue, too; and, Giuseppe Del Puente, who sang Verdi to acclaim in the United States.

Among the non-Italian born baritones that were active in the third-quarter of the 19th century, Tamburini's mantle as an outstanding exponent of Mozart and Donizetti's music was probably taken up most faithfully by a Belgian, Camille Everardi, who later settled in Russia and taught voice. In France, Paul Barroilhet succeeded Dabadie as the Paris opera's best known baritone. Like Dabadie, he also sang in Italy and created an important Donizetti role: in his case, Alphonse in La Favorite (in 1840).

Luckily, the gramophone was invented early enough to capture on disc the voices of the top Italian Verdi and Donizetti baritones of the last two decades of the 19th century, whose operatic performances were characterized by considerable re-creative freedom and a high degree of technical finish. They included Mattia Battistini (known as the "King of Baritones"), Giuseppe Kaschmann (born Josip Kašman and who, atypically for his kind, sang Wagner's Telramund and Amfortas not in Italian but in German, at the Bayreuth Festival, in the 1890s); Giuseppe Campanari; Antonio Magini-Coletti; Mario Ancona (chosen to be the first Silvio in ''Pagliacci''); Giuseppe Pacini; and, Antonio Scotti, (who came to the Met from Europe in 1899 and remained on the roster of singers until 1933!). Meanwhile, Antonio Pini-Corsi was the standout Italian ''buffo'' baritone in the period between circa 1880 and World War I. He revelled in comic opera parts by Rossini, Donizetti and Paer, among others. In 1893, he created the part of Ford in Verdi's last opera, ''Falstaff''.

Notable among their contemporaries were the cultured and technically adroit French baritones Jean Lassalle (hailed as the most accomplished baritone of his generation), Victor Maurel (the creator of Verdi's Iago, Falstaff and Tonio in Leoncavallo's ''Pagliacci''), Paul Lhérie (the first Posa in the revised, Italian-language version of ''Don Carlos''), and Maurice Renaud (a singing-actor of the first magnitude). Lassalle, Maurel and Renaud enjoyed superlative careers on either side of the Atlantic and left a valuable legacy of recordings. Five other significant Francophone baritones who recorded, too, during the early days of the gramophone/phonograph were Léon Melchissédec and Jean Note of the Paris Opera and Gabriel Soulacroix, Henry Albers and Charles Gilibert of the Opéra-Comique. The Quaker baritone David Bispham, who sang in London and New York between 1891 and 1903, was the leading American male singer of this generation. He also recorded for the gramophone.

The oldest-born star baritone known for sure to have made solo gramophone discs was the Englishman Sir Charles Santley (1834–1922). Santley made his operatic debut in Italy in 1858 and became one of Covent Garden's leading singers. He was still giving critically acclaimed concerts in London in the 1890s. The composer of ''Faust'', Charles Gounod, wrote Valentine's aria "Even bravest heart" for him in 1864. A couple of primitive cylinder recordings dating from about 1900 have been attributed by collectors to the dominant French baritone of the 1860s and 1870s, Jean-Baptiste Faure (1830–1914), the creator of Posa in Verdi's original French-language version of ''Don Carlos''. It is doubtful, however, that Faure (who retired in 1886) made the cylinders. However, a contemporary of Faure's, Antonio Cotogni, (1831–1918)—probably the foremost Italian baritone of his generation—can be heard, briefly and dimly, at the age of 77, on a duet recording with the tenor Francesco Marconi. (Cotogni and Marconi had sung together in the first London performance of Amilcare Ponchielli's ''La Gioconda'' in 1883, performing the roles of Barnaba and Enzo respectively.)

There are 19th century references in the musical literature to certain baritone sub-types. These include the light and tenorish ''baryton-Martin'', named after French singer Jean-Blaise Martin (1768/69–1837), and the deeper, more powerful ''Heldenbariton'' (today's bass-baritone) of Wagnerian opera.

Perhaps the most accomplished ''Heldenbaritons'' of Wagner's day were August Kindermann, Franz Betz and Theodor Reichmann. Betz created Hans Sachs in ''Die Meistersinger ''and undertook Wotan in the first ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' cycle at Bayreuth, while Reichmann created Amfortas in ''Parsifal'', also at Bayreuth. Lyric German baritones sang lighter Wagnerian roles such as Wolfram in ''Tannhäuser'', Kurwenal in ''Tristan und Isolde ''or Telramund in ''Lohengrin''. They made large strides, too, in the performance of art song and oratorio, with Franz Schubert favouring several baritones for his vocal music, in particular Johann Michael Vogl.

Nineteenth-century operettas became the preserve of lightweight baritone voices. They were given comic parts in the tradition of the previous century's comic bass by Gilbert and Sullivan in many of their productions. This did not prevent the French master of operetta, Jacques Offenbach, from assigning the villain's role in ''The Tales of Hoffmann ''to a big-voiced baritone for the sake of dramatic effect. Other 19th-century French composers like Meyerbeer, Hector Berlioz, Camille Saint-Saëns, Georges Bizet and Jules Massenet wrote attractive parts for baritones, too. These included Nelusko in ''L'Africaine'' (Meyerbeer's last opera), Mephistopheles in ''La damnation de Faust ''(a role also sung by basses), the Priest of Dagon in ''Samson and Delilah'', Escamillo in ''Carmen'', Zurga in ''Les pêcheurs de perles'', Lescaut in ''Manon'', Athanael in ''Thaïs ''and Herod in ''Hérodiade''. Russian composers included substantial baritone parts in their operas. Witness the title roles in Peter Tchaikovsky's ''Eugene Onegin ''(which received its first production in 1879) and Alexander Borodin's ''Prince Igor ''(1890).

Mozart continued to be sung throughout the 19th century although, generally speaking, his operas were not revered to the same extent that they are today by music critics and audiences. Back then, baritones rather than high basses normally sang Don Giovanni - arguably Mozart's greatest male operatic creation. Famous Dons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries included Scotti and Maurel (see the photograph accompanying this article), as well as Portugal's Francisco d'Andrade and Sweden's John Forsell.

20th century

The dawn of the 20th century opened up more opportunities for baritones than ever before as a taste for strenuously exciting vocalism and lurid, "slice-of-life" operatic plots took hold in Italy and spread elsewhere. The most prominent verismo baritones included such major singers in Europe and America as the polished Giuseppe De Luca (the first Sharpless in ''Madama Butterfly''), Mario Sammarco (the first Gerard in ''Andrea Chénier''), Eugenio Giraldoni (the first Scarpia in ''Tosca''), Pasquale Amato (the first Rance in ''La fanciulla del West''), Riccardo Stracciari (noted for his richly attractive timbre) and Domenico Viglione-Borghesi, whose voice was exceeded in size only by that of the lion-voiced Titta Ruffo. Ruffo was the most commanding Italian baritone of his era or, arguably, any other era. He was at his prime from the early 1900s to the early 1920s and enjoyed success in Italy, England and America (in Chicago and later at the Met).

Between them, these baritones established the ''echt'' performance style for baritones undertaking roles in verismo operas. The chief verismo composers were Giacomo Puccini, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Pietro Mascagni, Alberto Franchetti, Umberto Giordano and Francesco Cilea. Verdi's works continued to remain popular, however, with audiences in Italy, the Spanish-speaking countries, the United States and the United Kingdom and, interestingly enough, Germany, where there was a major Verdi revival in Berlin between the Wars.

Outside the field of Italian opera, an important addition to the Austro-German repertory occurred in 1905. This was the premiere of Richard Strauss's ''Salome'', with the pivotal part of John the Baptist assigned to a baritone. (The enormous-voiced Dutch baritone Anton van Rooy, a Wagner specialist, sang John when the opera reached the Met in 1907). Then, in 1925, Germany's Leo Schützendorf created the title baritone role in Alban Berg's harrowing ''Wozzeck''. In a separate development, the French composer Claude Debussy's post-Wagnerian masterpiece ''Pelléas et Mélisande'' featured not one but two lead baritones at its 1902 premiere. These two baritones, Jean Périer and Hector Dufranne, possessed contrasting voices. (Dufranne — sometimes classed as a bass-baritone — had a darker, more powerful instrument than did Périer, who was a true ''baryton-Martin''.)

Characteristic of the Wagnerian baritones of the 20th century was a general progression of individual singers from higher-lying baritone parts to lower-pitched ones. This was the case with Germany's Hans Hotter. Hotter made his debut in 1929. As a young singer he appeared in Verdi and created the Commandant in Richard Strauss's ''Friedenstag ''and Olivier in ''Capriccio''. By the 1950s, however, he was being hailed as the top Wagnerian bass-baritone in the world. His Wotan was especially praised by critics for its musicianship. Other major Wagnerian baritones have included Hotter's predecessors Leopold Demuth, Anton van Rooy, Hermann Weil, Clarence Whitehill, Friedrich Schorr, Rudolf Bockelmann and Hans Hermann Nissen. Demuth, van Rooy, Weil and Whitehill were at their peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries while Schorr, Bockelmann and Nissen were stars of the 1920s and 1930s.

In addition to their heavyweight Wagnerian cousins, there was a plethora of baritones with more lyrical voices active in Germany and Austria during the period between the outbreak of WW1 in 1914 and the end of WW2 in 1945. Among them were Joseph Schwarz (a vocal virtuoso), Heinrich Schlusnus (the owner of an exceptionally beautiful voice), Herbert Janssen, Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender, Karl Schmidt-Walter and Gerhard Hüsch. Their abundant inter-war Italian counterparts included, among others, Carlo Galeffi, Giuseppe Danise, Enrico Molinari, Umberto Urbano, Cesare Formichi, Luigi Montesanto, Apollo Granforte, Benvenuto Franci, Renato Zanelli (who switched to tenor roles in 1924), Mario Basiola, Giovanni Inghilleri, Carlo Morelli (the Chilean-born younger brother of Renato Zanelli) and Carlo Tagliabue. (The last named baritone retired as late as 1958.)

One of the best known Italian Verdi baritones of the 1920s and '30s, Mariano Stabile, sang Iago and Rigoletto and Falstaff (at La Scala) under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. Stabile also appeared in London, Chicago and Salzburg. He was noted more for his histrionic skills than for his voice, however. Stabile was followed by Tito Gobbi, a versatile singing-actor capable of vivid comic and tragic performances during the years of his prime in the 1940s, '50s and early '60s. He learned more than 100 roles in his lifetime and was mostly known for his roles in Verdi and Puccini operas, including appearances as Scarpia opposite soprano Maria Callas as Tosca at Covent Garden.

Gobbi's competitors included Gino Bechi, Giuseppe Valdengo, Paolo Silveri, Giuseppe Taddei, Ettore Bastianini and Giangiacomo Guelfi. Another of Gobbi's contemporaries was the Welshman Geraint Evans, who famously sang Falstaff at Glyndebourne and created the roles of Mr. Flint and Mountjoy in works by Benjamin Britten. Some considered his best role to have been Wozzeck. The next significant Welsh baritone was Bryn Terfel. He made his premiere at Glyndebourne in 1990 and went on to build an international career as Falstaff and, more generally, in the operas of Mozart and Wagner.

An outstanding group of virile-voiced American baritones appeared in the 1920s. The younger members of this group were still active as recently as the late 1970s. Outstanding among its members were the Met-based Verdians Lawrence Tibbett (a compelling, rich-voiced singing-actor), Richard Bonelli, John Charles Thomas, Robert Weede, Leonard Warren and Robert Merrill. They sang French opera, too, as did the American-born but Paris-based baritone of the 1920s and '30s, Arthur Endreze.

Also to be found singing Verdi roles at the Met, Covent Garden and the Vienna Opera during the late 1930s and the 1940s was the big-voiced Hungarian baritone, Sandor (Alexander) Sved.

The leading Verdi baritones of the 1970s and '80s were probably Italy's Renato Bruson and Piero Cappuccilli, America's Sherrill Milnes, Sweden's Ingvar Wixell and the Romanian baritone Nicolae Herlea. At the same time, Britain's Sir Thomas Allen was considered to be the most versatile baritone of his generation in regards to repertoire, which ranged from Mozart to Verdi, through French and Russian opera, to modern English music. Another British baritone, Norman Bailey, established himself internationally as a memorable Wotan and Hans Sachs. He had, however, a distinguished if lighter-voiced Wagnerian rival during the 1960s and 1970s in the person of Thomas Stewart of America. Other notable post-War Wagnerian baritones have been Canada's George London, Germany's Hermann Uhde and, more recently, America's James Morris.

Among the late 20th century baritones noted throughout the opera world for their Verdi performances was Vladimir Chernov, who emerged from the former USSR to sing at the Met. Chernov followed in the footsteps of such richly endowed East European baritones as Ippolit Pryanishnikov (a favorite of Tchaikovski's), Joachim Tartakov (an Everardi pupil), Oskar Kamionsky (an exceptional ''bel canto'' singer nicknamed the "Russian Battistini"), Waclaw Brzezinski (known as the "Polish Battistini"), Georges Baklanoff (a powerful singing-actor), and, during a career lasting from 1935 to 1966, the Bolshoi's Pavel Lisitsian. Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sergei Leiferkus are two Russian baritones of the modern era who appear regularly in the West. Like Lisitsian, they sing Verdi and the works of their native composers, including Tchaikovsky's ''Eugene Onegin'' and ''The Queen of Spades''.

In the realm of French song, the bass-baritone José van Dam and the lighter-voiced Gérard Souzay have been notable. Souzay's repertoire extended from the Baroque works of Jean-Baptiste Lully to 20th century composers such as Francis Poulenc. Pierre Bernac, Souzay's teacher, was an interpreter of Poulenc's songs in the previous generation. Older baritones identified with this style include France's Dinh Gilly and Charles Panzéra and Australia's John Brownlee. Another Australian, Peter Dawson, made a small but precious legacy of benchmark Handel recordings during the 1920s and 1930s. (Dawson, incidentally, acquired his outstanding Handelian technique from Sir Charles Santley.) Yet another Australian baritone of distinction between the wars was Harold Williams, who was based in the United Kingdom. Important British-born baritones of the 1930s and 1940s were Dennis Noble, who sang Italian and English operatic roles, and the Mozartian Roy Henderson. Both appeared often at Covent Garden.

Prior to World War II, Germany's Heinrich Schlusnus, Gerhard Hüsch and Herbert Janssen were celebrated for their beautifully sung lieder recitals as well as for their mellifluous operatic performances in Verdi, Mozart, and Wagner respectively. After the war's conclusion, Hermann Prey and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau appeared on the scene to take their place. In addition to his interpretations of lieder and the works of Mozart, Prey sang in Strauss operas and tackled lighter Wagner roles such as Wolfram. Fischer-Dieskau sang parts in 'fringe' operas by the likes of Ferruccio Busoni and Paul Hindemith as well as appearing in standard works by Verdi and Wagner. He earned his principal renown, however, as a lieder singer. Talented German and Austrian lieder singers of a younger generation include Olaf Bär, Matthias Goerne, Wolfgang Holzmair (who also performs regularly in opera), Thomas Quasthoff, Stephan Genz and Christian Gerhaher. Well-known non-Germanic baritones of recent times have included the Italians Giorgio Zancanaro and Leo Nucci, the Frenchman François le Roux, the Canadian Gerald Finley and James Westman and the versatile American Thomas Hampson, his compatriot Nathan Gunn and the Britisher Simon Keenlyside.

Classification

Bariton/Baryton-Martin

Common Range: From the low C to the A above middle C (C3 to A4)

Description: The Baryton-Martin lacks the lower G2-B2 range a heavier baritone is capable of, and has a lighter, almost tenor-like quality. Generally seen only in French repertoire, this fach was named after the French singer Jean-Blaise Martin. Associated with the rise of the baritone in the 19th century, Martin was well known for his fondness for falsetto singing, and the designation 'Baryton Martin' has been used (Faure, 1886) to separate his voice from the 'Verdi Baritone', which carried the chest register further into the upper range. It is important to note that this voice type shares the ''primo passaggio'' and ''secondo passaggio'' with the Dramatic Tenor and Heldentenor (C4 and F4 respectively), and hence could be trained as a tenor.

Roles:

*Pelléas, ''Pelléas et Mélisande'' (Claude Debussy)

*L'Horloge Comtoise, ''L'enfant et les sortilèges'' (Maurice Ravel)

*Orfeo, ''L'Orfeo'' (Claudio Monteverdi)

*Ramiro, ''L'heure espagnole'' (Maurice Ravel)

*Morales, ''Carmen'' (Georges Bizet)

Singers:

*Jean Périer

*Pierre Bernac

*Wolfgang Holzmair

*Jacques Jansen

*Camille Maurane

*Richard Stilwell

Lyric baritone

Common Range: From the A below low C to the A or A above middle C (A2 to A/A4).

Description: A sweeter, milder sounding baritone voice, lacking in harshness; lighter and perhaps mellower than the dramatic baritone with a higher tessitura. It is typically assigned to comic roles.

Roles:

*Count Almaviva, ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

*Guglielmo, ''Così fan tutte'' (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

*Don Giovanni, ''Don Giovanni'' (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

*Papageno, ''The Magic Flute'' (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

*Marcello, ''La bohème'' (Giacomo Puccini)

*Figaro, ''The Barber of Seville'' (Rossini)

Singers:

*Sir Thomas Allen

*Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

*Frank Guarrera

*Robert Merrill

*Thomas Hampson

*Wolfgang Holzmair

*Simon Keenlyside

The ''kavalierbariton''

Common Range: From the A below low C to the G above middle C (A2 to G4).

Description: A metallic voice, that can sing both lyric and dramatic phrases, a manly noble baritonal color, with good looks. Not quite as powerful as the Verdi baritone who is expected to have a powerful appearance on stage, perhaps muscular or physically large.

Roles:

*Don Giovanni, ''Don Giovanni ''(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

*Justin Labelle, ''Wakonda's Dream ''(Anthony Davis)

*Count, ''Capriccio ''(Richard Strauss)

*Giorgio Germont in ''La traviata ''(Giuseppe Verdi)

Singers:

*Eberhard Wächter

Verdi baritone

Common Range: From the G below low C to the A above middle C (G2 to A4).

Description: A more specialized voice category and a subset of the Dramatic Baritone, a Verdi baritone refers to a voice capable of singing consistently and with ease in the highest part of the baritone range, sometimes extending up to the C above middle C, or "High C." The Verdi baritone will generally have a lot of squillo, or "ping"

Roles:

*Amonasro, ''Aida''

* Carlo, ''Ernani''

*Conte di Luna, ''Il trovatore''

* Don Carlo di Vargas, ''La forza del destino''

* Falstaff, ''Falstaff''

* Ford ''Falstaff''

*Germont, ''La traviata''

* Macbeth, ''Macbeth''

* Renato, ''Un ballo in maschera''

*Rigoletto, ''Rigoletto''

*Rodrigo, ''Don Carlos''

* Simon Boccanegra, ''Simon Boccanegra''

Singers:

*Carlos Álvarez

*Ettore Bastianini

*Renato Bruson

*Piero Cappuccilli

*Tito Gobbi

*Nicolae Herlea

*Dmitri Hvorostovsky

*Sherrill Milnes

*Titta Ruffo

*Seymour Schwartzman

*Leonard Warren

*Ingvar Wixell

*Giorgio Zancanaro

Dramatic baritone

Common Range: From the G half an octave below low C to the G above middle C (G2 to G4).

Description: A voice that is richer and fuller, and sometimes harsher, than a lyric baritone and with a darker quality. This category corresponds roughly to the Heldenbariton in the German fach system except that some Verdi baritone roles are not included. The primo passaggio and secondo passaggio of both the Verdi and Dramatic Baritone are at Bb and Eb respectively, hence the differentiation is based more heavily on timbre and tessitura. Accordingly, roles that fall into this category tend to have a slightly lower tessitura than typical Verdi baritone roles, only rising above an F at the moments of greatest intensity. Many of the Puccini roles fall into this category. However, it is important to note, that for all intents and purposes, a Verdi Baritone is simply a Dramatic Baritone with greater ease in the upper tessitura (Verdi Baritone roles center approximately a minor third higher). Because the Verdi Baritone is sometimes seen as subset of the Dramatic Baritone, some singers perform roles from both sets of repertoire. Similarly, the lower tessitura of these roles allow them frequently to be sung by bass-baritones.

Role

*Jack Rance, ''La fanciulla del West'' (Giacomo Puccini)

*Scarpia, ''Tosca'' (Giacomo Puccini)

*Nabucco, ''Nabucco'' (Giuseppe Verdi)

*Iago, ''Otello ''(Giuseppe Verdi)

*Escamillo, Carmen (Bizet)

Singers:

*Norman Bailey

*Peter Kajlinger

*Sergei Leiferkus

*Juan Pons

*Tom Krause

Lyric Low Baritone/Lyric Bass-baritone

Common Range: From about the F below low C to the F above middle C (F2 to F#4) Some bass-baritones are baritones, like Friedrich Schorr, George London, James Morris and Bryn Terfel. The following are more often done by lower baritones as opposed to high basses.

Roles:

* Don Pizarro, ''Fidelio'' by Ludwig van Beethoven

* Golaud, ''Pelléas et Mélisande'' by Claude Debussy

* Méphistophélès, ''Faust'' by Charles Gounod

* Don Alfonso, ''Così fan tutte'' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

* Figaro, ''The Marriage of Figaro'' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Singers:

* Thomas Quasthoff

* Bryn Terfel

Dramatic Bass-baritone/Low Baritone

Common Range: From about the F below low C to the F above middle C (F2 to F#4)

Roles:

* Aleko, ''Aleko'' by Sergei Rachmaninoff

* Igor, ''Prince Igor'' by Alexander Borodin

* Dutchman, ''The Flying Dutchman'' by Richard Wagner

* Hans Sachs, ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' by Richard Wagner

* Wotan, ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' by Richard Wagner

* Amfortas, ''Parsifal'' by Richard Wagner

Singers:

* George London

* Hans Hotter

* Friedrich Schorr

''Baryton-noble''

Description: French for ''noble baritone'' and describes a part that requires a noble bearing, smooth vocalisation and forceful declamation, all in perfect balance. This category originated in the Paris Opera, but it greatly influenced Verdi (Don Carlo in ''Ernani ''and ''La forza del destino''; Count Luna in ''Il trovatore''; ''Simon Boccanegra'') and Wagner as well (''Wotan''; ''Amfortas'').

Baritone roles in opera

Alfio, ''Cavalleria rusticana''

Dr. Malatesta, ''Don Pasquale''

Dr. P., ''The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat''

Eddie Carbone, ''A View from the Bridge''

Enrico Ashton, ''Lucia di Lammermoor''

Ernesto, ''Il pirata''

Escamillo, ''Carmen''

Ford, ''The Merry Wives of Windsor''

Francisco Goya, ''Facing Goya''

Gérard, ''Andrea Chénier''

Guglielmo Tell, ''William Tell''

Horace Tabor, ''The Ballad of Baby Doe''

Jack Rance, ''La fanciulla del West''

Lescaut, ''Manon Lescaut''

Scarpia, ''Tosca''

Sharpless, ''Madama Butterfly''

Simon, ''Simon Boccanegra''

Valentin, ''Faust''

Wolfram von Eschenbach, ''Tannhäuser''

Wozzeck, ''Wozzeck''

Baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan

Archibald Grosvenor, ''Patience''

Captain Corcoran, ''H.M.S. Pinafore''

Dr. Daly, ''The Sorcerer''

John Wellington-Wells, ''The Sorcerer''

Ko-Ko, ''The Mikado''

Lord Mountararat, ''Iolanthe''

Ludwig, ''The Grand Duke''

Major-General Stanley,'' The Pirates of Penzance''

Reginald Bunthorne, ''Patience''

Rudolph, ''The Grand Duke''

Sir Despard Murgatroyd, ''Ruddigore''

Sir Joseph Porter, ''HMS Pinafore''

Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd (as Robin Oakapple), ''Ruddigore''

Strephon, ''Iolanthe''

The Lord Chancellor, ''Iolanthe''

Samuel, ''The Pirates of Penzance''

Baritone voices in other music

In barbershop music, the baritone part sings in a similar range to the Lead (singing the melody) however usually singing lower than the lead. A barbershop baritone has a specific and specialized role in the formation of the four-part harmony that characterizes the style. Because barbershop singers can also be female, there is consequently such a singer (at least in barbershop singing) as a female baritone.

The baritone singer is often the one required to support or "fill" the bass sound (typically by singing the fifth above the bass root) and to complete a chord. On the other hand, the baritone will occasionally find himself harmonizing above the melody, which calls for a tenor-like quality. Because the baritone fills the chord, the part is often not very melodic.

In bluegrass music, the melody line is called the lead. Tenor is sung an interval of a third above the lead. Baritone is the fifth of the scale that has the lead as a tonic, and may be sung below the lead, or even above the lead (and the tenor), in which case it is called "high baritone". Conversely, the more "soul" baritones have the more traditional timbre, but sing in a vocal range that is closer to the tenor vocal range. Some of these singers include Bing Crosby, Tom Jones Michael McDonald, and Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops.

See also

Vocal weight

References

Further sources

Faure, Jean-Baptiste (1886) ''La voix et le chant: traité pratique'', Heugel, published in English translation as ''The Voice and Singing'' (Francis Keeping and Roberta Prada, translators), Vox Mentor, 2005.

Matheopoulos, H. (1989) ''Bravo – The World's Great Male Singers Discuss Their Roles'', Victor Gollancz Ltd.

Bruder, Harold, Liner Notes, ''Maurice Renaud: The Complete Gramophone Recordings 1901–1908'', Marston Records, 1997. (Discusses Renaud and many of his baritone contemporaries as well the stylistic change in operatic singing at the turn of the 20th century.) Retrieved 4 March 2008.

Category:Voice types Category:Opera terminology Category:Pitch (music)

bg:Баритон ca:Baríton (veu) cs:Baryton da:Baryton (stemme) de:Bariton (Stimmlage) et:Bariton es:Barítono eo:Baritono fa:باریتون fr:Baryton (voix) ko:바리톤 hr:Bariton id:Bariton it:Baritono he:קולות (מוזיקה)#בריטון ka:ბარიტონი (ხმა) lt:Baritonas hu:Bariton mk:Баритон ms:Bariton nl:Bariton (zangstem) ja:バリトン nn:Barytonrøysta pl:Baryton pt:Barítono ro:Bariton ru:Баритон simple:Baritone sk:Barytón sl:Bariton (glas) sr:Баритон fi:Baritoni sv:Baryton th:แบริโทน tr:Bariton uk:Баритон zh:男中音

name	Robert Pattinson
birth name	Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson
birth date	May 13, 1986
birth place	London, England, UK
other names	Rob, R-Pattz, Spunk Ransom (nicknames)
occupation	Actor, model, musician, producer
yearsactive	2004–present
relatives	Lizzy Pattinson (sister)
signature	Robert Pattinson signature.svg }}

Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor, model, musician, and producer. Born and raised in London, Pattinson started out his career by playing the role of Cedric Diggory in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. Later, he landed the leading role of Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of the ''Twilight'' novels by Stephenie Meyer, and came to worldwide fame. Pattinson was ranked as one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood based on 2009 earnings. In 2010, Pattinson was named one of ''TIME'' magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World, and also in the same year ''Forbes'' ranked him as one of the most powerful celebrities in the world in the Forbes Celebrity 100.

Early life

Pattinson was born in London. His mother, Clare, worked for a modelling agency, and his father, Richard, imported vintage cars from the U.S. Pattinson has two elder sisters, singer Lizzy Pattinson, and Victoria Pattinson. Growing up in the Barnes suburb of London, he attended Tower House School until he was 12, and then The Harrodian School. He became involved in amateur theatre at the Barnes Theatre Company. He auditioned and was cast in a small role in ''Guys and Dolls''. He next auditioned for Thornton Wilder's ''Our Town'' and was cast as George Gibbs. He also played in ''Anything Goes'' and ''Macbeth''. He caught the attention of an acting agent in a production of ''Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' and began looking for professional roles.

Career

Modelling

Pattinson began modelling when he was twelve years old, but the number of jobs began to decrease only four years later. In December 2008 he blamed the lack of work as a model on his masculine appearance: "When I first started I was quite tall and looked like a girl, so I got lots of jobs, because it was during that period where the androgynous look was cool. Then, I guess, I became too much of a guy, so I never got any more jobs. I had the most unsuccessful modelling career." Pattinson appeared in the advertising campaign for Hackett's autumn 2007 collection.

Acting

Pattinson had supporting roles in the made for television film ''Ring of the Nibelungs'' in 2004 and in director Mira Nair’s ''Vanity Fair'', although his scenes in the latter were deleted and only appear on the DVD version. In May 2005, he was slated to appear in the UK premiere of ''The Woman Before'' at the Royal Court Theatre, but was fired shortly before the opening night and was replaced by Tom Riley. Later that year he played Cedric Diggory in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. For this role he was named that year's ''British Star of Tomorrow'' by ''The Times''. He has more than once been touted as the next Jude Law.

Pattinson played Edward Cullen in the film ''Twilight'', based on Stephenie Meyer's best-selling novel of the same name, which was released on 21 November 2008 in North America. According to ''TV Guide'', Pattinson was initially apprehensive about auditioning for the role of Edward Cullen, fearful that he would not be able to live up to the "perfection" expected from the character. He reprised his role as Edward Cullen in the ''Twilight'' sequels ''The Twilight Saga: New Moon'' and ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'', which was released 30 June 2010.

Pattinson had lead roles in the feature films ''Little Ashes'' (in which he plays Salvador Dalí), ''How to Be'' (a British comedy), and the short film ''The Summer House''.

In 2009, Pattinson presented at the 81st Academy Awards. On 10 November, Revolver Entertainment released the DVD ''Robsessed'', a documentary which details Pattinson's life and popularity.

In 2010, Pattinson executively produced and starred in the film ''Remember Me'', which was released on 12 March 2010. On 13 May 2010, Pattinson appeared on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' for ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' and also made an appearance on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' on 18 May, which aired the following day. Pattinson attended the official worldwide red carpet premiere for ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' on 24 June 2010 at the Los Angeles Nokia Theatre.

In 2011, he starred in ''Water for Elephants'', a film adaptation of the Sara Gruen novel of the same name, with Christoph Waltz and Reese Witherspoon.

He will play Georges Duroy in a film adaptation of the 1885 novel ''Bel Ami'', with Uma Thurman, which will be released in 2011. He will also appear in a theatre production for producer David Pugh.

Music

Pattinson plays guitar and piano, and composes his own music. He also appears as the singer of two songs on the ''Twilight'' soundtrack: "Never Think", which he co-wrote with Sam Bradley, and "Let Me Sign", which was written by Marcus Foster and Bobby Long. The songs were included in the film after director Catherine Hardwicke added Pattinson's recordings into an early cut without his knowledge, and he agreed that "one of them specifically, it really made the scene better. It was like it was supposed to be there." The soundtrack for the film ''How to Be'' features three original songs performed by Pattinson and written by composer Joe Hastings.

Aside from recording for the soundtracks, Pattinson has said, "I've never really recorded anything – I just played in pubs and stuff", and when asked about a professional music career, he said, "Music is my back-up plan if acting fails." In 2010, Pattinson was awarded the 'Hollywood's Most Influential Top Unexpected Musicians' award.

In the media

Pattinson was named one of the "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2008 and 2009 by ''People'' magazine. In 2009, he was also named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by ''Glamour''. ''Ask Men'' named Pattinson as one of the top 49 most influential men of 2009. In 2009, ''Vanity Fair'' named Pattinson "the most handsome man in the world" along with Angelina Jolie as the most beautiful woman in the world.

He was named one of ''Vanity Fair'''s "Top Hollywood Earners of 2009" with estimated earnings of $18 million in 2009.

In December 2009, Pattinson autographed a guitar to be auctioned off for charity. He also volunteered for the ''Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief'' in January 2010.

''GQ'' and ''Glamour'' both named him the "Best Dressed Man" of 2010, with ''GQ'' stating, "Extremely elegant and inspiring, the true essence of a contemporary man." In 2010, ''People'' also listed Pattinson in their "World's Most Beautiful" issue.

In 2010, Britain's ''The Sunday Times'' "Rich List" put him on its "list of young millionaires" in the UK, worth £13 million. ''Time'' magazine named him as one of 2010's 100 Most Influential People in The World. In June 2010, Pattinson was named by Forbes magazine the No.50 most powerful celebrity in the world with earnings $17 million. Due to Pattinson's rising fame, a wax statue of him was added to the Madame Tussauds collection in London and New York City. On 14 November 2010, Pattinson received two BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards, Best Dressed and Best Actor.

In 2011, Pattinson was No. 15 on ''Vanity Fair'''s "Hollywood Top 40" with earnings of $27.5 million in 2010.

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2004		Rawdy Crawley	Only seen on DVD release
2004		Giselher	Television film
2005		Cedric Diggory
2006	''''	Toby Jugg	Television film
2007	''''	Daniel Gale	Television film
2007		Cedric Diggory	Cameo
2008	''How to Be''	Art
2008		Edward Cullen	Hollywood Film Award for New HollywoodMTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance MaleMTV Movie Award for Best Kiss MTV Movie Award for Best Fight People's Choice Award for Favourite On-Screen-Team Scream Award for Best Fantasy ActorTeen Choice Award for Choice HottieTeen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor DramaTeen Choice Award for Movie Liplock Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rumble Nominated—Empire Award for Best NewcomerNominated—People's Choice Award for Favourite Movie ActorNominated—Scream Award for Best Ensemble Cast
2009	''Little Ashes''	Salvador Dalí
2009	''''	Edward Cullen	Russia's Georges Award for Best Foreign ActorNational Movie Award for Best PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Best Male PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Global SuperstarMTV Movie Award for Best Kiss Teen Choice Award for Movie Liplock Teen Choice Award for Movie chemistry Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor FantasyNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice HottieNominated—Empire Award for Best ActorNominated—Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for Cutest Couple Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Supporting ActorNominated—Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (with Kristen Stewart)
2010		Tyler Hawkins
2010	''''	Edward Cullen	Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie Star – MaleBrazilian Kids' Choice Award for Couple of the Year Scream Award for Best Fantasy ActorPeople's Choice Award for Favourite On-Screen-Team MTV Movie Award for Best Male PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Best Kiss MTV Movie Award for Best Fight Teen Choice Award for Choice VampireNominated—Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Award for Fave Kiss Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie ActorNominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Star Under 25Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Actor
2011		Jacob Jankowski
2011		Edward Cullen
2012		Georges Duroy	Awaiting release
2012		Edward Cullen	Post-production
2012		Eric Packer	Post-production

References

External links

Category:1986 births Category:Actors from London Category:English child actors Category:English film actors Category:English guitarists Category:English male models Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:Living people Category:Old Harrodians Category:People educated at Tower House School Category:People from Barnes, London

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name	Robert (Robb) Flynn
background	solo_singer
birth name	Lawrence Matthew Cardine
alias	Robb Flynn
born	July 19, 1968,Oakland, California
genre	Thrash metal, groove metal
instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards
occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer
years active	1985–present
associated acts	Machine Head, Vio-Lence, Forbidden, Roadrunner United
website	www.machinehead1.com
notable instruments	ESP SP120 V-Shaped PrototypeB.C. Rich Red Transparent Warlock }}

Robb Flynn (born Lawrence Matthew Cardine, adopted, July 19, 1968, Oakland, California) is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the heavy metal band Machine Head. Flynn formed the band along with Adam Duce, Logan Mader and Tony Costanza after leaving Bay Area thrash band Vio-Lence.

Biography

Flynn also formed the thrash metal band Forbidden (originally Forbidden Evil), while in his graduating year at American High School (Fremont, California). He played in this band from 1985 to 1987. He wrote four songs which appeared on their debut album, "Chalice Of Blood", "Forbidden Evil", "As Good As Dead" and part of "March Into Fire", but left before an album was released to join local thrash metal rivals Vio-lence, alongside present Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel.

Flynn then went on to form the present-day band, Machine Head, whose debut album "Burn My Eyes" made Flynn a rising metal star.

In January 2005 Flynn was selected as one of the four team captains of Roadrunner United, an act to celebrate the 25th year anniversary of Roadrunner Records. Flynn wrote, produced and recorded guitar on four songs, and sang a duet with Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage on one song "The Dagger".

Machine Head's recent release ''The Blackening'' climbed to #54 on the US Billboard after appearing on the charts only two weeks previously; it was also nominated for a Grammy Award, making it by far the band's most successful album.

On 11 June 2007, Robb Flynn received the Metal Hammer 2007 Golden God Award. In honour of Debbie Abono and Ronnie James Dio, Robb Flynn recorded and released for free online a cover of Black Sabbath's Die Young. Abono managed Flynn and Phil Demmel when they were members of Vio-Lence.

Flynn had a break-in at his house in which several items, including guitars were stolen. One guitar, the Washburn 333 or "Dimebolt", was given to him by Dimebag Darrell.

Equipment

Guitars

Epiphone Robert Flynn Signature "Love Death" Baritone Flying V - This guitar is based on the ESP "Gibson" custom but with an EMG HA in the neck position, custom graphics, and custom inlays. The guitars name and artwork was produced by artist Strephon Taylor.

ESP "Gibson" Baritone Flying V - This guitar is erroneously referred to as a Gibson, due to the Gibson truss rod cover installed. This guitar was actually made at the ESP Crafthouse in Japan. It is nearly identical to a Gibson Flying V in every way, except for the 24-fret neck and the 27" baritone scale length. It is black with a mahogany body, single-ply white pickguard, set-in 27" scale mahogany neck w/mirror Machine Head lock on headstock, Gibson mirror truss rod cover, 24-jumbo-fret ebony fingerboard, Sperzel locking tuners, mirror block inlays, EMG 81 (bridge) & EMG 60 (neck) pickups, single custom Machine Head speed knob on push/pull pot that controls volume & pickup selection.

ESP SP120 V-Shaped Baritone Prototype - Black, mahogany body, single-ply white pickguard, set-in 27" scale mahogany neck with 1990s 3x3 Horizon headstock, 24-jumbo-fret ebony fingerboard, Sperzel locking tuners, pearl Machine Head logo inlays from frets 1-9, pearl diamond inlays from 12th-24th frets, EMG-81 (bridge) & EMG-60 (neck) pickups, single knob on push/pull pot that controls volume & pickup selection.

ESP LTD F-Series - Black, EMG-81 (bridge) & EMG-60 (neck) pickups

B.C. Rich Red Acrylic Warlock - EMG-81 (bridge) & EMG-60 (neck) pickups (this guitar is usually tuned to C# - standard)

Washburn 333, "Dimebolt" (Stolen 09/09/10)

Gibson Flying V - Black, mahogany body, single-ply white pickguard, Sperzel locking tuners, EMG-81 bridge pickup, stock neck pickup (disconnected), single volume knob.

Gibson SG Standard- It can be seen in the music video for Take My Scars.

Martin Eric Clapton acoustic

ESP JH-1 belonging to James Hetfield (Green Flames).

For the recording of the song "Aesthetics of Hate", inspired by reactions to the murder of his friend Dimebag Darrell, from the album The Blackening, Flynn used a Washburn 333, nicknamed "Dimebolt", which was given to him by Dimebag after he broke one of Flynn's guitars while intoxicated. However, in the music video for the song, Flynn can be seen playing his transparent B.C. Rich Warlock.

Amplifiers

Flynn uses Peavey 5150 and 6505+ heads with Marshall cabinets both live and in the studio. He owns eight Peavey heads, only one of which is used for recording.

Effects

Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress

Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face

Boss pedals

Line 6 delay

MXR Phase 90

References

Category:1968 births Category:American heavy metal singers Category:American male singers Category:American rock singers Category:Musicians from California Category:Living people Category:People from Oakland, California Category:American heavy metal guitarists

br:Robert Flynn ca:Robert Flynn de:Robert Flynn es:Robb Flynn fr:Robb Flynn hr:Robb Flynn it:Robb Flynn he:רוברט פלין nl:Robert Flynn no:Robert Flynn pl:Robert Flynn pt:Robert Flynn ru:Робб Флинн fi:Robert Flynn sv:Robert Flynn tr:Robb Flynn

Thomas Quasthoff (born November 9, 1959) is a German bass-baritone. Although his reputation was initially based on his performance of Romantic lieder, Quasthoff has proven to have a remarkable range from the Baroque cantatas of Bach to solo jazz improvisations.

Biography

Quasthoff was born in Hildesheim, Germany, with serious birth defects caused by his mother's exposure during pregnancy to the drug thalidomide which was prescribed as an antiemetic to combat her morning sickness. Thomas Quasthoff is about four feet tall due to shortening of the long bones in his legs, and he has phocomelia of the upper extremities with very short or absent long bones.

Quasthoff was denied admission to the music conservatory in Hanover, Germany, owing to his physical inability to play the piano, rather than a lack of skill required for entry to the conservatory. In the early stages of his education as a singer, Quasthoff was promoted by Sebastian Peschko. Thus, he chose to study voice privately. He also studied law for three years. Prior to his music career, he worked six years as a radio announcer for NDR. He also did voice-over work for television.

His music career was launched in 1988 when he won ARD International Music Competition in Munich, earning praise from the baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. In 1995, he made his American debut at the Oregon Bach Festival at the invitation of artistic director Helmuth Rilling; in 1998, he was one of the soloists for the Bach Festival's world-premiere of Krzyztof Penderecki's ''Credo'', the recording of which won a Grammy Award for best choral recording. In 2003, he made his staged operatic debut as Don Fernando in Beethoven's ''Fidelio'' at the Salzburg Festival. conducted by Simon Rattle. His San Francisco Symphony debut took place September 2004.

Thomas Quasthoff won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance in 2000. It was for his performance together with the mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter of Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn. They were accompanied by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado. He won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance for the second time in 2004. It was for ''Schubert: Lieder with Orchestra'' which Quasthoff performed with von Otter and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Abbado. Quasthoff won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance for the third time in 2006 with Rainer Kussmaul leading members of the RIAS Chamber Choir of Berlin Baroque Soloists in their recording of ''J. S. Bach: Cantatas''.

Additionally, Quasthoff's recordings of the songs of Brahms, Liszt and Schubert accompanied by pianist Justus Zeyen were nominated for the Grammy in 2000 and 2001. Thomas Quasthoff records for Deutsche Grammophon.

Quasthoff is a full-time voice professor and performs only about 50 times a year. He is currently a professor at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin; he previously taught at the music academy of Detmold, Germany.

For the 2006-2007 concert season, Quasthoff was one of Carnegie Hall's "Perspectives" artists. However, illness forced him to cancel his first two appearances in that capacity.

In 2006 he recorded his first jazz album, ''The Jazz Album: Watch What Happens'', with Till Brönner, Alan Broadbent, Peter Erskine, Dieter Ilg and Chuck Loeb. In the same year he married Claudia Schtelsick, a German TV journalist.

In 2008, he was a soloist on the Grammy-winning recording of Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem (Simon Rattle, conductor; Simon Halsey, chorus master) on EMI Classics.

As "artist in residence" at the Barbican Hall, London, Quasthoff invited some of his favourite fellow artists in a series under the title "Die Stimme" - The Voice (also the name of his autobiography) which marks his 50th birthday year. He was the "Desert Island Discs" guest (BBC Radio 4) on 1 February 2009 (repeated 6 February 2009).

In 2009, Quasthoff was awarded the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize.

According to an interview given in 2003, Quasthoff revealed that he is active in political thinking, is a socialist, and opposed the Iraq War and the actions taken by Israel in regards to the building of the Israeli West Bank barrier.

References

External links

Thomas Quasthoff's official homepage (in English and German)

Deutsche Grammophon website

Quasthoff fansite

"Thomas Quasthoff Speaks Very Frankly": Interview with Quasthoff in the ''Evening Standard''

"The Dreamer" is a Movie which covers Thomas Quasthoff's most important career-steps and the way to his lifetime dream – to become an Opera singer on stage

Category:German male singers Category:German opera singers Category:Operatic bass-baritones Category:Grammy Award winners Category:German people with disabilities Category:People with phocomelia Category:People from Hildesheim Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

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name	Mad Cobra
background	solo_singer
birth name	Ewart Everton Brown
born	March 31, 1968Kingston, Jamaica
origin	Kingston, Jamaica
genre	Dancehall, reggae fusion
years active	1989-present
notable instruments	}}

Ewart Everton Brown (born 31 March 1968), better known by his stage name of Mad Cobra or simply Cobra is a Jamaican reggae musician.

Biography

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, raised in the parish of St. Mary and relocated back to the place of his birth during his teenage years. He began performing under his stage name, taken from a character in the ''G.I. Joe'' comic books, while still in his teens. He honed his talents on several local sound systems before entring the studio. His first single, 1989's "Respect Woman", was produced by his uncle, Tuff Gong engineer Delroy "Spiderman" Thompson. His next single, "Na Go Work", featured Tricia McKay, giving him his first hit, and bringing him to the attention of producers Captain Sinbad and Carl Nelson. Together they released a string of hit dancehall singles, including "Shoot to Kill", "Merciless Bad Boy", and "Ze Taurus", which featured tough, gangsta rap-style lyrics in keeping with the current trends of that time.

In 1990, Cobra began working with producer Donovan Germain and songwriter Dave Kelly on the Penthouse Records label. This partnership spawned a series of major hits in Jamaica, including "Yush", "Gundelero", "Bad Boy Talk", and "Feeling Lonely" (with Beres Hammond). He released his first full-length album in 1991, entitled ''Bad Boy Talk'', and over the next year worked with several different producers on yet more hit tracks ("O.P.P" with King Jammy, "Tek Him" with Bobby Digital, "Be Patient" with Sly & Robbie). In 1991 and 1992, Mad Cobra broke into the UK Reggae charts with five number one hits, bringing with it a backlash over concerns about the anti-gay sentiments of tracks such as "Crucifixion".

In the wake of his British success, Mad Cobra signed a deal in America with Columbia Records. His next LP was entitled ''Hard to Wet, Easy to Dry'', and featured "Flex", a single which interpolated elements of The Temptations' "Just My Imagination". It was a smash hit, topping the US Rap Singles chart, hitting #7 on the R&B; chart, and peaking at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of the single propelled the album to #125 on the Billboard Top 200, but the follow-up, "Legacy", failed to chart, and for the next several years Cobra's hitmaking remained primarily in Jamaica with songs such as 1993's "Mek Noise" and "Matti Haffie Move". Around this time, Cobra became involved in rivalries with fellow reggae artists Ninjaman and Buju Banton. He also made a guest appearance on rap group Run-D.M.C.'s "What's Next" on their album ''Down with the King''.

In 1994, Cobra returned with ''Venom'', again recording with King Jammy. Jamaican hit singles from the 1994-1995 period included "Length and Bend", "Fat and Buff", and "Selassie I Rules", now adopting "conscious" lyrics. In 1996, Columbia Records released ''Milkman'' in the US market. The album peaked at #12 on Billboard's Top Reggae Albums chart and featured a minor hit, "Big Long John", which charted briefly on the US Dance and R&B; Singles charts. In 1998, a track with Mr. Vegas entitled "Guns High" charted in some countries in Europe, and a number of re-releases of his Jamaican material were issued on VP. Further albums were issued in 2001 (''Cobra'') and 2004 (''Words of Warning''). Most recently, Cobra was heard on "Cobrastyle", a single from Teddybears' 2006 album, ''Soft Machine''.

On the night of May 11, 2010, Mad Cobra was shot three times in the upper body near his home in Braeton, only a day after another dancehall artiste, Oneil Edwards of the group Voice Mail, was also shot in Duhaney Park. He was carried to the Spanish Town Hospital for treatment. It was later ascertained that the vehicle Mad Cobra was travelling in, had merely shone its light on a group of men and this angered them. When Mad Cobra came out to appease the men, he was shot. He was released from hospital later that week. On the following Monday night, his house was shot up by unknown assailants but no one was injured during the incident.

Discography

''Ex-clusive'' (Charm, 1991)

''Bad Boy Talk'' (Penthouse Records, 1991)

''Spotlight'' (Top Rank, 1992)

''Bad Boy Talk'' (Penthouse, 1992)

''Merciless Bad Boy'' (Sinbad, 1992)

''Hard to Wet, Easy to Dry'' (Columbia Records, 1992)

''Goldmine'' (RAS Records, 1993)

''Mister Pleasure'' (VP Records, 1994)

''Venom'' (Greensleeves Records, 1994)

''Step Aside'' (VP, 1994)

''Your Wish'' (Culture Press, 1994)

''Exclusive Decision'' (VP Records, 1996)

''Sexperience'' (Critique Records, 1996)

''Playaz in Paradise'' (New Quest, 1996)

''Milkman'' (Capitol Records, 1996)

''OK Ride On'' (EMI, 1999)

''Cobra'' (Artists Only Records, 2001)

''Exclusive'' (Charm, 2003)

''Words of Warning'' (Heartbeat Records, 2004)

References

Category:Jamaican reggae singers Category:Dancehall musicians Category:Reggae fusion artists Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:Jamaican male singers Category:People from Kingston, Jamaica

de:Mad Cobra sv:Mad Cobra