Basso

A basso (or bass) is a male singer who sings in the lowest vocal range of the human voice. A typical bass has a range extending from around the E below the bottom of the bass clef to the E above middle C (on the first line of the treble clef). Bass also used to refer to a low speaking voice.

In classical music, and particularly in opera, the following distinctions are often made between different kinds of basses:

• A basso profundo (also basso profondo or basse noble) is a singer with a particularly deep voice; they may be able to sing as low as the B below the bass clef.
• By contrast, a basso cantate (or basse chantate) is a singer with a lighter, more lyrical voice, perhaps with a slightly higher range.
• Basso buffo is a term used for a comic bass.
• Sometimes the term bass-baritone is used to mean a singer with a range and tone somewhere between a bass and a baritone (a male voice somewhat higher than a bass).

List

The following is a partial list of well-known bassos:

• Kurt Böhme
• Feodor Chaliapin
• Boris Christoff
• Ezio Pinza
• Nicolai Ghiaurov
• Kurt Moll
• Samuel Ramey
• Ivan Rebroff
• Paul Robeson
• Franco Ventriglia
• Willard White

External link

• BBC Guide to the singing voice