100 Greatest Singers: SAMUEL RAMEY

[suzannesadiiqa]

Ramy and Upshaw, that's perfection!

[jasonc992]

greatist since pinza.Ramey is the best don giovanni i have ever seen and he is a rossini and handel and mozart specialist

[clown84700]

j'adore samuel ramey!!!

[isabella1954able]

Basso profondo,basso buffo ,basso cantabile,N O N M E N E PUO' IMPORTAR DI MENO,la mia opinione: G R A N D I S S I M O !

[ah332]

this is bordering on the insane and ridiculous

[Cesconegre]

Gustosissime variazioni

[MrPipposiculo]

Lo ricordo con vivo piacere al debutto a Pesaro in quest'opera!!

E' stato il più grande basso degli anni ottanta.

[phatphace]

2:47 is two straight octaves, effortlessly executed. By far one of the most versatile singers of all time, and a great interpreter of the art as well.

[raigekimaru]

he deserves to be here. gorgeous masculine timbre, ringing high notes, and demonic low notes.

PS: I think he needs his own fach "dramatic coloratura bass", the first since Fillipo Galli the Rossian bass for whom Maometto and Assur.

[Taenyr]

@raigekimaru You think so? His voice sounds rather lyric to me.

[raigekimaru]

@Taenyr

if you listen to a dramatic coloratura soprano, they can do lyric, they can do dramatic, they can do coloratura and anything in the middle. that's the kind of voice samuel ramey is, but as a bass. he is joan sutherland's long lost bass cousin =D

[Taenyr]

@raigekimaru I can't agree with you that that characterization applies to all singers - listen to Hvorostovsky, an excellent Verdi baritone (and thus possessed of a weighty timbre) butcher Largo al Factotum. On the other hand, the way you describe Ramey is beautiful. =D

[raigekimaru]

@Taenyr

of course this characterization doesn't apply to all singers, maybe 1 in 50. I'm describing a powerful, dramatic voice that is also extremely flexible and capable of beautiful, florid singing. it's a VERY rare combination =D

PS: Hvorostovsky is not a Verdi baritone. he is a good lyric/dramatic baritone (like Robert Merrill) but he is not a Verdi baritone, a Verdi baritone is higher and needs easy notes about a G. Sherril Milnes and Leonard Warren are good examples of Verdi baritones.

[spizzell1]

Outstanding!!!

[horowitz109]

By far, the most stunning rendition I've ever heard of this taxing aria. Without doubt, the greatest living bass.

[redhead529]

And yes, as someone commented, he has a large voice. the first time I heard him live in recital, he hit the first note of Olin Blitch's Prayer of Repentence from Susannah, and I jumped about a foot!

[redhead529]

I remember having a friend of mine listen to this some years ago. She was then learning about opera and this was her first exposure to Rossini. She also didn't think she liked basses. When she finished listening to Ramey singing this aria, she said, "Waht's that called; workout for bass"? I replied, "More like advanced workout for bass". His technique if flawless!

[rojp08]

He is to my ears, the best bass of his generation by far. He is untouchable as Mefisto, and any Rossini role, in particular Mustafa. He is also very good with Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi. A great Scarpia, too.

[arpeggio1358]

@rojp08 I agree completely. The best bass of the 20th century infact. I would add Maometto and Lord Sydney to the Rossini. A perfect Gounod Mephisto and Boito Mefisto. I've heard his Scarpia live along with the four villains in Hoffmann. Also he has recorded several cds of American songs that are really fine. Oh yes, a brilliant Don Giovanni and Figaro. He's one of the most versatile singers ever.

[zegermans750]

Raimondi never really had much force behind his voice

[zegermans750]

God damn this aria is about as rossini as it gets... shotgun blast of notes and hope some stick

[61550LizziE]

He's a God among men.

[coolscrnname]

damn that's nice.

[Fasnacht123]

I have the version with Ruggero Raimondi, faster than that version - and I must admit, that I prefer my version

[javvie55]

He is the best bass/baritone of this generation for sure. Also I think he is the best Mefistofele ever.

[ardybroke]

i think Ramey is the best bass singer ever.

no doubt about that.....

[raigekimaru]

if you're a soprano, Rossini pieces are pretty nice to you in general. but if you're a bass or baritone, prefer for vocal rape if you don't know what you're doing.

[unc7480]

I am a huge fan of Sam Ramey, his tone colors and technique have been commented on by others. But among the basses, no Stokolov?

[Alieaz]

Finest Bass of out time...

[qbastrzem]

Ramey is great! but where on this list I can find such a great artist like Taddei or Furlanetto?

[lpvcrcd]

great voice and artist ..never gives a bad performance.. When they booed pavarotti in italy he himself said ramey was the only one they applauded Coming from Luciano that was quite a compliment

[rojp08]

Best basso of my generation. No doubt about it. Untouchable in Bel Canto, any Mefisto role, or any American Repertoire Song.

[Opreaismylife10692]

I first heard of him through a recording of Faust I heard on the TV a few years ago, and have loved him ever since!♥ If he was born in 1942, how old is he now?

[liric01994]

he is the best(anche se il tempo fa cagare!!)

[Iareto]

He's one of my idols. In the words of Stanford Olsen, "This is a man who could likely knit a sweater with his voice!" I think he's absolutely incredible!!

[leoperarm]

Basso cantante...the name tells it all! Thank You!

[operasingerbass38]

Sorry! Not Basso cantante. Bass-Baryton instead...

J. d'A.-S.

*Musicologist*OperaSingerBass

*Philosopher*Poet*Writer

*Polyglot (7 spoken_10 sung )

[Arashi110]

Samuel Ramey was probably the best Rossinian bass of our time with his almost unbelievable range (over 2,5 octaves), wonderful coloratura ability (a bass that can outsing a coloratura soprano!!) and gorgeous dark chocolate timbre. Really awesome in his demonic roles, too, and in Mozart and Verdi. The only composer I didn't like him in was Puccini. Still, was there another singer as versatile? And he's a brilliant stage actor besides.

[meltzerboy]

Your assessment of Ramey's capabilities says it all. A rare coloratura basso.

[jakethewoz]

I disagree- I don't think there's anyone that compares to his Scarpia. I saw him do it live in Wichita, KS, singing the Te Deum over an open pit and a full chorus. It was as if he was singing right next to me, clear as day.

The balance of this recording doesn't give you any idea of the enormous sound that this man makes.

[Arashi110]

Well, I didn't have the privilege of hearing him live and probably never will (woe is me!). So I suppose in this matter you're more competent.

[jakethewoz]

I've seen him just twice, both times at the Wichita Grand Opera. My voice teacher sang with him (he was Spoletta in Tosca), so perhaps I'm a little biased :) The other role I saw him in was Mephistofole (Gounod).

To be honest, I haven't listened to much of his bel canto recordings. I was only disagreeing with your dislike of his Puccini singing.

You have a wonderful deconstruction of him!

[Arashi110]

Oh, do listen him singing bel canto! It's something close to a miracle! :)

[meltzerboy]

I'm sure Ramey's Scarpia was wonderful; but have your heard or seen clips of Tito Gobbi's Scarpia? Some say Gobbi WAS Scarpia, as they used to say in an earlier generation that Antonio Scotti was Scarpia (hard to tell from Scotti's recordings, though).

[Chiliarches]

Ramey's awesome. Gobbi's awesome-er.

Regarding the size of Ramey's voice...as of last summer, it's large, but not huge. A little woofy. But his voice is very commanding and he's an outstanding musician...and oh yeah, his top notes are awesome. I would love to hear him again.

[quakercub]

I've seen Gobbi's Scarpia (part of it anyway) and he certainly was Scarpia. He and Callas together were majic in Act II