O wie will ich triumphieren - Kurt Moll

[clytemnestre1]

Great singer and ACTOR, I remember him at the palais Garnier.... great great !!!!

[snoopyflick]

This D is not only one of the more common operas to be sung, but the D is extremely exposed and plays an important part of the aria. A weak D here ruins the song, hence the importance. There are lower notes, but they are not commonly sung, and are not as exposed.

[Gongfarmer2]

@TomosTaffers

Yes, you're right - or let me put it in another way - I've heard "Der Rosenkavalier" performed by Kurt Moll, where he sings down to a low C. There once was a clip here on youtube with that exact sequence, where he sings the low c, but was removed by Youtube because of copyright infringement or something related to that.

[salmig99]

@devilxhlywood He may have done. I vaguely remember some religious music (Haydn? Bach? Haendel?) where he sung 'bass' parts that are often sung by baritones. Another example is Parsifal's Gurnemanz a part that is also occasionally sung by baritones (Hans Hotter, for one). And on the other hand, Kurt Moll never sung Hagen, probably the epitome of the dark German bass role. Check out the live video of 'O Isis..' to see Kurt Moll struggling to sound like a true bass here on youtube.

[devilxhlywood]

@salmig99

I've never enjoyed him as Commendatore in Don Giovanni since he lacks that booming ghostly bass I believe the roll class for. he's excellent in this roll and as Sarastro in Magic Flute. all semantics aside, he's sang numerous bass roles in many prestigious opera productions around the globe. to me that is more than enough evidence to label him a bass.

[Taenyr]

@salmig99 He's what you call a lyric basso profundo. I agree with you - he doesn't have the thick, booming vibrato generally associated with the term "basso" - but really that refers to dramatic voices in general. Dramatic tenors and baritones can also sound like that, despite their range. What really makes Moll a bass - of any kind - is not his range, perhaps, but his tessitura. That low D sounded completely natural.

[salmig99]

@Taenyr Thanks much for your interest. Especially since you know more about the subject than I. Much appreciated. Don't take me wrong. I'm only an occasional (though quite passionate) listener of opera and all I'm saying is that even though I mostly enjoy Kurt Moll's singing since there's nothing in his singing that makes better or worse than any of his contemporaries, I find him a little overrated. Obviously, my 'barytone with an exceptional low range' was more provocation than anything else.

[Taenyr]

@salmig99 I can understand that. You're right when you say that his voice doesn't completely capture certain basso roles. Mozart's Commendatore, for example, sounds better to me when sung by a thick, dramatic voice. Unfortunately, those voices often seem to have trouble with the extremes of their range - which is why Moll's low D is so clear and strong.

[salmig99]

@Taenyr And he was sensible enough not to tackle such roles. Hagen is the obvious example. Another way of looking at this is that despite his rather weak lower range, I just cannot picture Martti Talvela as a baritone. :-)

[salmig99]

@Taenyr Maybe some will flame, but the main issue I have with KM is his problems with pitch. There are days it does not bother me and then there are days when I just can't listen to him. I have exactly the same problem with Max Lorenz. Sometimes I find him more convincing than Melchior.. and then there are times when the only thing I hear is that he is off-key. Who knows.. KM has the low notes... so maybe he was encouraged to train as a bass because there are many baritones and very few basses.

[salmig99]

The part is bass... the singer was trained as a bass.. Lauritz Melchior was a barytone.. retrained as a tenor. His low range does not lie. Telltale sign.. listen carefully to Moll's upper range.. can't hear a natural bass there. Almost sounds like a different singer. Bass vs. barytone is about color, timbre.. not just low notes. Next, you'll be telling me that Yma Sumac was a basso profundo..

[devilxhlywood]

@salmig99 Has he ever sang a role that wasn't classified as basso?

[salmig99]

barytone with an exceptional low range.

[ktrum492]

@salmig99 Baritone?!? Where are you getting that from? Moll is as basso as you can get!

[unfad1ng]

@salmig99

Bryn Terfel is a bariton with a low range, kurt moll is a basso

[barborakozakova]

I LOVE HIM!!!

[vigwig]

Amazing flexibility for such a huge voice!

[fairlytaleofnewyork]

Thank you very much for uploading. Moll for me is one of the best Basses.

Stability of his low notes are incredible. I have this recording and it is great.

[fairlytaleofnewyork]

Thank you very much for uploading. Moll for me is one of the best Basses.

Stability of his low notes are incredible.

[thesir27]

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[ridderres]

This recording proves why Mozart was a genius.

[RossiniSoprano]

This tempo is better than that of the other video here on youtube; it allows the voice time to resonate, and Moll can get those triplets cleanly and the trills, too. Of course, the other one is reeeeeeeeeeeeally fun.......

[Aleksei5]

You are right, but that low C is optional. Osmin's aria is famous not only because of the D, but also because it's "non-negotiable", and held for several measures. Among required, held notes, this D is the lowest. In general, this is not the lowest, even in Mozart. In "Alcandro lo confesso" ornamentation practise at the time would allow for a low C near the end. In some points of Strauss's "Die Scheigsame Frau" secondary characters have low C, but they're in ensemble scenes and very short.

[SoulNotes1]

This is absolutely stunning! The pace is already quite something to deal with, yet he just keep right there... every note and sound is perfect! Truly a master!

[Vincenzo2010an]

bravo! das beste.

[MrRotstift]

I do not mean to belittle Kurt Moll's artistry but where are the artists of my childhood - the artists of the GDR, equally masterful and well-known - once?? They are (made) forgotten - and I am expropriated by these fucking west-germans of my own childhood even - of my memory - where are you my country?

[outtaker]

this recording is in E flat Major

[MrAlex413x]

from 0:38 to 0:52 WOW !!!

[LifeJuice90]

Moll is the greatest Osmin in recording and on stage.

[zegermans750]

There's actually a clip on youtube from moll in a mid-80s production of rosenkavelier where he nails it

[BorisGodunov]

I don't know if the C is written in Der Rosenkavelier, or if it's just sometimes interpolated. It may be written as optional, which is different than Seraglio, where the D is required.

leoperarm--there are plenty of basses who do sing those lower notes by X composers. I know there's a Rodrigo opera with a low C for a secondary character, and it is sung. But it's not a commonly-performed opera, no.

[cj5522]

Yes the C is written in but there is an optional C an octave above.

[sflyus]

How do I get these arias!? I'm a young basso profundo and I really would like to sing things that are more in my range! My low C is the strongest in my entire music department here at my university. I even sang a low Bb in my lesson yesterday. I'm sick of hurting myself on these high (for me...) baritone arias and musical theater songs...Any suggestions on how to find these songs that you and leoperarm are talking about by X composers?? Thanks!

[outtaker]

@sflyus look at Mozart opera roles, Meyebeer opera roles, schubert/beethoven art song, mozart concert arias, Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila

Borodin: Prince Igor

Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin • Eugene Onegin - Synopsis • The Queen of Spades

Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel



[Gandalf930]

@sflyus

If your notes are full voice(NOT vocal fry), try some Slavonic compositions, particularly Russian Orthodox Church's ones. Type e.g. "Do Not Reject Me In My Old Age" into youtube browser and you'll see what I mean. The notes are available on the internet somewhere (Cn 227). Good luck!

[unfad1ng]

@sflyus

there are pleanty of good bass songs you can sing, just look around. Mozart has written many great bass arias and also i believe wagner wrote some good arias for bassos.

Well most german opera writers, look at the german operas and youll find more bass than in the italian operas

good luck anyway!

[Taenyr]

@sflyus There's a book out there called "Arias for Bass," if I'm not mistaken...

[BorisGodunov]

Great as always. But the low D in Seraglio isn't the lowest note written in all of opera. It's the lowest in Mozart, certainly. Probably the lowest in the "standard reperatory," I guess.

[leoperarm]

yes, the standard operatic repertoire, maybe some X composer wrote a lower note for a bass, but no one sings it...

[hugodraslik]

There are soma operas with low C, e.g. Der Rosenkavalier or La Juive and some operas from Monteverdi - very classical operas, aren´t they?

[Bassetz94]

@BorisGodunov It's true.... There's some low C in some operas....

[cj5522]

@BorisGodunov I would like some names of songs that go lower. Not because I don't believe you, but because I want to listen to them. D or lower please.

[leoperarm]

@cj5522 I THINK that "Alcandro, lo confesso" by Mozart in the bass version goes down to a C, but I'm not sure. Listen to the version I uploaded of "Fra l'ombre e gli'orror" by Händel, it has plenty of Ds. Much lower it isn't that big a deal because it loses sonority.

[Taenyr]

@leoperarm Hmm. That aria is usually performed at A = 415 Hz, on account of historic accuracy - so although it's written as D2-A4, the range in terms of modern pitch is actually closer to Db2-Ab4.

[Gandalf930]

@cj5522

Not necessarily opera, but close enough is the Eastern Orthodox liturgy, the works of Pavel Chesnokov and similar. Low C is standard, the lowest is probably a G contra in "Do Not Reject Me In My Old Age". Or try to type in names of soloists like Vladimir Pasjukov, Viktor Vichniakov, Vladimir Miller...

[madderbass]

This is most excellent! I'm going to be performing this piece my next recital!

[RushAndRuleIt]

It's not easy to sing that fast, that well!

[dynomax101]

Agreed! Moll sings superbly and nails the character. BAVO!

[goc9000]

Excellent as always, but I think he sounds more 'mechanical' and restrained here than on his other performance on YouTube.

[pelolu2001]

Como me dijo la vendedora del corte ingles de zaragoza " si!! la opera de mozart el rapto en el serrablo" jeje

De los primeros CD´s de operas de mozart que compré, junto el cosí de Karl Bohm, Kraus y Schwarkopf.

Saludos.

[IceMasterEasthamJazz]

Infinitely better than even HIS own other performance on YouTube.

[Astraios91]

Don't forget that this is a Cd recording ^^

Great aria and great performance :D

[maggeo78]

thank you... this is great!!!