Bass low Notes - Corrigendum

Rather than redo my little video of "Bass Low Notes" singing the correct pitches I have added this correction video. Here I sing a couple low Ds - the first is Seneca's very short arioso announcing that Nero has orderd him to commit suicide, and the second is the little section from Osmin's final aria in the Abduction.

Being able to sing a low D is like being able to palm a basketball - you can either do or you can't. If you can then these two snippets are easy. In fact the Osmin aria has a florid section just before the famous passage included here which is much more difficult. The rhythm is tricky and there is no place to breath. This D is rather easy because you have time to prepare. The low E in the florid passage is harder.

When I sang Osmin on stage I never had any trouble with the D but I smeared the runs and took liberties with the tempo.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Bass
• Low
• Notes
• Seneca
• Osmin

[mouthmouse]

it's wrong!!!!! 1:46 horrible!

[Agorante]

@mouthmouse @mouthmouse Sorry to have offended you. I've learned a lot from posting on YouTube. I learned that I need to take more care and be more accurate. I put a mic on my desk so I can record anything at anytime. I can sing an aria and have it available to the world in twenty minutes. Consequently I have posted some pretty sloppy stuff on occassion. This video was meant to be musicological rather than musical. It was meant as an academic illustration but gets judged as a performance.

[Agorante]

Concert pitches historically have gone up and down. In general in the seventeenth century they were higher and in the early eighteenth lower. So Bach and Handel should probably be taken down while Monteverdi should be taken up. The part of Seneca should probably be transposed up a semi tone, maybe a whole tone. The challenging low D then becomes an easier E or E Flat. Today almost all basses can manage a low E but you generally need specialists for Ds.

[isabelzuza]

Dear Agorante. Do not feel crushed. Your low D of "The Abduction from the Seraglio" is good. Many great basses, like Martti Talvela, failed to sustain the low D is this aria. Just try again the low D of "L'Incoronazione di Poppea".

[Agorante]

@isabelzuza Thank you for your concern. You needn't worry. My voice is getting higher as is normal for someone my age. I'm 68.

I posted a low D in the "Le Cor" excerpt but I'm ahppier with an E Flat. I performed Osmin many years ago when my voice was a little lower. I was never however a true profondo. Profondos are usually chorus singers not soloists. If your brother wants to sing on stage alone he should try to work his way above the profondo range.

[isabelzuza]

Sorry, but your low D of "L'Incoronazione di Poppea" is not perfect. The low D of "The Abduction from the Seraglio" is better. Thank you, anyway, for showing the notes and the lyrics of Seneca's Death. I copied them to give to my big brother, who is a Basso Profondo (amateur). Sorry for my english. I am a Brazilian girl.

[Agorante]

@isabelzuza Not perfect! I'm crushed.

[isabelzuza]

Dear Agorante. You have 3 times my age. I'm 21. My brother is older: He is 34. He made part of a University Choir and, as its soloist, he sang a brazilian folk song named "Uirapuru" in wich he achieved a low C. He is a statistician and does not want to sing at stage. Although is velvety voice is most appropriated for singing romantic songs, he loves to sing (in private) small opera passages where there are very low notes like in Seneca's Role. So, thank you again for Seneca's Death part.

[Agorante]

I just made another very short low note demo. This is the final phrase of Le Cor - a French song made popular by Pinza. It ends on a sustained low D. I attached it to the original low note posting.

I have been playing around with the famous bass popular song of a century ago - 'Asleep in the Deep'. The sheet music was in G, meaning it ended on a low G - not quite low enough. I transposed it down to F, E Flat, and C and recorded it. I think I sound best in E Flat. My low C is a little weak.

[Agorante]

@Gandalf930 Yes that was my picture in the program when I sang the Commendatore in Giovanni. Last winter I did in fact grow a beard.