An excellent classification of tenors (A-Z tenors and A-Z tenor roles)

Lirico-Leggiero tenor
The male equivalent of a lyric coloratura, this voice is a light lyric instrument, is very agile and is able to perform difficult passages of fioritura. The Lirico-Leggiero tenor has a range of approximately the C one octave below middle C (C3) to the D above tenor C (D5), with a few leggiero tenors being able to sing F5 and even higher while maintaining quality to the sound. Similarly, the lirico-leggero may be able to sing a little lower than the C3. The voice is the highest operatic tenor voice and is sometimes referred to as "tenore di grazia". This voice is utilized frequently in the operas of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti and the highest Baroque repertoire for tenors.

Lirico-Leggiero Tenor Roles In Opera & Operettas:[2]

Count Almaviva, Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini)
Belmonte, The Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart)
Ernesto, Don Pasquale (Donizetti)
Ferrando, Così fan tutte (Mozart)
Lindoro, L'italiana in Algeri (Rossini)
Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni (Mozart)
Don Ramiro, La Cenerentola (Rossini)
Tonio, La Fille du Régiment (Donizetti)


Lirico-Leggiero Tenor Singers:

John Aler
Luigi Alva
Ian Bostridge
Rockwell Blake
Lawrence Brownlee
Richard Croft
Juan Diego Flórez
Topi Lehtipuu
William Matteuzzi
Francesco Meli
Peter Schreier
Tito Schipa
Léopold Simoneau
Ferruccio Tagliavini
Cesare Valletti


[edit] Lyric tenor
A warm graceful voice with a bright, full timbre that is strong but not heavy and can be heard over an orchestra. Lyric tenors have a range from approximately the C one octave below middle C (C3) to the D one octave above middle C (D5) with some able to sing up to E♭5 and higher. Similarly, their lower range may extend a few notes below the C3. There are many vocal shades to the lyric tenor group, repertoire should be selected according to the weight, colors, and abilities of the voice.

Lyric Tenor Roles In Opera & Operettas:[2]

Alfredo, La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi)
Arturo, I Puritani (Vincenzo Bellini)
Chevalier, Dialogues des Carmélites (Francis Poulenc)
David, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Richard Wagner)
Il Duca di Mantova, Rigoletto (Giuseppe Verdi)
Edgardo, Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti)
Elvino, La Sonnambula (Bellini)
Faust, Faust (Charles Gounod)
Fenton, Falstaff (Giuseppe Verdi)
Hoffmann, The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach)
Lensky, Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky)
Oronte, I Lombardi alla prima crociata (Giuseppe Verdi)
Pinkerton, Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini)
Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi (Giacomo Puccini)
Rodolfo, La Bohème (Puccini)
Roméo, Roméo et Juliette (Gounod)
Tamino, Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)
Werther, Werther (Jules Massenet)
Wilhelm Meister, Mignon (Ambroise Thomas)
Guillaume Tell, Arnold (Giacchino Rossini)


Lyric Tenor Singers:

Nazareno Antinori
Roberto Alagna
Marcelo Álvarez
Giacomo Aragall
Piotr Beczała
Evgeny Belyaev
Jussi Björling
Joseph Calleja
José Carreras
Richard Croft
Richard Crooks
Giuseppe di Stefano
Gerald English
Salvatore Fisichella
Miguel Fleta
Luigi Marini
Beniamino Gigli
Nicolai Gedda
Jerry Hadley
Pyotr Slovtsov
Tibor Kelen
Sergei Lemeshev
John McCormack
Francesco Marconi
Chris Merritt
Luciano Pavarotti
Jan Peerce
Alfred Piccaver
Jacques Pottier
Dmitri Smirnov
Leonid Sobinov
Richard Tauber
Joseph Schmidt
Robert Swensen
Alain Vanzo
Ramón Vargas
Fernando del Valle
Rolando Villazón
Gösta Winbergh
Fritz Wunderlich
Gustavo Zamora
Rok Krajnc


[edit] Spinto tenor
This voice has the brightness and height of a lyric tenor, but with a heavier vocal weight enabling the voice to be "pushed" to dramatic climaxes with less strain than the lighter-voice counterparts. (They are also known as "lyric-dramatic" tenors.) This fach is divided into lirico-spinto and drammatico-spinto, though it is an old-school Italian tradition to do so and Spinto tenors today are simply labeled "Spinto". Spinto tenors have a darker timbre than a lyric tenor, without having a vocal color as dark as a dramatic tenor. However, other spinto tenors, such as Carlo Bergonzi have brightly colored and lyrical sounding voices, but are nevertheless able to perform spinto roles due to large vocal size or high volume [2]. Spinto tenors have a wide range of flexibility within the fach system being able to perform such roles as Radames in Aida and Don Alvaro in La forza del destino as well as lighter roles such as the Duca in Rigoletto and Werther. The German equivalent of the Spinto fach is the Jugendlicher Heldentenor and encompasses many of the Dramatic tenor roles as well as some Wagner roles such as Lohengrin and Siegmund. The difference is often the depth and metal in the voice where some lyric tenors age or push their way into singing as a Spinto giving them a lighter tone and Jugendlicher Heldentenors tend to be either young heldentenors or true lyric dramatic voices giving them a dark dramatic tenor like tone. Spinto tenors have a range from approximately the C one octave below middle C (C3) to the C one octave above middle C (C5), and, like the lyric tenors, they are often capable of reaching D5 and sometimes higher. Similarly, their lower range may extend a few notes below the C3.[2]

Spinto Tenor Roles In Opera & Operettas:[2]

Andrea Chénier, Andrea Chénier (Umberto Giordano)
Canio, Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)
Des Grieux, Manon Lescaut (Puccini)
Don Carlo, Don Carlo (Verdi)
Don José, Carmen (Bizet)
Erik, Der Fliegende Holländer (Wagner)
Ernani, Ernani (Verdi)
Hermann, Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky)
Idomeneo, Idomeneo (Mozart)
Macduff, Macbeth (opera) (Verdi)
Manrico, Il trovatore (Verdi)
Mario Cavaradossi, Tosca (Puccini)
Maurizio, Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea)
Max, Der Freischütz (Carl Maria von Weber)
Pollione Norma (Bellini)
Stiffelio Stiffelio (Verdi)
Riccardo, Un ballo in maschera (Verdi)
Turiddu, Cavalleria rusticana (Pietro Mascagni)


Spinto Tenor Singers:

Carlo Bergonzi
Beniamino Gigli
Franco Corelli
Plácido Domingo
Giuseppe Giacomini
Jonas Kaufmann
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi
Francesco Merli
Giovanni Martinelli
Aureliano Pertile
Helge Rosvaenge
Georges Thill
Richard Tucker


[edit] Dramatic tenor
Also "tenore di forza" or "robusto" – a rich, emotive, ringing and very powerful, clarion heroic tenor. The dramatic tenor has an approximate range from the C one octave below middle C (C3) to the C one octave above middle C (C5).[2] Many successful dramatic tenors have historically avoided the coveted high C in performance. Their lower range tends to extend into the baritone tessitura or, a few notes below the C3.

Dramatic Tenor Roles In Opera & Operettas:[2]

Calaf, Turandot (Puccini)
Canio, I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)
Cavaradossi, Tosca (Giacomo Puccini)
Dick Johnson, La fanciulla del West (Giacomo Puccini)
Don Alvaro, La forza del destino (Verdi)
Florestan, Fidelio (Beethoven)
Otello, Otello (Verdi)
Peter Grimes, Peter Grimes (Benjamin Britten)
Radames, Aïda (Verdi)
Samson, Samson et Dalila (Saint-Saëns)


Dramatic Tenor Singers:

Franco Bonisolli
Enrico Caruso
Giuseppe Giacomini later in career
Mario del Monaco
James McCracken
Aureliano Pertile later in career
Jean de Reszke
Vladimir Rosing
Francesco Tamagno
Ramon Vinay


[edit] Heldentenor
A rich, dark, powerful and dramatic voice. As its name implies, the Heldentenor (English: heroic tenor) vocal fach features in the German romantic operatic repertoire. The Heldentenor is the German equivalent of the tenore drammatico, however with a more baritonal quality: the typical Wagnerian protagonist. The keystone of the heldentenor's repertoire is arguably Wagner's Siegfried, an extremely demanding role requiring a wide vocal range and great power, plus tremendous stamina and acting ability. Often the heldentenor is a baritone who has transitioned to this fach or tenors who have been misidentified as baritones. Therefore the heldentenor voice might or might not have facility up to high B or C. The repertoire, however, rarely calls for such high notes. A Heldentenor is less a true tenor than a baritone with a strong top register. Heldentenor Roles In Operas & Operettas:[2]

Florestan, Fidelio (Beethoven)
Tannhäuser, Tannhäuser (Wagner)
Loge, Das Rheingold (Wagner)
Lohengrin, Lohengrin (Wagner)
Parsifal, Parsifal (Wagner)
Drum Major, Wozzeck (Berg)
Siegfried, Götterdämmerung (Wagner)
Siegfried, Siegfried (Wagner)
Siegmund, Die Walküre (Wagner)
Walter von Stolzing, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner)
Tristan, Tristan und Isolde (Wagner)


Heldentenor Singers:

Bernd Aldenhoff
Giuseppe Borgatti
Karel Burian
Richard Cassilly
Mario del Monaco
Wilhelm Elsner
Stephen Gould
Ben Heppner
Siegfried Jerusalem
James King
Heinrich Knote
Ernst Kraus
Lauritz Melchior
Albert Niemann
Simon O'Neill
Ticho Parly
Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld
Peter Seiffert
Ludwig Suthaus
Set Svanholm
Josef Tichatschek
Jacques Urlus
Jon Vickers
Wolfgang Windgassen
Franz Völker
Ivan Yershov
Jess Thomas
René Kollo


[edit] Tenor buffo or Spieltenor
A tenor with good acting ability, and the ability to create distinct voices for his characters. This voice specializes in smaller comic roles. The range of the tenor buffo is from the C one octave below middle C (C3) to the C one octave above middle C (C5). The tessitura of these parts lies lower than the other tenor roles. These parts are often played by younger tenors who have not yet reached their full vocal potential or older tenors who are beyond their prime singing years. Only rarely will a singer specialize in these roles for an entire career.[2] In French opéra comique, supporting roles requiring a thin voice but good acting are sometimes described as 'trial', after the singer Antoine Trial (1737–1795), examples being in the operas of Ravel and in The Tales of Hoffmann.[11]

Tenor Buffo or Spieltenor Roles in Opera & Operettas:[2]

Count Danilo Danilovitsch, Die Lustige Witwe (Franz Lehár)
Don Basilio, The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
Mime, Siegfried (Richard Wagner)
Don Anchise/ Il Podestà, La Finta Giardiniera (Mozart)
Monostatos, The Magic Flute (Mozart)
Pedrillo, The Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart)
Dr. Blind, Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss II)
Slender, The Merry Wives of Windsor (opera) (Otto Nicolai)
Kálmán Zsupán, The Gypsy Baron (Johann Strauss II)
The Captain, Wozzeck (Alban Berg)
The Magician, The Consul (Gian-Carlo Menotti)
Beppe, I Pagliacci (Ruggero Leoncavallo)
Frantz, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Jacques Offenbach)
Spoletta, Tosca (Giacomo Puccini)
Goro, Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini)
Pong, Turandot (Giacomo Puccini)
Gastone, La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi)


Tenor Buffo or Spieltenor singers:

Charles Anthony
Nico Castel
Graham Clark (tenor)
Piero de Palma
Anthony Laciura
Michel Sénéchal
Darren Keith Woods
Heinz Zednik
Renato Ercolani
Gerhard Stolze


[edit] Operetta
Tenor Roles in Operetta: All of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operettas have at least one lead lyric tenor character; other notable roles are:

Candide, (Candide)
Eisenstein, (Die Fledermaus)
Camille, Count de Rosillon, (The Merry Widow)
Prince Karl, (The Student Prince)
Sheikh Red Shadow, (The Desert Song)
Captain Dick, (Naughty Marietta)
[edit] References
Specific references:

1.^ McKinney, James (1994). The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults. Genovex Music Group. ISBN 978-1565939400.
2.^ a b c d e f g h i j k Boldrey, Richard (1994). Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1877761645.
3.^ Stark, James (2003). Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0802086143.
4.^ a b Smith, Brenda (2005). Choral Pedagogy. Plural Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-1597560436.
5.^ Shortage of tenors acknowledged (but blamed on cultural discouragement)
6.^ Joseph Callega interview: mentions shortage of tenors
7.^ The disciplines of vocal pedagogy By Karen Sell: mentions shortage of tenors
8.^ Averill, Gage (2003). Four Parts, No Waiting: A Social History of American Barbershop Harmony. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195116724.
9.^ Cantwell, Robert (2002). Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the Old Southern Sound. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0252071171.
10.^ Appelman, D. Ralph (1986). The Science of Vocal Pedagogy: Theory and Application. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253203786.
11.^ Cotte RJV. Trial, French family of musicians. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.
General references:

David Fallows, Owen Jander. Tenor, Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy, grovemusic.com (subscription required)

Merce, diletti amici -- aria created by a tenor

Mercé, diletti amici,
a tanto amor, mercé.
Udite or tutti del mio cor gli affanni;
e se voi negherete il vostra aiuto,
forse per sempre Ernani fia perduto.
Come rugiada al cespite
D’un appassito fiore,
D’aragonese vergine
Scendeami voce al core;
Fu quello il primo palpito,
il primo palpito
D’amor, d’amor che mi beò
Il vecchio Silva stendere
Osa su lei la mano
Domani trarla al talamo
Confida l’inumano.
Ah, s’ella m’è tolta, ahi, misero!
D’affanno morirò!
S’ella m’è tolta, ahi, misero!
D’affanno morirò!
D’affanno, d’affanno, d’affanno morirò!
D’affanno morirò!
D’affanno morirò!
Si rapisca ...
Sia rapita,
me in seguirci sarà ardita?
Me ‘l giurò.
Dunque verremo,
al castel ti seguiremo.
Quando notte il cielo copra
tu ne avrai compagni all'opra,
dagli sgherri d'un rivale
ti fia scudo ogni pugnale.
Vieni, Ernani, la tua bella
de' banditi fia la stella.
Saran premio al tuo valore
Saran premio al tuo valore
le dolcezze dell'amor dell'amor.
Saran premio al tuo valore
Saran premio al tuo valore
le dolcezze dell'amor dell'amor.
le dolcezze dell'amor
sì, dell'amor.
le dolcezze dell'amor
sì, dell'amor.
Saran premio al tuo valore
le dolcezze dell'amor.
Dell'esilio nel dolore
angiol fia, angiol fia consolator.
Oh tu che l'alma adora,
vien, vien, la mia vita infiora;
per noi d'ogni altro bene
il loco amor terrà, amor terrà.
Purché sul tuo bel viso
vegga brillar il riso,
gli stenti suoi, le pene
Ernani scorderà.
Oh, gli stenti suoi, le pene
Ernani scorderà.
Vieni, Ernani, la tua bella
de' banditi fia la stella.
Saran premio al tuo valore
le dolcezze dell'amor.
Saran premio al tuo valore
le dolcezze dell'amor.
Sì, le dolcezze dell'amor.
Oh tu che l'alma adora,
vien, vien, la mia vita infiora;
per noi d'ogni altro bene
il loco amor terrà, amor terrà.
Purché sul tuo bel viso
vegga brillar il riso,
gli stenti suoi, le pene
Ernani scorderà.
Oh, gli stenti suoi, le pene
Ernani, Ernani scorderà.
Ernani scorderà!…ecc.

Io l'ho perduta, o potenza suprema -- Don Carlo ('created' by Tamagno)

Io l'ho perduta

Oh potenza suprema.

Un altro... ed è mio padre... un altro... e questi è il Re,
Lei che adoro m'ha rapita.

La sposa a me promessa

-----

Ah, quanto puro e bel
Fu il dì senza doman,
in cui, ebri di speme

C'era dato vagar nell'ombra soli insieme,

nel dolce suol di Francia

nella foresta di Fontainebleau
nella foresta di Fontainebleau.

----

Io la vidi e il suo sorriso

nuovo un cielo apriva a me

ahi, per sempre or m'ha diviso

da quel core un padre -- un Re.

------


Non promette un dì felice

di mia vita il triste albor

m'hai rubato, o incantatrice,

cor e speme, sogni... amor.

m'hai rubato speme sogni amor

----

Ahime io l'ha perduta.
Io l'ha perduta.

----

Avete Torto -- Renuccio (role created by G. Crimi)

Avete torto!
E fine!. . . astuto…
Ogni malizia
di leggi e codici
conosce e sa.
Motteggiatore!…Beffeggiatore!…
C'è da fare una beffa nuova e rara?
È Gianni Schicchi che la prepara!
Gli occhi furbi gli illuminan di riso
lo strano viso,
ombreggiato da quel suo gran nasone
che pare un torracchione
per così!
Vien dal contado? Ebbene? E che vuoi dire?
Basta con queste ubbie grette e piccine!

Firenze è come un albero fiorito,
che in piazza dei Signori ha tronco e fronde,
ma le radici forze nuove apportano
dalle convalli limpide e feconde!
E Firenze germoglia ed alle stelle
salgon palagi saldi e torri snelle!
L'Arno, prima di correre alla foce,
canta baciando piazza Santa Croce,
e il suo canto è si dolce e sì sonoro
che a lui son scesi i ruscelletti in coro!
Così scendanvi dotti in arti e scienze
a far più ricca e splendida Firenze!
E di Val d'Elsa già dalle castella
ben venga Arnolfo a far la torre bella!
E venga Giotto dal Mugel selvoso,
e il Medici mercante coraggioso!
Basta con gli odi gretti e coi ripicchi!
Viva la gente nuova e Gianni Schicchi!

Giulio Crimi (May 10, 1885 – October 29, 1939) was an Italian operatic tenor.

Crimi was born in Paternò, Italy. He studied in Catania with Adernò and made his debut in Palermo, as Manrico in Il trovatore, in 1910, later appearing in Treviso as Hagenbach in La Wally. He sang throughout Italy, Rome, Milan, etc., and created in Turin the role of Paolo in Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini in 1914. That same year saw his debut in London, where he sang the role of Avito in the local premiere of L'amore dei tre re, at the Royal Opera House.

In 1916, he made his debut at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. His Metropolitan Opera debut took place in November 1918, as Radames in Aida, the following month (on December 14) he created the roles of Luigi and Rinuccio in the Puccini operas Il tabarro and Gianni Schicchi. He remained at the Met until 1922, singing Rodolfo, Alfredo, Turiddu, Canio, Chénier, Milio.

Other notable roles included; des Grieux, Alvaro, Walther, Vasco, etc. He retired from the stage in 1927, and taught in Rome, where he died. Amongst his pupils was Tito Gobbi.




[edit] External links
History of the Tenor - Sound Clips and Narration
[edit] Sources
Operissimo.com

Dovunque al mondo lo yankee vagabondo -- Pinkerton, Atto I

Dovunque al mondo
lo Yankee vagabondo
si gode e traffica
sprezzando i rischi.
Affonda l'ancora alla ventura.

(s'interrompe per offrire
da bere a Sharpless)

Milk-Punch o Wisky?

SHARPLESS
Wisky

PINKERTON
(riprendendo)
Affonda l'ancora alla ventura
finché una raffica
scompigli nave e ormeggi, alberatura.
La vita ei non appaga
se non fa suo tesor i fiori d'ogni plaga...

SHARPLESS
È un facile vangelo...

PINKERTON
(continuando)
... d'ogni bella gli amor.

SHARPLESS
.. è un facile vangelo
che fa la vita vaga
ma che intristisce il cor...

PINKERTON
Vinto si tuffa,
la sorte racciuffa.
Il suo talento fa in ogni dove.
Così mi sposo all'uso giapponese
per novecento-novanta-nove anni.
Salvo a prosciogliermi ogni mese.

SHARPLESS
È un facile vangelo.

PINKERTON
(si alza, toccando il bicchiere
con Sharpless)
America forever!

SHARPLESS
America forever!

"Refudiate": Over-literary?

From online source:

"I'll admit that in a flight of furious
passion and verbosity, I was once tempted to
reach for a word like "refudiate". But I
somehow managed to stop myself."


Recall Palin's utterance:

"Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesnt it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate."

The body of the utterance is a missive. It has a vocative, or addressee, "Ground-Zero Mosque supporters".

She omits the ''' in "doesn't". -- "as it does ours" has been said to be replaced by "as it does us". And "pls" should rather read 'plz'. As for 'refudiate'. As someone said: the gist of the cri de coeur is in the 'stab heart' imagery. Note that the verb is used uninflected and without complementation, "refudiate". As when waiters say, "Enjoy" -- implicating -- the food.

By omitting a complement, Palin is meaning 'repudiate', and 'refute' and 'refuse' -- the mosque.

Oddly, it will be a mosque plus a gym, so I guess I have to refudiate the gym, too.

I was reading a review of a tv show which is all about 'gtl', the priorities of Italian-Americans -- 'gym', 'tan' and 'laundry' --.

Better than WEIRD, the acronym is Newsweek for 'western educated industrial republican democracies', or something.

Dimmi che vuoi seguirmi alla mia casa

Dimmi che vuoi seguirmi alla mia casa
che intorno ha un orto e in faccia la collina
che si risveglia al sole, la mattina ed è piena,
alla sera, d’ombre strane!…
Il nostro amore troverà in quell’ombra
la sua luce più pura e più serena…
La santa protezione di mia madre
sopra ogni angoscia e fuori d’ogni pena!
E chi sa che a quel sole mattutino
un giorni non si tenda listamente
la piccola manina d’un bambino…
E chi sa che quell’ombra misteriosa
non protegga i giocondi sogni d’oro
della nostra creatura che riposa…

---- instr. track.