Siegfried Goes to College: Transforming a Heldentenor into a Recital Baritone

Abstract

Typically, the art song recital is a performance event of primary importance within the university environment; however, the career Heldentenor entering academia may find that the aggressiveness of timbre and the scale of loudness he has developed to sing Wagner's heavily orchestrated, very long roles are inappropriate for the performance of most art song repertoire. If the Heldentenor possesses an appropriate pitch structure, he can adapt his technique to sing as a baritone and develop the warmth of timbre and nuance of expression appropriate to the intimate qualities of recital performance. Art song recital performance conditions and those of some Wagnerian tenor roles are described and contrasted, emphasizing the acoustical challenges and demands upon stamina that drive the Heldentenor toward specialization. The acoustics of audibility and voice type are described. A method for adapting the Heldentenor to recital baritone is presented, incorporating exercises developed from the acoustical principles examined within this document. Examples are presented of power spectra and the application of these techniques to repertoire, documenting the efficacy of the author's method in adapting the Heldentenor from the least intimate of repertoires to the most refined.