A Criação do Barítono Verdiano: um caso paradigmático na Performance Lírica do século XIX

In the eighteenth century, the vocal prominence was given to the castrati, and, in the next century, to the soprano and the tenor. The bass and baritone were secondary voices. But, with Verdi, the Baritone was separated from the Basso Cantante and a new vocal type was born: the Verdian Baritone. Absolutely obsessed with dramatic singers, the maestro saw on this new kind of baritonea enormous interpretative enrichment, in parallel with the instrumental sophistication of his romantic and dramatic opera. The creation of the Verdian Baritone came almost as a necessity: a versatile voice; extremely expressive; huge amplitude; able to represent malefic roles and, at the same time, angelic and nobles ones; a dramatic rise as never had seen even in Mozart’s opera.Around 1870, many critics and voice theorists said that the Verdian Baritone was a mezzo-tenore because of its importance in the Dramma and its ability to reach high notes with a corpulent register. This article and proposed conference try to explain the rise of this vocal type, with musical examples, studying the career of the performers, supported in the composer’s letters, and, also, try to create a Verdian Baritone’s profile through the analysis of musical examples fromNabucco, Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, Otello and Falstaff, and reaching important conclusions about the performer and vocal development of the Verdian Baritone since the beginning of his career (Nabucco) until its conclusion (Falstaff) in which this new kind of baritone was completely solid and grounded.