Character tenor
The character tenor is a role and vocal subject for opera singers.
Voice tone and scope
The character tenor is categorized as an intermediate subject tenor : In comparison to the lyrical tenor or tenor buffo, his voice is “heavier” and, thanks to its penetrating, metallic vocal sound, is ideally able to set itself apart from a sweeping orchestral sound.
On the other hand, the character tenor is not (yet) a dramatic tenor or heroic tenor , but stands between the so-called lyrical (easier) subjects and the more difficult, dramatic subjects. The tessitura , i.e. the extent to which the main part of the notes to be singed is located, is usually lower than that of the tenor buffo or the lyrical tenor. A character tenor can, but does not have to, become a dramatic tenor.
repertoire
Examples include roles such as Herod in Richard Strauss ' Salome , Dr. Cajus in Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff , box in Richard Wagner's Rheingold or Mime in his Siegfried on the role repertoire.
Many roles in the character subject are, in addition to the purely vocal sound characteristics, a question of singing experience and age. Father or villain roles or complex characters presented in exaggeration require a high degree of vocal variability in terms of expression and technique.
The role subjects in the German music theater business are much more strictly and differentiated than in the Anglo-Saxon region or in Italy. As for the character tenor, the serious roles are more clearly separated from the comic. In the English-speaking world, one does not differentiate between tenor buffo / game tenor on the one hand and character tenor on the other hand, but only speaks of the “character tenor”, for example a young tenor buffo voice that is classified as “a young character tenor voice”.
Significant characters
literature
- Peter Anton Ling: voice, voice subject, specialist contract. The importance of the opera voice fans using the example of the male voice fans, Augsburg: Wißner 2008, pp. 143–148. ISBN 978-3-89639-537-5