THE
TENOR AND RICHARD WAGNER (1813 - 1883)
--Geoffrey Riggs
This
may seem incredibly Quixotic, but I thought it might prove intriguing if I were
to risk putting out here a few thoughts on the relative difficulties of some of
the Wagner tenor rep. I have not included every single tenor role Wagner ever
wrote (like Froh or David, for instance). I decided to restrict myself to ten
alone, and let the chips fall where they may. Please bear in mind that I have
put out my thoughts here merely as a way of stimulating further discussion: either
on where or how I may have been led astray in the following, or, conversely, on
where any of my points may resonate positively with other posters who might wish
to amplify with further reflections of their own.
There are five parameters,
IMO, in the Wagner tenor rep: endurance at the top of the range, strength and
amplitude in the low, stamina through a long role, eccentricities of musical style
and, finally, consistency of heavy orchestral writing surrounding the role's vocal
line.
For endurance at the top of the range, some have a more overwhelmingly
taxing high tessitura than others.
First is the lineup from most taxing
in the highs to least. What's being measured here is not which roles merely have
the highest note; instead, what's being measured here is high tessitura: in other
words, which roles spend the most time in the upper register generally. They may
or they may not reach the highest tenor notes Wagner ever used. The chief consideration
instead is how much time is spent in a vocal vicinity that is near or at those
highest notes. Hence the word, tessitura, signifying the general *texture*, is
applicable here.
Here are some Wagner tenor roles arranged acc. to high
tessitura, starting with the most extreme, IMO:
Eric/Walther
Rienzi/Tannhauser/young
Siegfried
Lohengrin
Goetterd. Siegfried
Tristan
Siegmund/Parsifal
The mirror image of this list relates to a fundamental component in a number
of Wagner tenor roles: the degree of rich baritonal coloring necessary. It's rare
and risky for any tenor to spend too much time beefing up the low and singing
throughout a long evening practically like a baritone. In its way, that's as risky
as spending too much time in the upper register, whether or not one actually sings
one's very highest note. In this case, I would judge that the safest balance for
the voice is found in Lohengrin, although that's hardly saying it's easy! It's
just that the balance in Lohengrin found between high and low makes it arguably
one of the -- relatively -- safest entrees for any tenor first dipping into Wagner,
IMO. Taking Lohengrin as a control, therefore, one can judge that the most baritonal
roles in the Wagner tenor rep are
Siegmund/Parsifal
followed
by
Tristan
Goett. Siegfried
Lohengrin
after which the
balance goes the other way, IMO, with
Rienzi/Tannhauser/young Siegfried
Eric/Walther
leading up the rear.
When it comes to stamina,
the lineup, IMO, from most rigorous to least, is:
Tristan/young Siegfried
Rienzi/Tannhauser
Goett. Siegfried
Walther/Siegmund
Lohengrin/Parsifal
Eric
For those coming to Wagner from the more traditional rep, the acclimatization
factor re musical style operates most significantly at the top of this following
lineup, IMO:
Tristan/young Siegfried/Parsifal
Siegmund
Goett.
Siegfried
Tannhauser
Walther/Lohengrin
Eric
Rienzi
When
it comes to consistency of heavy orchestral writing, the lineup from heaviest
to lightest is, IMO:
Tristan/young Siegfr./Goett. Siegfr.
Rienzi/Tannhauser
Siegmund
Parsifal
Lohengrin/Walther
Eric
Again, all of these
five groupings are merely my personal estimates, and, sincerely, one of my goals
in putting this out today is to stimulate further estimates from others, agreeing
or disagreeing, who may have strong opinions of their own, based on the kind of
in-depth knowledge typical of most of the contributors on this forum.
In assessing these parameters as a group, one has to acknowledge that, naturally,
every different tenor is slightly different from every other. What's easier for
one may be harder for another (Vickers' shying away from the young Siegfried but
glorying in Tristan versus Jerusalem's being reasonably musical in the young Siegfried
while consistently "gruffing" up Tristan ludicrously, IMO, and so on).
However, if taken in terms of ease of casting for the impresario rather than ease
of execution for individual tenors, then the emerging rarity of certain types
of singers for potentially embarrassed impresarios helps focus the differences
more clearly.
The Goett. Siegfried, for instance, only appears at the
top of one of the five parameters, for heavy orchestration, and in the middle
for all the others, so it can be slotted in as the easiest to cast of the *full-fledged*
Heldentenor roles (the others in chronological order being Rienzi, Tannhauser,
Tristan and the young Siegfried). OTOH, Rienzi and Tannhauser appear toward the
top thrice: at second place for high tessitura, for stamina and for heavy orchestration
respectively. The young Siegfried appears toward the top four times: in second
place for high tessitura and at the top for unusual musical style, for sheer stamina
and for heavy orchestration respectively. Tristan also appears toward the top
four times: second place for baritonal gravity, first place for unusual musical
style, for sheer stamina and for heavy orchestration respectively.
As
a matter of fact, when examining this more closely, we see that Tristan and the
young Siegfried are mirror images of each other, so to speak, with Tristan uncomfortably
baritonal (in second place next to Siegmund/Parsifal) and the young Siegfried
uncomfortably high (in second place next to Eric/Walther) -- a "wash".
So the final lineup from hardest to cast to easiest starts out with a tie: Tristan/young
Siegfr.
Similarly, for the least difficult to cast, we apparently have
another "wash". Eric is in first place alongside Walther for high tessitura,
but entirely lyrical and at the bottom when it comes to orchestration, whereas
Lohengrin is slightly heavier in orchestration and a longer role while being relatively
benign in tessitura, whether assessed either in terms of high tessitura or baritonal
emphasis. So -- and it just came out this way -- there's a two-way "wash"
both at the top and at the bottom of this lineup.
From hardest to easiest
to cast, the Wagner tenor lineup, IMO, is:
Tristan/young Siegfried
Tannhauser
Rienzi
Goet. Siegfr.
Siegmund
Parsifal
Walther
Eric/Lohengrin
Again, bear in mind that this final synthesis, personal
as it is, is, in turn, based on entirely personal syntheses when it comes to what
I view as the respective orders for these ten roles in each of the other five
main parameter lineups detailed above. Both my lineups for each of the five parameters
above and this final synthesis are emphatically up for discussion, nor do I think
this Quixotic posting worthwhile unless it stimulates considerable refinements,
demurs, stern corrections or amplifications from others.
--
Geoffrey Riggs
MARIA
CALLAS (1923 - 1977) -- HER BEST RECORDINGS IN GOOD SOUND
CARMEN
-- FROM COMEDY TO TRAGEDY
ENRICO
CARUSO (1873 - 1921) -- A BRIEF APPRECIATION
FRANCO
CORELLI (1921 - 2003) -- RECOLLECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS
DON
CARLOS -- RANDOM JOTTINGS
DONIZETTI
AND BRINKMANSHIP
GREATEST
SINGER?
MEISTERSINGER
ON DISC -- THE STRONGEST ENTRIES
RECALLING
ROBERT MERRILL (1917 - 2004)
NORMA -- TRADITIONS LOST AND RESTORED
PARSIFAL
ON DISC -- THE STRONGEST ENTRIES
HISTORY
OF OPERA IN MINIATURE
RICHARD
TAUBER (1891 - 1948) -- A BRIEF APPRECIATION
VIOLETTA
IN LA TRAVIATA
PARTIAL
OVERVIEW OF TRISTAN ON CD
IL
TROVATORE ON DISC -- THE STRONGEST ENTRIES
UPCOMING
SINGERS