A heldentenor (; English: ''heroic tenor''), earlier called tenorbariton, is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

tic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

voice, most often associated with

Wagnerian Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

repertoire. It is distinct from other tenor '' fächer'' by its endurance, volume, and dark

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voices and musica ...

, which may be, in its middle

register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), th ...

, like that of a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the ...

. The voice may also sound clear or metallic. It is one of the rarest voice types in opera. Heldentenor roles, such as the title roles in '' Siegfried'' and ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...

'', often require commanding stage presence and strong acting ability. In some cases, due to reasons such as voice misidentification, singers may begin their careers as baritones before later transitioning. The term ''heldentenor'' may be used to refer to both a singer and their voice. The treble counterpart of the heldentenor is the Wagnerian soprano. Tenor B to C

Roles

The following roles are in the standard heldentenor repertoire:

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

* Lohengrin, ''

'' * Parsifal, ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...

'' * Rienzi, ''

Rienzi ' (''Rienzi, the last of the tribunes''; WWV 49) is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name (1835). The title is commonly shortened to ''Ri ...

'' * Siegfried, '' Siegfried'' and ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled (''The Ring of the Nibelung'', or ''The Ring Cycle'' or ''The Ring'' for short). It received its premiere at the on 17 August 1876, as ...

'' * Siegmund, ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...

'' * Tannhäuser, ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...

'' * Tristan, ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was comp ...

'' * Walther von Stolzing, ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is tradit ...

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

* Aegisth, '' Elektra'' * Apollo, '' Daphne'' * Bacchus, ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

'' * Guntram, ''

Guntram Saint Gontrand (c. 532 in Soissons – 28 March 592 in Chalon-sur-Saône), also called Gontran, Gontram, Guntram, Gunthram, Gunthchramn, and Guntramnus, was the king of the Kingdom of Orléans from AD 561 to AD 592. He was the third eldest and ...

'' * Herodes, ''

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, a ...

'' * Der Kaiser (''The Emperor''), '' Die Frau ohne Schatten'' * Menelaus, ''

Die ägyptische Helena ''Die ägyptische Helena'' (''The Egyptian Helen''), Op. 75, is an opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It premiered at the Dresden Semperoper on 6 June 1928. Strauss had written the title role with ...

Other

* Aeneas, ''

Les Troyens ''Les Troyens'' (; in English: ''The Trojans'') is a French grand opera in five acts by Hector Berlioz. The libretto was written by Berlioz himself from Virgil's epic poem the ''Aeneid''; the score was composed between 1856 and 1858. ''Les T ...

'' ( Berlioz) * Florestan, ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, ...

'', (

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

) * Otello, ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play '' Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887. ...

'' (

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the ...

) * Paul, ''

Die tote Stadt ' (German for ''The Dead City''), Op. 12, is an opera in three acts by Erich Wolfgang Korngold set to a libretto by Paul Schott, a collective pseudonym for the composer and his father, Julius Korngold. It is based on the 1892 novel '' Bruges-la-Mo ...

'' ( Korngold) * Peter Grimes, '' Peter Grimes'' (

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

) * Samson, ''

Samson et Dalila ''Samson and Delilah'' (french: Samson et Dalila, links=no), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater ( ...

'' ( Saint-Saëns) * Tambourmajor (''Drum Major''), ''

Wozzeck ''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama '' Woyzeck'', which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at ...

'' (

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states * Berg (state), county and duchy of the Hol ...

)

Example singers

Germany

Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld (2 July 183621 July 1865) was a German Heldentenor. He is best known creating the role of Tristan in Wagner's opera ''Tristan und Isolde'' at its 1865 premiere at the Bavarian court opera in Munich. His career was ...

* Peter Hofmann *

Siegfried Jerusalem Siegfried Jerusalem (born 17 April 1940) is a German operatic tenor. Closely identified with the heldentenor roles of Richard Wagner, he has performed Siegfried, Siegmund, Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Tristan to wide acclaim. Since the 1990s, he ha ...

* Heinrich Knote * René Kollo * Max Lorenz * Albert Niemann * Johannes Sembach *

Set Svanholm Set Svanholm (2 September 1904 – 4 October 1964) was a Swedish operatic tenor, considered the leading Tristan and Siegfried of the first decade following World War II. Life and career Svanholm began his musical career at the age of 17 as a pre ...

Georg Unger Georg Unger (1837 – 1887) was a German operatic tenor most famous for playing Siegfried in ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' written by Richard Wagner. Unger was born in Leipzig (Germany), and as a student studied Theology and music. He made his ...

Wolfgang Windgassen Wolfgang Windgassen (26 June 1914 – 8 September 1974) was a heldentenor internationally known for his performances in Wagner operas. Life and career Born in Annemasse, France, he was the son (and pupil) of a well known German Heldentenor, Frit ...

Northern, Central, and Western Europe

Karel Burian Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley, talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel, Dutch painter Business * Karel Electronics, a Turkish electronics manufacturer * Gr ...

Lauritz Melchior Lauritz Melchior (20 March 1890 – 18 March 1973) was a Danish-American opera singer. He was the preeminent Richard Wagner, Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s and has come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type. Late i ...

* Karl Aagaard Østvig * Jean de Reszke *

Erik Schmedes Erik Anton Julius Schmedes (27 August 1868, in Gentofte, Denmark – 21 March 1931, in Vienna) was an operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in operas by Richard Wagner. He was a brother-in-law by marriage of Vaslav Nijinsky. Career S ...

* Leo Slezak * Josef Tichatschek *

Jacques Urlus Jacques Urlus (6 January 1867 in Hergenrath, Rhine Province - 6 June 1935 in Noordwijk, Netherlands), was a Dutch dramatic tenor. He sang to great critical acclaim at major opera houses on both sides of the Atlantic, and his recordings of the musi ...

Christopher Ventris Christopher Ventris, born 1965, in London, is a British tenor. He is particularly known for his role as Parsifal which he has performed over 100 times including performances at the Bayreuth Festival during the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Festival season ...

Walter Widdop Walter Widdop (19 April 1892 – 6 September 1949) was a British operatic tenor who is best remembered for his Wagnerian performances. His repertoire also encompassed works by Verdi, Leoncavallo, Handel and Bach. Career Widdop was born at N ...

North and South America

* Richard Cassilly *

Ben Heppner Thomas Bernard Heppner (born January 14, 1956) is a Canadian tenor and broadcaster, now retired from singing, who specialized in opera and other classical works for voice. Early life and career Heppner, of Mennonite descent, was born in Mur ...

* James King *

Gary Lakes Gary Lakes (born September 26, 1950) is an American opera heldentenor. Lakes was born in Woodward, Oklahoma, and raised in Irving, Texas. He made his professional debut with the Seattle Opera in the role of Froh in 1981 in Wagner's ''Das Rhe ...

Robert Dean Smith Robert Dean Smith (born 2 May 1956 in Kansas) is an American operatic tenor. Smith studied at Pittsburg State University (Kansas) with Margaret Thuenemann, at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City with Daniel Ferro, and with Profes ...

Jon Vickers Jonathan Stewart Vickers, (October 29, 1926 – July 10, 2015), known professionally as Jon Vickers, was a Canadian heldentenor. Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a ...

* Ramon Vinay

References

External Links

{{Portal bar, Opera, Classical music Opera terminology Voice types Heldentenors Richard Wagner