All tenors are meant to be heroic - that is their purpose in opera, isn’t it? Of course. Yet there is a distinct voice-type and certain roles within the tenor repertoire that demand a heavier tenor voice: enter the Heroic Tenor!
There are several roles open to this type of tenor, ranging from the Italian repertoire of Verdi’s Manrico or Radames, the verismo school of Puccini’s Cavaradossi or Leoncavallo’s Canio to Wagner’s Siegmund, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser and Siegfried. Britten’s Peter Grimes and Saint-Saëns’ Samson are also ideally suited to the heroic tenor, but one role amongst all others appeals as the dream role, particularly to tenors of the Italian school: Verdi’s Otello.
Placido Domingo has of course been the benchmark by which all other tenors since have been measured against in this role, but let us not forget that before him such wonderful singers as Jon Vickers, James McCracken and Mario Del Monaco were the performers of this role par excellence. They themselves came from a long line of tenors that included Giovanni Martinelli, Jussi Bjoerling and even further back, Francesco Tamagno. Today, José Cura takes on the mantle of this role. What are the qualities needed of a heroic tenor? Simply, the voice should possess a stronger, more resonant ring in the top register, with a strong hint of baritonal fullness and quality lower in the voice.
As a role, Otello is demanding physically, but it is not a long or exceptionally high-lying role. There is a top C (optional, but traditional), but most of the time it stays well below a G, placing most of the role within a baritone’s range. There are five B flats, a couple of A naturals and a single exposed B natural and a quick, awkward one as an appoggiatura. There are genuinely lyrical passages, such as the Act I love duet and in the great Act III monologue. Yet, the almost Herculean first entry, “Esultate! L’orgoglio musulmano sepolto è in mar” (Rejoice! The Musselman’s pride is buried at sea) needs all the heroic power the tenor can produce to cut through the orchestral and choral forces that Verdi has mustered from the start of the opera.
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It is partly the drama of Shakespeare’s character (and Arrigo Boito’s faithful translation as librettist) that makes this an appealing role for the heroic tenor. It is the psychological battle within the role, the portrayal of jealousy and the madness it creates that presents such a challenge to the tenor as an actor. Laurence Olivier is reported to have said of Placido Domingo’s performances in Franco Zeffirelli’s film Otello, “By God, not only does he act it as well as I do, the bastard sings it as well!”[1]
Manipulated by Iago’s machinations and schemes until he becomes too blind to see what is plainly before his eyes, (i.e. that Desdemona loves him deeply and is true to him), his downward decent into madness leads Otello to kill that which is most dear to him: his own wife. Unable to live with this, he turns on himself, but not before finally realising that Iago is the real villain. The final aria, “Niun mi tema” (Let no-one fear me) sees the tenor utilise the whole dynamic spectrum of his voice, from sweet softness to the full declamation of “Ho un’arma ancor” (I have another weapon), and throughout the role he must save all his reserves for this moment.
It is these psychological, dramatic and vocal aspects that make Otello the dream role of the heroic tenor.
Ian Wilson-Pope
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