A Heldentenor is the heaviest voice in the tenor range. The beefy, powerful voice to meet the demands of Siegfried, Siegmund and Tristan, the heaviest roles that Wagner wrote.fergus wrote:Excuse my ignorance Pepe but would you mind explaining what a Heldentenor is?Jose Echenique wrote:The real interest in this recording is tenor Klaus Florian Vogt, one of the most interesting Wagner singers to appear in recent years. He is not your typical Heldentenor, his is a more lyrical and Italianate voice than usual for Wagner. Wagner of course didn´t compose for Heldentenors, the vocal category didn´t exist in his time, that is something that came much later. The very first Lohengrin was a Donizetti tenor, a tenor with Lucia and Poliuto in his repertoire, so a voice like Vogt´s shouldn´t be ruled out. Besides, his luminous, light tone and his musicianship make him a perfect knight.
The best example of a Heldentenor was a Danish singer from the 1940´s called Lauritz Melchior, his was the Heldentenor voice par excellence. Wolfgang Windgassen in the Solti and Böhm Rings was also a Heldentenor, but by the time he recorded both cycles he was already in decline.
Sometimes a spinto tenor with enough heft can sing Heldentenor roles, like Placido Domingo and Siegfried Jerusalem, but the real article, like venerable Lauritz Melchior is a VERY rare bird indeed.
