German basso profondo Kurt Moll sings a massive contra B at the end of this live 1984 broadcast recital with pianist Cord Garben. Franz Schubert - Der Wanderer, D. 489
I had the great privilege to attend a masterclass with Kurt Moll 1992 in Regensburg and remember his human qualities were equally impressive as his truly masterly singing with this extraordinary bass voice. No star attitudes at all. He got the best out of each student where ever they stood . One of the greatest singers of all times and a good man.
What a great privilege... and this report is constant everywhere... the humanity wedded with that great voice in equal measure... what a grand privilege to have such instruction!
Wow, I've been wanting to hear a Moll recording of this for years -- it's a staple in my art song repertoire. This is a 3rd lower than the lowest versions I've heard before!
4:34 His high notes (especially given how he sings them in a quiet voice) are also damn impressive for a basso profundo. Moll was a titan of German opera singing and man, he is sorely missed. The fact he had to go into his bass register right after those high notes is just...cruel. Typical Schubert. He *loves* doing that.
@Aaron Anderson I mean 0 the first full octave on the piano keyboard. Three notes lower on the keyboard are -1. I know terms subcontroctave and controctave for this.
@@sergeymedvedev2493 I assume you mean G1 as the lows. Supposedly he could sing from a low F1 to a high G4, and there are recordings of him singing great high Fs and F#s.
Knowing oktavism for several years, being the member of a forum for oktavism enthusiasts, being familiar with extra lows done by Zlat, Ort, Glenn Miller and others I still find this rich B jawdropping. Also I find his tone a little similar to Chandrovsky's here.
One of the greatest basso-voices ever. Incredibly impressive, well conducted and perfectly precise. Moll could sing extremely powerful but also intonate the notes in a way that reminds me of a cup of dark warm, sweet chocolate. Additionally he was a gifted actor on stage. Thank you for posting this wonderful masterpiece of arts.
I have a video on my channel showcasing Kurt Moll's entire recorded vocal range, from Bb1 to G4, which Includes this recording. Vladimir Miller, who was his student, said that Moll could sing down to F1, but unfortunately there are no recordings of this that I am aware of. What an amazing voice
He was indeed amazing. In my opinion the opera/classical music repertoire worked against him, as it doesn't feature enough low notes to really showcase low bass singers such as Moll.
It's funny, too, Kurt was not a super low bass, but his vocal power in that range was incredible. I can actually sing lower than him, but his vocal weight is legendary!
@@MultiKamil97, Kurt's vocal range was Bb1-G4. I just ran his speaking voice through a spectrum analyzer and his speaking voice averaged 72Hz on the inflection points... while low and definitely bass, that is just below a D2 (by 1Hz).My speaking voice averages a C2. He was an incredible bass singer -- one I will never match -- but he was far from a contrabass or oktavist.
@@johndeeregreen4592 Well, not everyone speaks with the same tone when speaking. Kurt used to raise his voice a bit, he didn't talk with a low monotonous voice, he delivered his words in a more expressive way. In that one interview in Da Capo he goes many times to Bb1 and G1/F#1 while ending some words.
@@johndeeregreen4592 You don't get many bass singers that can sing into the 1st octave. Even a C2 is not that powerful if able to except for only a select few. Below E2 for basses it gets really difficult but for profundos and oktavists that's a walk in the park.
@@mikex4941, my lowest resonant note with weight is a B1 off-mic; on-mic, that's a different story (that's a G1). The first time I heard an oktavist... I felt like running and hiding, lol.
@@johndeeregreen4592 I can only do B1 strongly once in a while. Most likely on most good days I could do C2-D2 as lowest resonant. If in bad shape I could only do around E2 thereabouts. Most choir basses won't be hitting below F2 most of the time anyways (also due to the fact that most choir basses are actually baritones). But as a solo bass singer, you'd want to have at the very least good control of the whole 2nd octave. But oktavists and profundos are something else lol. They could easily dip down into the 1st octave and project that.
@@johndeeregreen4592 I have resonance and weight all the way down to a G#1. Oktavists make me feel like running and hiding too though. Dear lord. Resonance and weight, not yelling over the traffic of NYC power like an oktavist...
It is really a shame that there is no tradition of basso profondo music in Germany (or western Europe) for voices like this. As a bass you'll always be stuck playing the villain in an opera or being relegated to the background. And even then, a real deep bass will almost never get the oppurtunity to use his full range.
@@alexanderabdalla5517 perhaps it also has to do with volume. in the old opera houses there was no such thing as microphones and the audience was quite different from todays silent quiet audiences. Audiences back then were much more roary and noisy, people talking to eachother during performances etc. the very deep low basso profundo notes are not as loud and far reaching as for instance a belting tenor or those high soprano notes from the queen of the night.
@@amarkeev What are you trying to say with this? Low sound doesn't equal male sound. Nobody thinks that. Low RESONANCE is male sounding. Pitch has zero to do with sex. There are low female voices and high male voices. Again, I have no idea what you're even trying to say so if none of that has anything to do with what you're saying then my apologies.
Ich darf mich zu den Glücklichen zählen, die Kurt Moll noch live hören durften, das war wirklich bereichernd und das Erlebnis werde ich nie vergessen...
I wonder if this is a bit slow... and that was a C1, originally... I'll accept either way, but the pitch of the recording wanders a bit through the song, and a piano can't do that except on a really hot day... of course, it's gorgeous all the way, C or even lower B...
I'm thinking it was a live radio broadcast that was then recorded... the tone can wander in that situation to be sure, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's a bit slow, yes.
I've been trying to research this further, but I can't find the music posted anywhere except the RU-vid video I linked you to, which was my original source. It hadn't occurred to me it might be slowed down, but it does sound slow. Let me know if you find anything further.
I'll have a look. I've certainly heard his recordings of the same and he usually takes it much faster and down to bottom D. It would be stylistically weird of him to do it so slowly... I know he's on record several times for the low C from Rosenkavalier etc and he's certainly a great bass.
I think it's been slowed down affecting the pitch.... He's recorded it a few times in the usual D.. He was an excellent Lieder singer I don't think he'd have done this so slowly . The tone of the recording sounds weird as well
A phenomenal voice singing a difficult work. Might Maestro Moll have studied under the Russian masters? Russia seems to specialize in developing basso profundo singers whereas Germany is more proficient in the baritone range Perhaps it is that that the Russian language that lends itself so well to bass and basso profundo voices. Might that be so?
It's not so much because of their singing techniques; it's due to the Russian Orthodox church not allowing pipe organs, so there is a tradition of the "oktavist" who sings an octave below the bass line to give the sound of a pipe organ. This caused especially low choral basses to be very valued in the Russian tradition. Extremely low operatic basses from Russia are actually rather rare, and those that exist are mostly crossing over from beginning as a choral oktavist. Outside of Russia, there hasn't been so much demand for extremely low bass voices.
