As a (former) bass singer myself, I’ve always been captivated by this aria.

Pure class. Kurt Moll really knew his own voice inside out.

As we reach the end of “Bass Month” I’d like to call attention to the superb American Gregory Reinhart who particularly shone in music by Jean-Philippe Rameau.

The greatest bass performance I ever experienced was actually four – four performances in four roles.

This performance was introduced to me by Norman Treigle’s granddaughter —very fine mezzo-soprano Emily Treigle; while I was preparing the role of Olin Blitch, and it completely changed my understanding of the character.

The Met in HD proved to be a major gateway drug for me, showing me my first Don Carlo in 2010.

This bass aria “Sous les pieds d’une femme” from Gounod’s La Reine du Saba used to be a concert favorite

Tancredi Pasero is so noble in mien and rich-voiced here, a perfect complement to Caniglia’s earthy Leonora who honestly charts the movement from despair to fervent, transcendent faith in this duet.

I don’t know if I’ll ever hear as great a performance as René Pape‘s Gurnemanz.

Cesare Siepi and Giulio Neri give a reference rendition of the Grand Inquisitor scene.

Not much to say here. Legendary bass Mark Reizen was born in the USSR and thus never got to tour much to the west.

Boris Christoff’s Procida (along with Cerquetti’s Elena) lifts Mario Rossi’s RAI Torino Vespri to distinction.

If I must choose a single bass performance, it is still Boris Christoff’s Boris Godunov.

Boris Christoff‘s sound is justly famous, and his vocal splendor is on full display here.

Christopher Purves in Saul – the clarity, the range, the expression, the drama!

No one in my experience both live and on records could swagger, spin out roulades, and ripple through Rossini and Handel like Samuel Ramey.

Before hearing Samuel Ramey as Zaccaria in Nabucco, I had always been more interested in higher voices.

This performance features Samuel Ramey in what I consider one of the most powerful deliveries of this aria on record.

Nobody in my experience has come close to rivaling Samuel Ramey as the shy, lovelorn Englishman Lord Sidney from that first cast.

The great bass Len Dresslar became famous (if unknown) as the voice of the Jolly Green Giant on all those ads that those of us (of a certain age) grew up on

The one, the only Fyodor Chaliapin, singing Massenet’s “Elegie” (with, I believe, a young Piatigorsky on the cello part).

Fyodor Chaliapin is considered one of the greatest basses ever because he combined a dark, flexible, and instantly recognizable bass voice with extraordinary musical intelligence and nuance.