[Woodduck]

Herlea makes this sound as easy as one might be tempted to imagine that it is. As Ponselle said of Stracciari in an earlier era, "Now that's a baritone!" Herlea does nothing extraordinary interpretively - it's quite straightforward musically - but his vocalism is so fine that I don't care. It's a voice with no artificial darkening, or artificial anything, It rings out freely and splendidly.

This must be a late recording of Merrill. It's more effortful than it would have been years earlier, and he breaks up phrases too much. Enkhbat is more youthful vocally, and puts some feeling into his interpretation. But Herlea's singing is in another class: technically, though not stylistically, he echoes the Golden Age in the postwar era. An easy winner.

 

[Woodduck]

I'm very curious to see how Enkbhat does. He's so hot right now lol

@Seattleoperafan if you don't get that reference I'm going to be very disappointed!

Does this video represent Enkhbat's current work? (His name makes me think of "ink blot.")

 

[Woodduck]

Yes, I believe this is very recent. Last year I believe. Here's a clip of his Germont at The Met that's even more recent.

It's a rich and powerful instrument His approach to the aria is unlike any I've heard - very dramatized, rather than "bel canto" (Battistini's being at the other end of the continuum).I like the way it makes sense of the cadenza, which generally just sounds like a desperate baritone trying to make something awkward sound good.

 

[Woodduck]

Round Three - Il Balen - Herlea - Enkbhat - Merrill


Vocal control - Two-way tie - Herlea and Enkbhat

Good tone - Three-way tie - Herlea - Enkbhat - Merrill

Enunciation - Edge to Enkhbhat

Pronunciation - Edge to Enkhbhat

Musical phrasing - Two-way tie - Herlea and Enkbhat

Voice suitability - Three-way tie - Herlea - Enkbhat - Merrill

Versatility - Two-way tie - Herlea and Enkbhat

Performance that I personally enjoyed the most - Herlea although if given the chance, I would have split my vote between him and Enkbhat


On a side note - I would like to request that no performer whose last name involves the letters - n - k - b - and - h - in that particular order ever be entered in a competition again as it took me nearly 30 minutes to type this review thanks to my continually misspelling "Enkbhat" and thus having to correct it 10 separate times. Note to self - "Hey, genius, try to remember the "copy and paste" method approximately 29 minutes sooner than you did just now..." - Reply from self - "Thanks, I'll try to keep that in mind next time unless I forget to do so much in the way that I did just now - Maybe you should think about writing "use copy and paste" on a post-it note and stick it on your monitor, Einstein..."

I regret profoundly to have to tell you this, but the correct spelling, according to my research, is "Enkhbat." Not only that, but "Enkhbat" appears to be a shortened form of his original name, "Enkhbatyn." He probably shortened it so that we could spell it more easily.

Now for his first name, Amartüvshin... How about "Marty"?

 

[Woodduck]

"Amartüvshin Enkhbatyn" (carefully copy-and-pasted) makes me wonder whether I'm looking at a language with roots common to the modern Finno-Ugric languages, Hungarian, Finnish and Turkish. I'm not expecting anyone to know the answer to this, but having Hungarian ancestry I'm curious about this odd group of languages. Maybe Mr. Enkhbat will drop by and tell us.

 

[Woodduck]

Now that plenty have left their opinions on Enkbhat I want to state that I absolutely despise his singing lol. This is the manufactured overly dark sound that has been the death of low voice singing imo. Enkbhat sounds better than his contemporaries while doing so and is enjoying success as a result, but this is not free and easy vocal production and I hope no young baritones are trying to imitate this sound.

I believe you are right. I also suspect his voice won't last. The vibrato is already slow.

 

[Woodduck]

I won't lie to you. Seeing people leaving comments on YouTube calling him the best baritone in the world makes me want to fight everyone!!!

Who is the best baritone in the world? IYO?

 

[Woodduck]

I have no good answer for this as I haven't heard any baritone who stands out in quite some time, but if it's Enkbhat we're going in the wrong direction. Is there one who stands out for you?

I don't keep up without the help of younger folk, or folk who do as much listening as I used to do. I was hoping you'd educate me!

 

[Woodduck]

Slavov sounds good. His instrument seems suited to the music he's singing. Bonfanti's doesn't. The acoustics don't help, so I searched YouTube to hear what the voice sounds like close up:

Not bad, but it doesn't sound to me like a voice that should be singing leading Verdi roles. Apparently he was already singing Rigoletto and Don Carlo in Ernani ten years ago. This Rossini was posted only a year ago, so it presumably represents his present work pretty well:

I guess I'd be happy enough to hear that in a college production, assuming the acting was good, but... It's just not much of an instrument, and sound technique can't make it more than it is by nature. The tone has little depth or ring; it's the sort of colorless voice we get used to hearing in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. If the question was who stands out among present day baritones (or, originally, who's the best in the world today), I sure hope it isn't this guy.

 

[Woodduck]

Lmao "a college production"

This is why singing is so terrible today. The idea that a modern baritone has to be a pushed-up bass, and a bass has to be a croaking frog. This is why nobody sings like Battistini, or Edouard de Reszke, or Armand Crabbé, or Wilhelm Strienz, or Carlo Galeffi, or Heinrich Schlusnus, or Pol Plançon. Now, is Bonfanti anywhere near as good as those guys? No. But he's a professional-level singer, the likes of which are EXTREMELY thin on the ground. His technique and interpretation are a lot like those of later Galeffi.

This is the lead baritone at La Scala:

If anyone prefers that, he has brain worms.

Much to my relief, I don't have brain worms! I certainly don't like that Salsi guy. He's a bellower, and he makes awful music. If that's what people think is good singing nowadays, if this is merely a question of technique, and if the intrinsic quality of the instrument isn't an issue, then I have no quarrel with you. Bonfanti just doesn't have a voice I care to listen to. If Salsi sang as nicely as Bonfanti he'd probably deserve his star status, if that's what he has.