The Baritone

A Cultural History

Matthew Boyden

Maria Callas, one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century.

“Finally, here’s a book that revives the history of the tenor in its proper context. Boyden’s cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary look at things is highly original. Dare-dazzling in scope, it still reads like a roller coaster."

René Seghers
Author of Franco Corelli | Prince of Tenors and the forthcoming biography of Giuseppe Di Stefano, Pippo

A century after the birth of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and to commemorate the 70th birthday of Thomas Hampson, this landmark study charts the cultural and musical evolution of the baritone, and the achievements of its greatest exponents, from the 16th century to the 21st.

Through extensive cross-cultural research and detailed musical analysis, Matthew Boyden traces for the first time ever the origins and evolution of the baritone, and the profound effects of social change, religion, philosophy, psychology, socio-economics, sexuality, race and technology on the sound, techniques and perception of the voice as a musical and cultural phenomenon.  Referencing hundreds of works of music, literature, theatre, painting, and cinema – and featuring multi-disciplinary analyses of the influence of Satanism and necromancy, the civil rights movement, the rise and fall of recording, and the consequences of voice competitions – The Baritone: A Cultural History is the first book of its kind, and strikingly original.  Boyden reveals how five centuries of cultural and societal experience have shaped the baritone, with detailed monographs on Johann Michael Vogl, Antonio Tamburini, Mattia Battistini, Victor Maurel, Dietrich Fischer-Dieksau, Broadway and Frank Sinatra.  It forms the third part of Boyden’s ground-breaking five-volume series on the sung voice. Wildly ambitious and insightful, The Baritone: a Cultural History is a fascinating resource for anyone interested in the art, science and history of singing.

From readers of the book

“His erudition is at once bewildering and thrilling, but he uses it with skill, charm and wit... I now find myself listening to music with new ears."

AM, STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

“I cannot remember reading a book from which I learned something important on every single page."

DK, LONDON

“Amazingly insightful and entertaining. I am not a musician but it makes me wish I was."

RM, TURIN

“I have been singing and teaching professionally for 28 years.  This is the most original and knowledgeable book I have read on singing.

PL, PARIS
Maria Jeritza was a dramatic soprano, long associated with the Vienna State Opera (1912–1934 and 1950-1953) and the Metropolitan Opera.

The author

Matthew Boyden

Matthew Boyden is the author of ten acclaimed books on music, including a celebrated biography of Richard Strauss (now published in five languages), the Rough Guide to Opera, and Beethoven and the Gothic.  His eleventh, The Bass: A Cultural History, will be published by Ragueneau Press in 2027, to coincide with the centenary of the birth of Norman Treigle.

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