(It.: ‘deep bass’).
A term first used in the late 19th century to describe a particularly deep, resonant bass voice, often associated with Russian basses and choral singing (see Bass (ii)). Earlier identifications of this voice type appear especially in France. Brossard (Dictionaire de musique, 1703) writes that this deep voice is called bassista, or ‘more commonly, basse-contre’. Rousseau (Dictionnaire de musique, 1768) states that the basse-contre ‘sings the bass under the bass itself, and should not be confused with the contre-basse, which is an instrument’. Raguenet (Paralèle, 1702; Eng. trans., 1709) specifically cites the low bass as a particular strength of French opera as opposed to Italian:
Our operas have a farther advantage over the Italian in respect of the voice, and that is the bass, which is so frequent among us and so rarely to be met with in Italy. For every man that has an ear will witness with me that nothing can be more charming than a good bass; the simple sound of these basses, which sometimes seems to sink into a profound abyss, has something wonderfully charming in it…When the persons of gods or kings, a Jupiter, Neptune, Priam, or Agamemnon, are brought on the stage, our actors, with their deep voices, give ’em an air of majesty, quite different from that of the feign'd basses among the Italians, which have neither depth nor strength
In opera, the deep bass solo voice has so often been associated with roles of great authority or majesty that today ‘profondo’ sometimes is taken to mean ‘profound’ as well as ‘low’. Examples from Mozart operas include Sarastro from Die Zauberflöte and Osmin from Die Entführung aus dem Serail; later roles include the Grand Inquisitor in Verdi’s Don Carlos (1867). The Russian school of singers has produced notable deep basses although the most famous exponents (Chaliapin, Regzen) have not been remarkable for their depth and the great Russian roles do not make heavy demands on the lowest register. The basso profondo is distinguished from the Basso cantante by its lower range extension and especially its power (see also Basse noble).
J.B. STEANE, ELLEN T. HARRIS