IT'S OFFICIAL: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BARITONES IS NOW

Clockwise bottom left: Joseph Barron, Ryan Green, Joseph Lim and Phillipe Sly

As if we needed further evidence that the "Golden Age of Baritones" is officially upon us, four of the five winners of the 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions were baritones. We've been featuring Phillipe Sly since we first heard him sing and believe that he's destined for a major career. Sly was joined by baritones Ryan Speedo Green, Joseph Lim,  Joseph Barron and soprano Michelle Johnson as winners of the competition. We offer our hearty and well-deserved congratulations to each of the singers. You can read their bios HERE.

Mariusz Kwiecien in Met Brochure

A quick look at who the real superstars are on stage and in marketing campaigns reveals that baritones are dominating the opera stage like at no other time in history. Rene Pape, Bryn Terfel, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Paulo Szot, Christopher Maltman, Simon Keenlyside, Nathan Gunn, Erwin Schrott, Peter Mattei and Mariusz Kwiecien are some of the dominating figures in opera. A decade ago almost every marketing piece for an opera company featured female singers, with Renee Fleming, Angela Gheorghiu, Natalie Dessay and Cecilia Bartoli leading the way. Even the major "crossover" stars are now baritones, particularly Nathan Gunn, Rod Gilfry and Paulo Szot, who have all made their mark singing the music of Broadway.

Even the media savvy tenor Placido Domingo is getting in on the action, singing the baritone roles Simon Boccanegra, Rigoletto and Iphigenie en Tauride. 

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