Bass

A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C (i.e., E2–E4). Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is normally defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to national style and classification system. The American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. Rare is the performer who embodies a single type without also touching repertoire from another category.

Basso cantante means "singing bass". Basso cantante is a higher, more lyrical voice. It is produced using a more Italianate vocal production, and possesses a faster vibrato, than its closest Germanic/Anglo-Saxon equivalent, the bass-baritone.

• Don Pizarro, Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven
• Count Rodolfo, La sonnambula by Bellini
• Méphistophélès, Faust by Charles Gounod
• Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Figaro, The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• The Voice of the Oracle, Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart