Talk:Richard Watson (bass)

A fact from Richard Watson (bass) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 27 February 2011 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that bass opera singer Richard Watson was given so many roles in the operas by Gilbert and Sullivan that his colleague Richard Walker left D'Oyly Carte Opera Company?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2011/February.

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Great work

Thanks, Tim! This article is great work. Too bad we don't know more about his family and early years. Perhaps we'll turn up some Australian interviews or obituaries with more information. -- Ssilvers (talk) 18:35, 19 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

True, but meanwhile grateful thanks to the marvellous Who Was Who site for its basic biographical info. Tim riley (talk) 20:13, 19 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Voice type

The article is not clear on Watson's voice type: bass or bass-baritone? Whichever it is, it should be used as the article's disambiguator, as done with (almost) all other opera singers. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 01:25, 18 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Michael Bednarek: some of his roles were bass roles, while others were bass-baritone roles. About half and half. Of his G&S recordings, King Hildebrand is a bass-baritone, the Learned Judge is a baritone, Sergeant of Police is a bass, Pooh-Bah is a baritone, Sir Despard Murgatroyd is a baritone, Wilfred Shadbolt is a baritone and Don Alhambra is a bass-baritone. His Mozart roles were basses. What would you recommend? -- Ssilvers (talk) 03:39, 18 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Kutsch/Riemens Großes Sängerlexikon (2003) calls him a bass, as does the collection of recordings, Australian Singers on Record, and some Naxos and Decca booklets too, so I think that can't be wrong. OTOH, bass-baritone doesn't seem to be wrong either, and one or the other would be an improvement over "singer". I lean slightly towards "bass". -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 12:47, 18 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Feel free to make the move. I have no objection. All the best, -- Ssilvers (talk) 13:44, 18 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]