I like how he’s got a dark, almost bass-like timbre to him.

Every couple of years I come across a Joseph Shore video on KZfaq, and I take some time to listen to a few of his recordings. Shore, who passed away recently from a sick heart (which he amazingly lived with for 50 years and sang brilliantly with until age 58), seems to have had a first rate voice with incredible high notes, and sang with taste and emotion. I am still not sure why he failed to make it at the Met and most top opera houses, though I suspect it was from an occasional problem keeping to the musical line and sometimes singing a note or two offkey.