Basso buffo, << BAS oh BOOF oh, >> is a type of male singing voice encountered in comic opera. A bass singer with such a voice is known as a basso buffo or a buffo bass. A basso buffo specializes in buffoonish comedy roles, such as Doctor Bartolo in The Barber of Seville by the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. Osmin, in The Abduction from the Seraglio by the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is also considered a basso buffo role. The term basso buffo is Italian. The word buffo is connected with the term buffoon, a comic character. The basso is one of several categories of bass, the lowest range among male singers.
