You're right about seating distance from spintos. I sat in the front row when Christine Goerke was doing a Wagner recital in New Zealand and she nearly blew my eyebrows off. Brilliant.
This was immensly informative for someone like me, who is interested but has no matrix knowledge of classical music at all. Your acute intelligence and concise pattern of assiociative teaching made this a pleasurable experience. Thank you so much, I feel richer now.❤
German-speaker here: "Fach" is technically the word for _shelf_ not pocket, which especially given the list at the beginning of all of the differen _Fächer_ kind of makes intuitive sense. (It's a great video btw, really good for showing to my friends who are confused)
While Fach means basically "compartment", "Stimmfach" translates to "subject" or "professional skill" in this context. You may also use the analogy to organ, where the term used is "register".
You described the voices accurately and youre hilarious but you miscategorised some roles. Mimi= full lyric soprano not spinto Tosca=spinto soprano not dramatic soprabo Gilda= caro nome is lyric coloratura but then the rest is quite light lyric soprano. Far from dramatic coloratura. Aside from that i loved your video
Mimi in La Boheme is usually considered to be and sung by lyric sopranos. A really good spinto is exciting in the role (example Tebaldi) but is not the norm.
It would be surprising to find a voice like Tebaldi's today. The woman had such a strong and developed core. One of the most quintessential and beautiful sounding spinto voices. Leontyne Price, on the other hand, was always more of a full lyric soprano to me.
Well, normally Fiodilidgi is considered for a spinto soprano.and what spintisier are is that they usually are already more the dramatic type, nevertheless they can also be very flexible if well trained. As a spinto myself and now becoming more and more dramatic I know exactly the struggles and advantages of a spinto.
True Fach For example: Dramatic coloratura : Soprano with a big voice but can sing flexible agility like Rosa Ponselle, Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland. Soubrette Soprano: Soprano with a small, childish voice like Luissa Tettrazini, Kathleen battle. Lyrics Soprano : Common Soprano with light voice but not as Soubrette Soprano like Anna moffo, Mirella freni etc. Spinto Soprano : Soprano with a Medium size voice between Dramatic and Lyrics like Renata Tebaldi, Montserrat Caballe, Zinka Milanov. Dramatic Soprano : Soprano with big voice like Birgit nillson, Ghena Dimitrova, Rosa Ponselle.
Rosa Ponselle is not a dramatic coloratura lol. She doesn't even have good tops and cannot really go above C#6. Also her coloratura sucks compared to master coloratura like Callas and Joan. Joan have big tops, but her middle and lows are non-existent.
Hoch means high in English but "Hochdramatisch" soprano roles lies very low for a regular soprano. Many mezzo-sopranos sings Wagnerian "hochdramatisch" because they are not that high. So translating it "high dramatic soprano" is very tricky because the "regular" Italian dramatic soprano roles are in much higher range (Tosca, Turandot, Amelia etc)
it's actually a very simple translation problem-- in german, adjective adverb pairs which are separated by a -ly suffix in english are often completely undifferentiated in german. 'hoch' translates both as 'high' and as 'highly'. it's a highly dramatic soprano.
Really not the best examples at all. Here’s a better idea assuming you want video footage: Lyric coloratura - Lily Pons or Mady Mesple Dramatic Coloratura - Maria Callas or Joan Sutherland Light Lyric - Kathleen Battle Full Lyric - Angel Blue or Saioa Hernandez Spinto - Renata Tebaldi Dramatic Soprano - Eileen Farrell Wagnerian - how the hell could you put anyone but Nilsson Coloratura Mezzo - Cecelia Bartoli (not the best technique but she pioneered this voice type) Lyric Mezzo - Christa Ludwig Dramatic Mezzo - Elena Obratszova Lyric Contralto - Ewa Podles or Marian Anderson Dramatic Contralto - this is even rarer, Podles is still a lyric. Only example I know of is Clara Butt.
Dramatic sopranos basically disappear nowadays. That voice is huge. Nilsson was like wow…. For the tenor singing with her, I think it’s better that he doesn’t sing at all. Because if he sings, he would be silenced by Nilsson’s voice and couldn’t be heard anyway. Corelli was the only tenor who survived Nilsson, and maybe Stefano, whose voice was silenced and reappeared from time to time.
Yes, unfortunately dramatic singers are disappearing. The example used here was not very good. It was a voice full of wobbles. Nilsson had a humongous voice that was laser sharp and crystal clear without any wobbles. The Nillson and Corelli duels made opera really exciting, this is a good example. ua-cam.com/video/jL64eAloyIc/v-deo.htmlsi=3dFOFfLjvSPZBiiS
@@nobumiau6472 Well, outside of Italian repertoires, there are surely some Wagnerians who could match Nilsson's voice, such as Svanholm (the Aida with those two great singers is fantastic). Also Placido Domingo survived once in 1970 when singing Turandot with Nilsson. But generally speaking, I pay my respect to any tenor who had the courage to stand on the stage and sing with her.
I think I'd have used Nilsson in the Turandot and Die Walkure excerpt. Also, if list to coloratura sopranos like Luisa Tetrazzini you find their voice dark and flexible with bell like staccato. Her chest and middle voice were insane! Magda Olivero and Rosanna Carteri are what lyric sopranos used to sound like.
I wish like hell that every single voice student EVER would get this thorough an explanation. I wish like hell ***I*** had gotten this kind of explanation. I wouldn't have given up on opera if someone had bothered to effing TELL ME even half this information. My first teacher never once mentioned that women's voices change over time (nor did she even hint that I'd need to wait to my thirties to have a mature voice). My second teacher was far more helpful, unfortunately by then I had a kid and there was no chance of me really pursuing a career in art music :( I still adore this music though and you've done just a wonderful job with explaining this idea. It's so much different from choral classifications! Looking forward to checking the male voice counterpart now!
Oh no! Oh I'm so sorry to hear that 😭 But also, omg I should totally make a choral version! And also also, it's never too late. Gotta love youtube for giving us all second chances!
We need some Zwischenfach Ladies/roles. Lyric or dramatic Falcon or Dugazon. Roles like Adriano in Wagner's Rienzi, Kundry in Parsifal, Venus in Tannhaüser, Eboli in Don Carlo, Sarah in Roberto Devereux, Cassandre in Les Troyens, Blanche in Carmelites, Sapho, etc... Iphigénie en Tauride.
I currently sing tenor, in various choirs, but I'm finally getting the training I've always wanted, and I'm assured that I'm actually a Contralto, with a range from A2 to G5. Those high notes are like something I've put in a drawer somewhere, and can't remember what drawer I've put them in - but in lessons, I sing them easily. I can't think what on earth I can actually DO with a voice like that - but I've heard it, and was stunned - I really want to learn to USE it.
I like your video, but i also think about the dramatic coloratura (Maybe Callas instead of Damrau) and the spinto (Zinka Milanov instesd of Price) in a different way... I also consider Cesare to be a contralto role not a mezzo. Garancia was said to be a soprano in 1999 when she won the mirjan hellin (And who ssid it was Nilsson, so i believe her lol).
Diana Damrau is absolutely not a dramatic coloratura. While I like what the content creator is trying to convey, I disagree with some of the examples. There are far more exemplary choices.
My alternative examples for the voice types would be: Coloratura Soprano: Natalie Dessay Dramatic Coloratura Soprano: Joan Sutherland Soubrette: Kristen Chenowith, although she really is limited to musical theater. I would never consider her as a proper opera singer. Lyric Soprano: Renee Fleming Spinto Soprano: Leontyine Price is actually a good example Dramatic Soprano: Birgit Nilsson High Dramatic Soprano: Kirsten Flagstad The mezzo examples are al fitting. Although Marilyn Horne is the epitome of coloratura mezzo.
The last singer was the Amazing Eva Podles,(RIP) her range was A2 to D6! Also the contralto voice yes it is rare but it is not as rare as many think. There's a lot of reasons for this one is that there wasn't a lot of repertoire written for contraltos, also there's been a misconception that contaltos aren't marketable so many will call themselves mezzo-sopranos. There's also a lot of misunderstanding about the voice and a lot of us go through life not knowing what the heck is wrong with our voices and psychologically we may tell ourselves that this is not the way females are supposed to sing and therefore we may not even discover how low we could really get and how powerful are lower registers are. Another reason is there are three types of contraltos there's a lyric there's the middleweight or coloratura which is what Eva was( which is kind of like having both a basement and an attic so we could go very low and very high. Then there's the dramatic that is extremely low and sounds almost Male. Also the contralto voice mirrors the bass singer an octave higher so in reality there are no fewer contraltos than there are bases unfortunately there is a lot of misunderstanding about this. As an example, I come from a family full of musicians, I've been around musicians all my life but no one seemed to be able to tell me what was "weird" about my voice I didn't start studying vocals until about 4 years ago. I have a similar range as Eva does but I'm set a little lower. Roughly G2 to B5. the thing with control toes is a lot of us can get up there but we don't like to stay up there so I could use high notes sparingly but my best comfort zone is G2 to G5. Adding more to the confusion is the dramatic contralto sounds almost Male, which is why some people insist a female sounding voice can't be a contralto if it doesn't sound male. Also the most common contralto is the lyric that can be confused with a Mezzo, it's lighter and more feminine, which adds to the confusion. For me, had I known years ago about this, I'd have got into opera, but it's too late. I've been "type cast" as a rock belter singing male vocals, and although I've took some lessons, and I'm obsessed with vocal mechanics/science, my knowledge of the latter is always going to exceed my ability to sing plus when I try to sing "nice" everybody goes "what the heck? why aren't you screaming and belting like you normally do? Lol
Thank you for this interesting and informative video for those new to opera, However, I disagree with your thoughts on Puccini’s “O Mio Babbino Caro” in regard to its suitability for young sopranos. The aria’s range is comparatively modest and the lyrical sweep of the melody is ideal for learning to create a legitimate legato line. Additionally, the character (Lauretta) is a teenager and therefore relatable for a younger singer. Lastly, the categorization of classical singers should (ideally) stem purely from the voice’s inherent timbre, as opposed to range.
I agree with all your points! But still don't think the aria's fit for younger singers from a purely physiological standpoint. There's a video in the works. 😉
I really liked this very informative video, you illustrated everything with great humor, which made it easier to follow along. The question I still got in my head were also are very different types of voices for different periods of time.
I loved the analogies too - really helped illustrate the differences. And SO agree with you re. Oh Mio Babbino Caro (I'm soubrette/coloratura and it's just not right for my voice). And Mozart is one of my favourite composers - Exsultate Jubilate and the Alleluia.
"Soprano leggiero, lirico leggiero, lirico spinto, leggiero …I don’t know what! Soprano, basta! Once upon a time, one soprano did „Norma“, „Puritani“, „Sonnambula, „Lucia“. The same woman. …Madame Malibran, she does „Sonnambula“ and „Fidelio“ the same night. It’s a matter of technique." (Maria Callas, Juilliard School Of Music, 1971)
Thanks you! I have been wondering about these terms for ages (though not enough to do any research 😂) I wonder which type Queen of The Night from The Magic Flute is?
@5:40 O mio babbino caro is a " grown ass woman's aria " ... but Lauretta - the character - is a teen girl who has been driven out of her mind by her insane relatives. @8 minutes: "crossfit icons of opera" ... Weight-lifters and long-distance Marathon runners in one ... I'm getting a visual @10:40 As an Assoluta, who sings Queen of the Night, I was asked to record Carmen ... 11 years ago ... not because I have a death wish ... and not because Carmen's arias were some of my best, but because men (((love))) Carmen ... and that's what the men were repeatedly begging me to record ... 11 years later, Carmen's arias are some of my best arias because my lower notes are very rich now ... like Belgian Chocolates
Overall it would have been nice to see more singers of old included :) A bit hard to stomach Goerke. Just thinking about how Nilsson sounds compared to her, such worlds apart in ease of execution and pleasantness for ear. Although she would of course have been placed more firmly in the dramatic/high dramatic.
what makes high/heavy dramatic sopranos rare is not because there are only few people who CAN do it, the reason is that dramatic sopranos have stayed in Italian operas often. There is a little difference between wagnerian and dramatic sopranos, so little that even a spinto can sing a wagnerians. Actually I can only name few wagnerian sopranos, Flagstad, Leider, Nilsson, Varnay, and Modl
Thank you for your good, crystal-clear explanations. A detail in your statement at the beginning that is worth clarifying concerns the term you translated somewhat roughly - although not completely incorrectly: Fach stands rather for academic subject or drawer than for pocket. No offense of course.
Thank you! "Compartment" was what I was taught (from when the word started being applied to opera in the 19th century), but I thought "pocket" would be a bit more whimsical. Perhaps I should better balance whimsy with applicability next time. 😂
I love o mio but my voice is just too light for it right now I’m a soubrette. My best friend who has a heavier voice than me sung it and it sounded amazing!!!
Oh: and high dramatic soprano usually need to have the d6 as the in the Wagner operas you need the d6. And generally most of the sopranos need to have secure d6. There are so many role where you need it.
This is really helpful, thank you! If we go beyond mainstream opera there are surely other voices, too. There are super-pure, high, powerful soloists for period-instruments performances of Handel oratorios, or very boy-like voices to take the top part in Renaissance masses. Perhaps these have their own terminology?
It just one minute for this to go wrong. Congratz… Example: Leontyne Price is a lyric! Tosca is for a spinto. (And of course the flat Christine Goerke had to be included)
As a german speaker I had never thought of the word „Fach“ in connection with opera as „compartment“ or „pocket“. Yes, the word can mean that, but the word Fach has other meanings in other contexts, and in this context I am quite sure the correct translation would be „discipline“ or „specialty“. When someone asks you in german „was ist dein Fach?“ (what is your „Fach“) what they are asking is what you specialize in. This question would not only be asked in the context of music. If you say you are a doctor that would be a valid question, asking what kind of doctor you are, or what you specialize in. If you say you are a tenor and someone asks which „Fach“ the question is what you specialize in, not which pocket you fit into.
I would like to add that there are a couple more types of contraltos, one being a coloratura contralto which is what I am. I wish there was more information and examples of contraltos 😢😢
Young sopranos would never start out as spintos. They would start out as soubrettes and then age into a full lyric or spinto. When the soprano is in her forties, she will then age into either a dramatic or Wagnerian soprano. The same thing applies to mezzos. A mezzo would start out as a lyric. However, she would either become a lyric or spinto soprano as an adult, or stay a mezzo. If she stays a mezzo, she would become a dramatic or a Wagnerian mezzo in her forties. Mezzos who become sopranos will take the lyric/spinto-dramatic/Wagnerian path.
I play piano for ballet classes, and am always interested in these types of videos and comparisons. Ouch. The lyric soprano sung a song that makes me miss my grade 6 teacher.
I just started taking voice lessons and I was a little surprised to find out that I wasn't a true alto 😢 I sang alto for most of high school but I really couldn't sing out with those low notes without straining. Turns out I was a mezzo this whole time 😂
Me through this whole video: Oof, that's what you hear opening the gates of heaven... No, that's what you hear opening the gates of heaven... Holy crap, that's a voice I want accompanying me to war! Your athletic analogies were genuinely so helpful for me as a new learner to opera. ❤ (Also Elina Garanca with that haircut and that big shirt gave me such bi panic)
The Composer and Octavian are lyric mezzo roles. Dramatic Mezzo Roles Per example are Amneris in Aida. Or Eboli in Don Carlos. Or Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde. And there are many Contralto Roles. Dalila is originally written for a contralto voice. There are coloratura, lyrical, dramatic, and low contralto fachs. Roles for Contralto Coloratura are : Isabella in Italiana in Algeri or Maffio Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia, or Arsace in Semiramide. Or Tancredi. And many more. Lyrical Contralto Roles are Celia, in La Fedelta Premiata, or Genoveva in Pelleas et Melisande, Mrs. Quickly in Falstaff. Dramatic Contralto Roles are Erda in Rheingold und Siegfried, Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera, 1.Norn in Götterdämmerung, Klytemnästra in Elektra. Deep Contralto Roles are Magdalena in der Evangelimann, oder die Alleswissende Muschel in die Ägyptische Helena, und Gaea in Daphne. And there are many more. ❤️
im pretty sure im a soubrette. but i feel like i just havent reached my full potential to be a coloratura. my voice is fast and high notes are so easy. i just havent fully gotten there, i guess. i guess i can also sing pretty low? because i can sing down to g3 but thats usually more wonky than singing b7. i have sung with people that are actual mezzo sopranos and my voice is always so much lighter and hollow compared to them. they have a much warmer sound than me. they can also sing lower than me easier
No, a dramatic coloratura soprano would be singers such as Maria Callas or Joan Sutherland, huge voices that could handle roles such as Norma that not only require great power, but also true mastery of coloratura. The Queen of the Night is usually taken by tiny voiced sopranos such as Rita Streich. A large voice Queen such as Edda Moser or Christina Deutekom are the rare exception rather than the norm. Octavian in Rosenkavalier a dramatic Mezzo? Really? That role is usually sung by lyric mezzos such as von Stade. And not uncommonly, it was also sung by lyric sopranos such as Sena Jurinac. A dramatic mezzo would be singers such as Elena Obraztsova, Fiorenza Cossotto, Irina Arkhipova, Dolora Zajick, singers who can handle huge and heavy mezzo roles such as Amneris in Aida. Leontyne Price was, in her own words, "A lyric. A juicy lyric, but a lyric." She was never a spinto, as a real spinto role such as Fancuilla almost destroyed her voice. A real Spinto would be Renata Tebaldi or Aprile Millo. And a singer who most perfectly embodied what a true Lyric soprano should be was the late Mirella Freni.
But singers don't create the fachs, the roles do. 🤘🏻Of course we could chat all day about who sings which role best, but ultimately it's about the role itself. I'd love to see a video with your take on it though! The debate's always interesting!
@@ScoresUnstitched Of course the roles make the fach, but let's take the role of Norma as the ultimate dramatic coloratura role. Diana Damrau, given here as an example of a dramatic coloratura, would be an utter fool to attempt the role. Similar singers such as Gruberova or Sills, who attempted the role, typically produced rather disastrous and often ludicrous results. Likewise, dramatic sopranos without full mastery of coloratura have led to equally sad results (Gina Cigna, for example). Also, let's remember that the fach system is a relatively recent thing, as in the past, singers spanned many of these fachs and sang roles that today we do not expect the same singer to be able to sing. This might have something to do with the technical schooling of the singers, which allowed Lehmann to sing coloratura roles as well as Norma, Isolde, and all the Brünnhildes. But for us, it would be unimaginable to have a Nilsson, Stemme, or Goerke even attempt Norma. And let's not forget that Wagner wanted his soprano roles to be sung as beautifully as if they were Norma. The inflexible barking voices of today's Wagner singers would have been totally foreign to his ears and his expectations. My issue with your choice of singers to represent typical performers of these fachs is that most of them would be unable to sing the roles that are most typical of the aforementioned fach. Garanca could never get through Amneris in a large house, which is the bread and butter of a true dramatic mezzo such as Zajick. And if a supposedly "dramatic" roles is commonly and successfully managed by lyric voices, perhaps that role is not really a dramatic role.
@@neuberg7315 You are completely right. You evidently know a great deal more about fostering a community of inclusiveness and welcome for an art form that's desperate for new audiences.
lmao the fact that I'm basically just all the mezzo types bc i just did both the una voce and carmen aria in my senior recital a few weeks ago... so like am i just mezzo? or do i fit into both coloratura and lyric, but my tessatura is also like B3 to D5 so i just dont fit in any? 🤣
Hahaha, I can relate! It sounds like you're still young if you just did a senior recital a few weeks ago, so you've got plenty of time left to grow and find out. But also, don't forget that people aren't fachs, just the roles. There's more gray than the black and white of this comment section would lead you to believe. 😉
My jaw dropped at the first note by the 'Principessa'. So unexpected!
Ewa Podleś was a queen.
I can NOT sit through Un Bel Di without chills. Such an AMAZING passage that I can never not be moved to the point of tears.
Watching and hearing Asmik Grigorian in the Met HD production recently made me feel like I was hearing the aria for the first time! Overwhelming.
You're right about seating distance from spintos. I sat in the front row when Christine Goerke was doing a Wagner recital in New Zealand and she nearly blew my eyebrows off. Brilliant.
This was immensly informative for someone like me, who is interested but has no matrix knowledge of classical music at all. Your acute intelligence and concise pattern of assiociative teaching made this a pleasurable experience. Thank you so much, I feel richer now.❤
German-speaker here: "Fach" is technically the word for _shelf_ not pocket, which especially given the list at the beginning of all of the differen _Fächer_ kind of makes intuitive sense.
(It's a great video btw, really good for showing to my friends who are confused)
While Fach means basically "compartment", "Stimmfach" translates to "subject" or "professional skill" in this context. You may also use the analogy to organ, where the term used is "register".
Love how clear & informative this is 😊
No es por arruinarte pero este video esta explicado casi todo mál.
I LOVED the dancer/athlete analogies.
Nice.
You described the voices accurately and youre hilarious but you miscategorised some roles.
Mimi= full lyric soprano not spinto
Tosca=spinto soprano not dramatic soprabo
Gilda= caro nome is lyric coloratura but then the rest is quite light lyric soprano. Far from dramatic coloratura.
Aside from that i loved your video
100% agree with you.
Mimi in La Boheme is usually considered to be and sung by lyric sopranos. A really good spinto is exciting in the role (example Tebaldi) but is not the norm.
It would be surprising to find a voice like Tebaldi's today. The woman had such a strong and developed core. One of the most quintessential and beautiful sounding spinto voices. Leontyne Price, on the other hand, was always more of a full lyric soprano to me.
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@@lissandrafreljord7913Caballe also!
Well, normally Fiodilidgi is considered for a spinto soprano.and what spintisier are is that they usually are already more the dramatic type, nevertheless they can also be very flexible if well trained.
As a spinto myself and now becoming more and more dramatic I know exactly the struggles and advantages of a spinto.
@@BarbaraMarieLouise My mother was a lyric-dramatic soprano & Fiordiligi was one of her roles.
Voice teacher here - I really appreciate how well you explained all of this information, in a relatable format, with relatable analogies! Thanks!
True Fach For example:
Dramatic coloratura : Soprano with a big voice but can sing flexible agility like Rosa Ponselle, Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland.
Soubrette Soprano: Soprano with a small, childish voice like Luissa Tettrazini, Kathleen battle.
Lyrics Soprano : Common Soprano with light voice but not as Soubrette Soprano like Anna moffo, Mirella freni etc.
Spinto Soprano : Soprano with a Medium size voice between Dramatic and Lyrics like Renata Tebaldi, Montserrat Caballe, Zinka Milanov.
Dramatic Soprano : Soprano with big voice like Birgit nillson, Ghena Dimitrova, Rosa Ponselle.
Rosa Ponselle is not a dramatic coloratura lol. She doesn't even have good tops and cannot really go above C#6. Also her coloratura sucks compared to master coloratura like Callas and Joan. Joan have big tops, but her middle and lows are non-existent.
Tetrazzini was a coloratura soprano.
I love the athlete and voice types comparisons. I think it’s very effective.
I was so hoping for Ewa! Thanks
Goodness! This is so helpful as a listener. Thank you
Hoch means high in English but "Hochdramatisch" soprano roles lies very low for a regular soprano. Many mezzo-sopranos sings Wagnerian "hochdramatisch" because they are not that high. So translating it "high dramatic soprano" is very tricky because the "regular" Italian dramatic soprano roles are in much higher range (Tosca, Turandot, Amelia etc)
It would be more of a "very dramatic soprano" instead, right?
it's actually a very simple translation problem-- in german, adjective adverb pairs which are separated by a -ly suffix in english are often completely undifferentiated in german. 'hoch' translates both as 'high' and as 'highly'. it's a highly dramatic soprano.
Nice job! Could be cool to have all the examples play in a row at the end as a summary to quickly compare them.:)
Great video. Very well informed. And may I praise the beauty of Ewa Podes’s voice.
Very informative! Of course some of the roles could fit in more than one fach (I would consider Mimì a full lyric for instance).
Really not the best examples at all. Here’s a better idea assuming you want video footage:
Lyric coloratura - Lily Pons or Mady Mesple
Dramatic Coloratura - Maria Callas or Joan Sutherland
Light Lyric - Kathleen Battle
Full Lyric - Angel Blue or Saioa Hernandez
Spinto - Renata Tebaldi
Dramatic Soprano - Eileen Farrell
Wagnerian - how the hell could you put anyone but Nilsson
Coloratura Mezzo - Cecelia Bartoli (not the best technique but she pioneered this voice type)
Lyric Mezzo - Christa Ludwig
Dramatic Mezzo - Elena Obratszova
Lyric Contralto - Ewa Podles or Marian Anderson
Dramatic Contralto - this is even rarer, Podles is still a lyric. Only example I know of is Clara Butt.
Those are some great examples Clara Butt was amazing.
For dramatic contralti what about Gwendolyn Brown, Meredith Arwady, Nicole Mitchell, Angela Christine Smith?
There are no lyric contralto voices in the fach system.
Yeah examples are terrible. I mean Leontyne? Very unbalanced registers and voice
This was the best video I've ever seen on explaining the types of voices. Characteristics and comparison to the sports are absolutely amazing.
Can't wait for your compilation of the different male voice Fächer!
That overview was very informative and - fun!
Beautiful video! The first two mezzo examples sounded almost somewhat like dramatic sopranos.
Dramatic sopranos basically disappear nowadays. That voice is huge. Nilsson was like wow…. For the tenor singing with her, I think it’s better that he doesn’t sing at all. Because if he sings, he would be silenced by Nilsson’s voice and couldn’t be heard anyway. Corelli was the only tenor who survived Nilsson, and maybe Stefano, whose voice was silenced and reappeared from time to time.
Yes, unfortunately dramatic singers are disappearing. The example used here was not very good. It was a voice full of wobbles. Nilsson had a humongous voice that was laser sharp and crystal clear without any wobbles. The Nillson and Corelli duels made opera really exciting, this is a good example. ua-cam.com/video/jL64eAloyIc/v-deo.htmlsi=3dFOFfLjvSPZBiiS
@@ZENOBlAmusic It's sooooo good! I mean clearly they are trying to compete with each other on that HighC.
And definitely Windgassen! Also check out Lise Davidsen, she's like the reincarnation of Nilsson!
@@nobumiau6472
Well, outside of Italian repertoires, there are surely some Wagnerians who could match Nilsson's voice, such as Svanholm (the Aida with those two great singers is fantastic). Also Placido Domingo survived once in 1970 when singing Turandot with Nilsson. But generally speaking, I pay my respect to any tenor who had the courage to stand on the stage and sing with her.
I think I'd have used Nilsson in the Turandot and Die Walkure excerpt. Also, if list to coloratura sopranos like Luisa Tetrazzini you find their voice dark and flexible with bell like staccato. Her chest and middle voice were insane! Magda Olivero and Rosanna Carteri are what lyric sopranos used to sound like.
I wish like hell that every single voice student EVER would get this thorough an explanation. I wish like hell ***I*** had gotten this kind of explanation. I wouldn't have given up on opera if someone had bothered to effing TELL ME even half this information. My first teacher never once mentioned that women's voices change over time (nor did she even hint that I'd need to wait to my thirties to have a mature voice). My second teacher was far more helpful, unfortunately by then I had a kid and there was no chance of me really pursuing a career in art music :(
I still adore this music though and you've done just a wonderful job with explaining this idea. It's so much different from choral classifications! Looking forward to checking the male voice counterpart now!
Oh no! Oh I'm so sorry to hear that 😭 But also, omg I should totally make a choral version! And also also, it's never too late. Gotta love youtube for giving us all second chances!
We need some Zwischenfach Ladies/roles. Lyric or dramatic Falcon or Dugazon.
Roles like Adriano in Wagner's Rienzi, Kundry in Parsifal, Venus in Tannhaüser, Eboli in Don Carlo, Sarah in Roberto Devereux, Cassandre in Les Troyens, Blanche in Carmelites, Sapho, etc... Iphigénie en Tauride.
I was thinking exactly the same. It’s an important Fach that wasn’t mentioned here.
Damarau isn't a dramatic coloratura soprano, Callas and Sutherland were
SHE DEF IS...Luisa Tetrazzini was also one, Christina Deutekom as well as Edita Gruberova or June Anderson
They were actually both dramatic coloratura sopranos.
Absolutely FANTASTIC video. THANK YOU for making this!
I currently sing tenor, in various choirs, but I'm finally getting the training I've always wanted, and I'm assured that I'm actually a Contralto, with a range from A2 to G5. Those high notes are like something I've put in a drawer somewhere, and can't remember what drawer I've put them in - but in lessons, I sing them easily. I can't think what on earth I can actually DO with a voice like that - but I've heard it, and was stunned - I really want to learn to USE it.
Really helpful! Explains so much about music for voices. Thank you.
Same note at 4:19 (soubrette) and 7:25 (spinto). Good for comparing.
Whoa. Good catch! They actually do sound different. The first one actually sounds higher and lighter even though it's the same note!
I like your video, but i also think about the dramatic coloratura (Maybe Callas instead of Damrau) and the spinto (Zinka Milanov instesd of Price) in a different way... I also consider Cesare to be a contralto role not a mezzo. Garancia was said to be a soprano in 1999 when she won the mirjan hellin (And who ssid it was Nilsson, so i believe her lol).
Completely right - i agree your comment
Diana Damrau is absolutely not a dramatic coloratura. While I like what the content creator is trying to convey, I disagree with some of the examples. There are far more exemplary choices.
My alternative examples for the voice types would be:
Coloratura Soprano: Natalie Dessay
Dramatic Coloratura Soprano: Joan Sutherland
Soubrette: Kristen Chenowith, although she really is limited to musical theater. I would never consider her as a proper opera singer.
Lyric Soprano: Renee Fleming
Spinto Soprano: Leontyine Price is actually a good example
Dramatic Soprano: Birgit Nilsson
High Dramatic Soprano: Kirsten Flagstad
The mezzo examples are al fitting.
Although Marilyn Horne is the epitome of coloratura mezzo.
Sutherland is s spinto disguised as something else.
Leontyne Price was a lyric.
Nilsson and Flagstad were dramatics or hochdramatischer.
(Same thing)
@@draganvidic2039 but leontyne has that metallic overtone that i think only spintos have, i think maybe she's a spinto with the range of a lyric
Price called herself a lyric soprano "but a juicy one."
This was sooo interesting! Thank you for compiling all the examples - much appreciated!
Really very interesting, I hadn't realized there was so much variety. And very entertaining too. Thanks!
The last singer was the Amazing Eva Podles,(RIP) her range was A2 to D6! Also the contralto voice yes it is rare but it is not as rare as many think. There's a lot of reasons for this one is that there wasn't a lot of repertoire written for contraltos, also there's been a misconception that contaltos aren't marketable so many will call themselves mezzo-sopranos. There's also a lot of misunderstanding about the voice and a lot of us go through life not knowing what the heck is wrong with our voices and psychologically we may tell ourselves that this is not the way females are supposed to sing and therefore we may not even discover how low we could really get and how powerful are lower registers are. Another reason is there are three types of contraltos there's a lyric there's the middleweight or coloratura which is what Eva was( which is kind of like having both a basement and an attic so we could go very low and very high. Then there's the dramatic that is extremely low and sounds almost Male. Also the contralto voice mirrors the bass singer an octave higher so in reality there are no fewer contraltos than there are bases unfortunately there is a lot of misunderstanding about this. As an example, I come from a family full of musicians, I've been around musicians all my life but no one seemed to be able to tell me what was "weird" about my voice I didn't start studying vocals until about 4 years ago. I have a similar range as Eva does but I'm set a little lower. Roughly G2 to B5. the thing with control toes is a lot of us can get up there but we don't like to stay up there so I could use high notes sparingly but my best comfort zone is G2 to G5. Adding more to the confusion is the dramatic contralto sounds almost Male, which is why some people insist a female sounding voice can't be a contralto if it doesn't sound male. Also the most common contralto is the lyric that can be confused with a Mezzo, it's lighter and more feminine, which adds to the confusion. For me, had I known years ago about this, I'd have got into opera, but it's too late. I've been "type cast" as a rock belter singing male vocals, and although I've took some lessons, and I'm obsessed with vocal mechanics/science, my knowledge of the latter is always going to exceed my ability to sing plus when I try to sing "nice" everybody goes "what the heck? why aren't you screaming and belting like you normally do? Lol
Thank you for this interesting and informative video for those new to opera, However, I disagree with your thoughts on Puccini’s “O Mio Babbino Caro” in regard to its suitability for young sopranos. The aria’s range is comparatively modest and the lyrical sweep of the melody is ideal for learning to create a legitimate legato line. Additionally, the character (Lauretta) is a teenager and therefore relatable for a younger singer. Lastly, the categorization of classical singers should (ideally) stem purely from the voice’s inherent timbre, as opposed to range.
I agree with all your points! But still don't think the aria's fit for younger singers from a purely physiological standpoint. There's a video in the works. 😉
What a warmfull video. Thanks a lot for that
I LOVE THIS! thankyou for putting a lot of effort to this video. It really helps! ♥
I really liked this very informative video, you illustrated everything with great humor, which made it easier to follow along.
The question I still got in my head were also are very different types of voices for different periods of time.
"If coffee could sing" 🤣😂🤣 That's so true !
I love this video and will check out the rest
I loved the analogies too - really helped illustrate the differences. And SO agree with you re. Oh Mio Babbino Caro (I'm soubrette/coloratura and it's just not right for my voice). And Mozart is one of my favourite composers - Exsultate Jubilate and the Alleluia.
This was so helpful for me in my continuing self-education in opera, and music and singing in general.
Great video, both informative and extremely funny.
I like the dancing examples you used ❤
Can you cover the very rare Mezzo Contralto voice type? There isn’t much information about this voice type around.
"Soprano leggiero, lirico leggiero, lirico spinto, leggiero …I don’t know what!
Soprano, basta!
Once upon a time, one soprano did „Norma“, „Puritani“, „Sonnambula, „Lucia“. The same woman.
…Madame Malibran, she does „Sonnambula“ and „Fidelio“ the same night. It’s a matter of technique." (Maria Callas, Juilliard School Of Music, 1971)
Thanks you! I have been wondering about these terms for ages (though not enough to do any research 😂)
I wonder which type Queen of The Night from The Magic Flute is?
She's a coloratura soprano!
This really good and I think will get me more into opera.
A few contralto fachs missing but... Let me try:
Lyric Coloratura Soprano - Ingeborg Hallstein and Sumi Jo
Dramatic Coloratura Soprano - Cristina Deutekom
Soubrette - Dawn Upshaw
Light Lyric Soprano - Kathleen Battle and Lily Pons (not a coloratura)
Full Lyric Soprano - Renée Fleming and Montserrat Caballé
Spinto Soprano - Leontyne Price and Raina Kabaivanska (just check her Tosca... 🤪)
Dramatic Soprano - Ghena Dimitrova
Wagnerian Soprano - Birgit Nilsson
Coloratura Mezzo-soprano - Joyce DiDonato
Lyric Mezzo-soprano - Frederica von Stade
Dramatic Mezzo-soprano - Elena Obraztsova
Coloratura Contralto - Ewa Podleś
Lyric Contralto - Nathalie Stutzmann
Dramatic Contralto - Gwendolyn Brown
Very informative as well as funny! Thank you.
@5:40 O mio babbino caro is a " grown ass woman's aria " ... but Lauretta - the character - is a teen girl who has been driven out of her mind by her insane relatives.
@8 minutes: "crossfit icons of opera" ... Weight-lifters and long-distance Marathon runners in one ... I'm getting a visual
@10:40 As an Assoluta, who sings Queen of the Night, I was asked to record Carmen ... 11 years ago ... not because I have a death wish ... and not because Carmen's arias were some of my best, but because men (((love))) Carmen ... and that's what the men were repeatedly begging me to record ... 11 years later, Carmen's arias are some of my best arias because my lower notes are very rich now ... like Belgian Chocolates
I really enjoyed this video on classical voices soooo informative and educational
Fach does not mean pocket, but compartment or academic subject
Very nice, I totally loved the examples!
Thank you so much for this clear informative video.
Barbara Bonney is so utterley gorgeous as Sophie
I loved your presentation. Very esucational.
Overall it would have been nice to see more singers of old included :) A bit hard to stomach Goerke. Just thinking about how Nilsson sounds compared to her, such worlds apart in ease of execution and pleasantness for ear. Although she would of course have been placed more firmly in the dramatic/high dramatic.
Thoroughly enjoyed this presentation. Thank you!
what makes high/heavy dramatic sopranos rare is not because there are only few people who CAN do it, the reason is that dramatic sopranos have stayed in Italian operas often. There is a little difference between wagnerian and dramatic sopranos, so little that even a spinto can sing a wagnerians. Actually I can only name few wagnerian sopranos, Flagstad, Leider, Nilsson, Varnay, and Modl
Thank you! Very informative!
Thank you for your good, crystal-clear explanations. A detail in your statement at the beginning that is worth clarifying concerns the term you translated somewhat roughly - although not completely incorrectly: Fach stands rather for academic subject or drawer than for pocket. No offense of course.
Thank you! "Compartment" was what I was taught (from when the word started being applied to opera in the 19th century), but I thought "pocket" would be a bit more whimsical. Perhaps I should better balance whimsy with applicability next time. 😂
Verdi's Lady Macbeth is also dramatic coloratura as well as Abigaille.
I love o mio but my voice is just too light for it right now I’m a soubrette. My best friend who has a heavier voice than me sung it and it sounded amazing!!!
Perhaps your voice could change, who knows? Of course, I wouldn't count on it, but still.
Oh: and high dramatic soprano usually need to have the d6 as the in the Wagner operas you need the d6.
And generally most of the sopranos need to have secure d6. There are so many role where you need it.
Some of these I disagree with. But overall it was a fun video!
This is really helpful, thank you! If we go beyond mainstream opera there are surely other voices, too. There are super-pure, high, powerful soloists for period-instruments performances of Handel oratorios, or very boy-like voices to take the top part in Renaissance masses. Perhaps these have their own terminology?
As a former opera singer myself, your athletic metaphors are so onpoint.
It just one minute for this to go wrong.
Congratz…
Example:
Leontyne Price is a lyric!
Tosca is for a spinto.
(And of course the flat Christine Goerke had to be included)
I was not expecting Ewa Podleś!
Fantastic compilation. Thank you for sharing this.
🌴☀️🌴
As a german speaker I had never thought of the word „Fach“ in connection with opera as „compartment“ or „pocket“. Yes, the word can mean that, but the word Fach has other meanings in other contexts, and in this context I am quite sure the correct translation would be „discipline“ or „specialty“.
When someone asks you in german „was ist dein Fach?“ (what is your „Fach“) what they are asking is what you specialize in. This question would not only be asked in the context of music. If you say you are a doctor that would be a valid question, asking what kind of doctor you are, or what you specialize in. If you say you are a tenor and someone asks which „Fach“ the question is what you specialize in, not which pocket you fit into.
Well done for a fantastic video ! Thank you !
Thanks for this video. It helped me so much.
Ewa Podleś forever the best. It la pire that such excellent contralto is so underrated
Underrated? She was an international star for years.
Thank you. Really interesting., and very clearly presented.
I would like to add that there are a couple more types of contraltos, one being a coloratura contralto which is what I am. I wish there was more information and examples of contraltos 😢😢
The most famous true contralto role in opera is Azucena in Il Trovatore by Verdi.
better example for Spinto is either Maria Caniglia or Renata Tebaldi
Young sopranos would never start out as spintos. They would start out as soubrettes and then age into a full lyric or spinto. When the soprano is in her forties, she will then age into either a dramatic or Wagnerian soprano.
The same thing applies to mezzos. A mezzo would start out as a lyric. However, she would either become a lyric or spinto soprano as an adult, or stay a mezzo. If she stays a mezzo, she would become a dramatic or a Wagnerian mezzo in her forties. Mezzos who become sopranos will take the lyric/spinto-dramatic/Wagnerian path.
Ok but Kristin Chenoweth killed it
Really wonderful explanation of the fachs! Thanks!
Jessye Norman's Brunhilde would have been a better choice, though. Far more powerful,
I play piano for ballet classes, and am always interested in these types of videos and comparisons. Ouch. The lyric soprano sung a song that makes me miss my grade 6 teacher.
I don’t care what fach a singer sings in as long as I enjoy them.
I just started taking voice lessons and I was a little surprised to find out that I wasn't a true alto 😢 I sang alto for most of high school but I really couldn't sing out with those low notes without straining. Turns out I was a mezzo this whole time 😂
I was waiting for acuto- sfogato soprano like Ingeborg hallstein, Mado robins, mady mesple, and Erna Sach, not to mention so may of them,
Those mentioned are voices made thin often with squeezed high notes.
Mado Robin is horrible.
Hallstein, Robin and Masplé are voices made thin with often squeezed top notes.
They’re bad coloraturas.
Marvelous!
So helpful!!!!!
Me through this whole video: Oof, that's what you hear opening the gates of heaven... No, that's what you hear opening the gates of heaven... Holy crap, that's a voice I want accompanying me to war!
Your athletic analogies were genuinely so helpful for me as a new learner to opera. ❤
(Also Elina Garanca with that haircut and that big shirt gave me such bi panic)
Wow! Great information!
So essentially, the High Dramatic Soprano is Wagnerian
Im a female Baritone 😔 which is nice its fun but GIRL i wish i could sing just a little bit higher
Whats the name of the soprano singing Hojotoho? Was amazing
Jennifer Wilson
The Composer and Octavian are lyric mezzo roles.
Dramatic Mezzo Roles Per example are Amneris in Aida. Or Eboli in Don Carlos. Or Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde.
And there are many Contralto Roles.
Dalila is originally written for a contralto voice.
There are coloratura, lyrical, dramatic, and low contralto fachs.
Roles for Contralto Coloratura are :
Isabella in Italiana in Algeri or Maffio Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia, or Arsace in Semiramide. Or Tancredi. And many more.
Lyrical Contralto Roles are Celia, in La Fedelta Premiata, or Genoveva in Pelleas et Melisande, Mrs. Quickly in Falstaff.
Dramatic Contralto Roles are Erda in Rheingold und Siegfried, Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera, 1.Norn in Götterdämmerung, Klytemnästra in Elektra.
Deep Contralto Roles are Magdalena in der Evangelimann, oder die Alleswissende Muschel in die Ägyptische Helena, und Gaea in Daphne.
And there are many more.
❤️
Check the scores?
Octavian, Eboli, The Composer and Brangäne are all soprano roles.
(For example)
Despina is not a character in The Marriage of Figaro. She sings in Cosi fan tutte.
im pretty sure im a soubrette. but i feel like i just havent reached my full potential to be a coloratura. my voice is fast and high notes are so easy. i just havent fully gotten there, i guess. i guess i can also sing pretty low? because i can sing down to g3 but thats usually more wonky than singing b7. i have sung with people that are actual mezzo sopranos and my voice is always so much lighter and hollow compared to them. they have a much warmer sound than me. they can also sing lower than me easier
No, a dramatic coloratura soprano would be singers such as Maria Callas or Joan Sutherland, huge voices that could handle roles such as Norma that not only require great power, but also true mastery of coloratura. The Queen of the Night is usually taken by tiny voiced sopranos such as Rita Streich. A large voice Queen such as Edda Moser or Christina Deutekom are the rare exception rather than the norm. Octavian in Rosenkavalier a dramatic Mezzo? Really? That role is usually sung by lyric mezzos such as von Stade. And not uncommonly, it was also sung by lyric sopranos such as Sena Jurinac. A dramatic mezzo would be singers such as Elena Obraztsova, Fiorenza Cossotto, Irina Arkhipova, Dolora Zajick, singers who can handle huge and heavy mezzo roles such as Amneris in Aida. Leontyne Price was, in her own words, "A lyric. A juicy lyric, but a lyric." She was never a spinto, as a real spinto role such as Fancuilla almost destroyed her voice. A real Spinto would be Renata Tebaldi or Aprile Millo. And a singer who most perfectly embodied what a true Lyric soprano should be was the late Mirella Freni.
But singers don't create the fachs, the roles do. 🤘🏻Of course we could chat all day about who sings which role best, but ultimately it's about the role itself. I'd love to see a video with your take on it though! The debate's always interesting!
@@ScoresUnstitched Of course the roles make the fach, but let's take the role of Norma as the ultimate dramatic coloratura role. Diana Damrau, given here as an example of a dramatic coloratura, would be an utter fool to attempt the role. Similar singers such as Gruberova or Sills, who attempted the role, typically produced rather disastrous and often ludicrous results. Likewise, dramatic sopranos without full mastery of coloratura have led to equally sad results (Gina Cigna, for example).
Also, let's remember that the fach system is a relatively recent thing, as in the past, singers spanned many of these fachs and sang roles that today we do not expect the same singer to be able to sing. This might have something to do with the technical schooling of the singers, which allowed Lehmann to sing coloratura roles as well as Norma, Isolde, and all the Brünnhildes. But for us, it would be unimaginable to have a Nilsson, Stemme, or Goerke even attempt Norma. And let's not forget that Wagner wanted his soprano roles to be sung as beautifully as if they were Norma. The inflexible barking voices of today's Wagner singers would have been totally foreign to his ears and his expectations.
My issue with your choice of singers to represent typical performers of these fachs is that most of them would be unable to sing the roles that are most typical of the aforementioned fach. Garanca could never get through Amneris in a large house, which is the bread and butter of a true dramatic mezzo such as Zajick. And if a supposedly "dramatic" roles is commonly and successfully managed by lyric voices, perhaps that role is not really a dramatic role.
You are completely right. You evidently know a great deal more about the 'Fach' than the presenters of this vid .
@@neuberg7315 You are completely right. You evidently know a great deal more about fostering a community of inclusiveness and welcome for an art form that's desperate for new audiences.
Yeah I also disagree with some of the ways she put these singers into fachs. It’s not the biggest deal in the world thought.
Really good presentation. Many thanks.
lmao the fact that I'm basically just all the mezzo types bc i just did both the una voce and carmen aria in my senior recital a few weeks ago... so like am i just mezzo? or do i fit into both coloratura and lyric, but my tessatura is also like B3 to D5 so i just dont fit in any? 🤣
Hahaha, I can relate! It sounds like you're still young if you just did a senior recital a few weeks ago, so you've got plenty of time left to grow and find out. But also, don't forget that people aren't fachs, just the roles. There's more gray than the black and white of this comment section would lead you to believe. 😉