“In a way, being an opera singer is like being a very romantic sixteen-year-old who falls in love with great passion and conviction every month.” (Renée Fleming)
Our exploration of opera continues with discovering more about voice types. Let’s begin with the ladies!
THE SOPRANO
Diva, primadonna, star of the show! Generally, the lead female role in an opera is sung by a soprano. Operatic history abounds with stories of divas’ temperamental behavior but also with their ability to sell out performances and instill a sense of worship in their fans. In today’s world of pragmatism, high speed, and an abundance of singers, the diva antics don’t quite cut it anymore. There are still a few operatic superstars—in the sense that they are known beyond the world of opera and have a huge following—such as Anna Netrebko and Renée Fleming. These are the soprano voices:
Soubrette
Light voice with a sweet, bright vocal timbre (“timbre” refers to the quality of tone that gives colors and personality to the voice). Examples: Adele from Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Despina from Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, and Zerlina from Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Lyric coloratura soprano
(“coloratura” refers to the ornamentation of a melody and requires an agile voice)
Warm, bright, fuller voice than the soubrette. Usually plays the ingénue character. Examples: the title role in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lamermoor, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Lakmé in Delibes’ Lakmé.
Lyric soprano
Full, strong but not heavy voice. Generally embodies self-sacrificing, noble, suffering characters. Examples: Mimi in Puccini’s La bohème, Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Antonia in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann.
Dramatic coloratura soprano
Similar quality to a lyric soprano, but more agile with an ability for sustained coloratura. Able to be dramatically intense as well as flexible. Examples: the title character of Bellini’s Norma, The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Konstanze in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
Spinto soprano
Strong voice with more weight and power than the lyric soprano, capable of darker colors. “Spinto” means “pushed” in Italian, referring to this soprano’s ability to “push” her lyric sound to more dramatic climaxes. Examples: the title character of Puccini’s Tosca, a true diva role, Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and Elisabeth de Valois in Verdi’s Don Carlo.
Dramatic soprano
Rich, heavy, and powerful voice with a strong lower range and darker timbre than the other soprano voices. Examples: Leonora from Verdi’s La forza del destino, Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth, and Aida in Verdi’s Aida. (Certain dramatic sopranos have an even ampler voice, particularly suited to sing Wagner roles, and they are referred to as Wagnerian sopranos, but there are other roles of that caliber, like Puccini’s Turandot, for instance).
THE MEZZO-SOPRANO
No female voice conveys seduction and witchcraft quite like the mezzo-soprano voice! While the mezzo-soprano usually plays second fiddle to the soprano and often ends up getting the bad angle of a love triangle between herself, the soprano, and the tenor, she also gets to embody the most seductive leading ladies in operas like Carmen and Samson and Delilah. She can play with gender perceptions in “trouser roles”—portraying young men like Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. Mezzos also sing the roles of mothers, witches, wise women, companions, nurses, and sometimes even venture into dramatic soprano territory. Two modern superstar mezzo-sopranos are Elina Garanca and Anita Rachvelishvili. These are the mezzo-soprano voices:
Coloratura mezzo-soprano
Very agile voice with the ability to leap from low to high and sing ornamented, rapid passages. Examples: Rosina in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Angelina in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, and Julius Caesar in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto.
Lyric mezzo-soprano
Warm, smooth voice often suitable for “trouser roles.” Examples: Niklausse from Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi, and Mignon in Thomas’ Mignon. This voice can also embody the famous seductress Carmen from Bizet’s opera.
Dramatic mezzo-soprano
A more powerful and broader voice than the lyric mezzo with a fuller sound and a strong lower range. She has the force to hold her own in the many intense confrontations with the dramatic soprano. Examples: Amneris in Verdi’s Aida, Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlo, and Fricka in Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Die Walküre.
Contralto
Dark and deep, the true contralto voice is a rarity, which is why dramatic mezzos with strong low notes often sing contralto roles. Examples: the Princess in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Ulrica in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, and Erda in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Click to read more in Maria-Cristina’s opera series:
Part IV – operas that are ideal introductions for newcomers to the operatic universe.
Top photo: Bigstock
