The Incidental Yet Surprisingly Definitive Opera Guide: Species.
Dec 21 '05 (Updated Jan 16 '06)
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I've been writing a lot of opera reviews and opera-related reviews recently, mainly because I like using a specialised jargon and don't know enough about more butch pursuits like cars and computers and jockstraps. However I've taken pity on the scores of people who've asked me what the hell I'm talking about (alright, three or four people), and have perhaps been suspicious I'm making it all up (this may in fact just be my paranoia).
So in what will be the first of a long-running serial if I can be bothered, here is a brief introduction to one aspect of opera- voice types. There are six major voice types, four of which are common in opera. Because we're dealing with humans, and humans with artistic and moody temperaments, the definitions get very hazy. However since I use the following, you should as well because, clearly, they're definitive. I'll start from the highest, and work southward.
THE SHEILAS
Soprano
The highest female voice. Operatic sopranos, whether stars or rank and file, should be able to at least touch a Top C (if you can find middle C on the piano, it's two C's above that). However because opera types are anal, there are several sub-species as well. Use these to impress your friends! Dazzle your colleagues! Bore your family!
Lyric Soprano
The vast bulk of operatic heroines are lyric sopranos. It's a pretty, well controlled, well trained voice with good expressive and technical range. To be an operatic lyric soprano you must also minor in swooning, dying, betrayal and mourning. The big downside of the lyric sopranos are they're a dime a dozen, so whilst you'll make a good living with all those roles providing a steady roster of repertoire, you ain't gonna get rich quick. Most Puccini heroines are Lyrics- Mimi from La Boheme is the ur-Lyric as she falls in love at a great speed then dies even faster. Some people divide Lyric and Bel Canto (beautiful singing) sopranos. A bel canto soprano is a singer who specialises in the 'bel canto opera' school- Donizetti and Bellini- who can hold and float luxurious long phrases. I don't make this division. Maria Callas made her name in the bel canto repertoire, yet you couldn't really call her voice beautiful.
Dramatic Soprano
When you think of the fat chick in a Viking helmet carrying a spear shattering glass, you're thinking of a dramatic soprano. A big voice in a bigger body, who usually has to buy her bra in the manchester department. Puccini's title role in Turandot is a dramatic soprano role. There is a subset here of Wagnerian Soprano, who is a dramatic soprano with extraordinary stamina, who can sing the Wagner canon of 4-5 hour operas without keeling over and dying, which is what would happen to most of us (in particular the roles of Brunnhilde from the Ring Cycle, and Isolde in Tristan und Isolde). For an Artistic Director of an opera company, finding a good dramatic soprano is like finding a seam of gold under the stalls. Wagnerian sopranos can name their fee.
Coloratura soprano
Technically, coloratura is a technique of agility in vocal gymnastics, not a voice type, and you could, in theory, have a coloratura bass. However in all practicality, when we're talking coloratura we're talking sopranos. Coloratura are the fireworks of the vocal world. Coloratura solos are rare but always bring the house down- the most famous, without question, is the Queen of the Night's two arias from The Magic Flute- in particular the second Der holle rache which is one of those pieces you probably already know. In this, the poor coloratura lass has to be able to pop out a Top F (go to that second C above middle C on the piano then up to the F after that and try singing it). Sadly coloratura is dying out because modern opera composers don't write for it- mainly because it rarely serves a dramatic purpose except to show off the singer's abilities and also because the vast bulk of singers won't sing modern repertoire if it is too hard on their voice. Some people also consider most of the bel canto (there it is again) repertoire coloratura, but I don't and neither should you. Nathalie Dessay is probably the world's current coloratura queen. Also known, I feel rather pointlessly, as a high soprano (but aren't all sopranos high?).
More sub-species of sopranos
A spinto soprano means a steel-edged voice which can cut through any vocal ensemble or orchestral texture. Again, rare as a dodo. Opinion is very divided on what, or who, exactly spinto is and which roles should be cast to a spinto soprano. Donna Elvira, the wronged woman demanding vengeance in Mozart's Don Giovanni, is one of very few roles which is unanimously agreed should be sung by a spinto.
A soubrette soprano used to be a real term- a young soprano with a young, tinkly voice best suited to maids and sheperdesses in lighthearted comic (usually French) operas and operettas. Nowadays however it means a pretty girl who can hold a tune who is either a good dancer or banging the conductor. Soubrettes are never old or ugly. To call a soprano a soubrette to her face is to disappear off her Christmas card list forever.
Mezzo-Soprano
If you're a woman with no vocal training and you sing in the shower, you are, most likely, a mezzo. Mezzo-sopranos can sing many of the same notes as a soprano but their strength lies in their middle and lower range where the notes have more power, colour and intensity than a soprano. Mezzos have enjoyed a bit of a resurgence of late with stars like Cecilia Bartoli and Lorraine Hunt Leiberson.
Sadly, to be a mezzo soprano in opera condemns you to a life in the shadow of the sopranos in a variety of roles ranging from witches to maids to mothers to crones to boys ('pants roles') and in the case of Berg's Lulu- lesbian countesses. Cherubino, the page boy, in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro is one of the most famous mezzo pants roles. There are a handful of leading mezzo roles including one of the best female roles there is- the title role in Bizet's Carmen. Many of Rossini's heroines are also mezzo roles- Rosina in The Barber of Seville and the title role in Cenerentola (Cinderella). In Rossini we also find rare examples of Mezzo coloratura.
Contraltos
The lowest of the female voices is rare as to be practically extinct in opera, because lower voices are hard to balance with a full orchestra. An opera chorus is made of sopranos and mezzos in the women, not altos which have traditionally been the property of the church, not the theatre. I cannot think of a single full time operatic contralto, and only two roles of any merit- the title role in Menotti's The Medium, and Lucretia in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia- both twentieth century works. There are some instances in the very earliest of the repertoire, mainly roles of witches and crones.
THE BLOKES
Tenors
Tenors are the highest male voice, and to be an operatic tenor star you should be able to nail a top C (find middle C, and it's the one above that), though Pavarotti, bless him, hasn't got one for years.
Notorious egotists, the idea of the tenor hero didn't really come about until the mid 1800s- up until this time the hero was a castrati then a baritone. Mozart, for example, wrote most of his best male roles for baritones- the title role in Don Giovanni, both the Count and Figaro in Marriage of Figaro and Gugliemo and Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte. Tenors meanwhile were relegated to the simpering wimp Octavian in the Don, and the mincing Don Basilio in Figaro (with notable exceptions of Tamino in The Magic Flute and Ferrando in Cosi). However, by the time of Verdi the tenors were firmly in the hot seat with the lion's share of romantic leads whilst baritones were given the leftovers of fathers and villains.
Italian tenors are able to sustain long lines with real power in the top notes, and the ability to leap to said top notes, provided they don't have to stay up there too much. German tenors have the staying power and noise level in their top notes all the time. French tenors are all floaty and generally useless in much of the meatier repertoire. Portuguese tenors... ok I made that one up. Technically real opera snobs will also talk about Nordic, Welsh and Irish tenors but don't bother.
Ever since Caruso, who is considered the greatest tenor in recorded history, the hunt has been on for the next great (Italian) tenor. Carreras was it for a while until he caught lymphoma, then it was sort of a two-way tie between Pavarotti and Domingo. Sadly, Pavarotti is now more remembered for his sad decline and refusal to let go, whilst Domingo's best days are also behind him. Roberto Alagna was named the heir apparent, to the laughs of much of the opera world. Andrea Boccelli doesn't rate a mention in the operatic tenor league. And Russell Watson... puh-lease.
Heldentenor
A heldentenor was more or less invented by, here he is again, Wagner who refused to be constrained by physical impossibilities. A Heldentenor is a tenor who can sing loud and high for a long time- such as five hours of Tristan und Isolde. Like their female counterparts, they can name their fee and opera companies have no choice but to lump it. The ur-heldentenor role is Siegfried, from The Ring Cycle, written by, of course, Wagner, and when performed complete is four five hour operas performed over four nights.
Counter-tenors
A counter-tenor is a relatively new invention and is a male who sings from his head to create the equivalent range of a mezzo soprano but with the strength and power of a good lyrical tenor. If heldentenors are rare, counter-tenors are rarer still. The handful of professional counter-tenors in the world, David Daniels, Graham Pushee etc etc, make their daily crust from Handel operas singing former castrato roles, and the occasional appearance in twentieth century opera- Oberon in Britten's The Midsummer Night's Dream is a superb role, and the title role in Glass' Akhnaten is an exercise in counting.
Sub-species of tenor
For all practicalities, there are just counter-tenors, tenors and heldentenors. However as the tenor repertoire exploded, so did the various labels and, like their female twin the soprano, there is no easy consensus on who or what they are. Some of the more important were tenor di forzia, a forceful tenor best suited to loud Verdi, and the tenor di grazia- a gentle, lyrical tenor voice best suited to fops in the bel canto repertoire.
Baritones
Baritone is the most common male voice there is, and they're a dime a dozen too. The world's most famous opera baritone currently is Bryn Terfel who, to steal from Manuela Hoelterhoff, has the voice of an angel in the body of Meatloaf. Barihunks are are form of baritone- men who have amazing bodies and voices to match. I'm looking at you Nathan Gunn and Simon Keenlyside, both of whom directors find an excuse to have shirtless regardless of the role. Baritones, whilst no longer the heroes, have always had the meatier, more virile roles in opera as opposed to their wussy cousins the tenor.
In the most recent opera book I reviewed, A Night at the Opera, Sir Denis Forman says the interesting baritone repertoire is the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni. What rot. Many of the most enjoyable roles in opera are baritones- both Figaros (Rossini/Mozart), Papageno (Mozart again), Don Alfonso (there's Mozart again), Leporello (gosh darn it, more Mozart), Dandini (Rossini). Ok, so it's more or less limited to Mozart and Rossini. Though Wotan from Wagner's epic Ring Cycle is technically a baritone, and pretty much the only interesting Wagner baritone role. The bullfighter Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen is a baritone, as is the beautiful sailor Billy Budd by Britten (a role that is keeping the aforementioned Messrs Gunn and Keenlyside in Carribbean holidays for years to come).
Bass
The true bass is rare in opera for the same reason as the contralto- it's an absolute pain for the composer to balance against an orchestra. Where they exist, they are usually either really wise (kings, priests, gods) or really evil (everything else). The bass is like the tenor in that different countries produce different sounding basses (and unlike the baritone, which could come from anywhere from the steps of La Scala to a hut on the Kalahari and still sound more or less the same)- the grandaddy being undoubtedly the Russian Bass, the most famous of all time being Fyodor Chaliapin (died 1938) who had a voice that could be used to summon ships out to sea. Modern bass roles are limited to Sarastro, the wise priest in The Magic Flute and Fafner, the evil dragon in Wagner's Siegfried from the Ring Cycle. Italy is unique in producing basso buffa, a comic clown of a voice. This is a rather pointless job, as they rarely have any talents apart from hammy acting and spend their life playing Rossini fathers in provinical houses.
Much more common is a hybrid type called a bass-baritone who is for all intents and purposes a baritone short of the very top notes, but with a much stronger lower register than most baritones. Much of what is considered bass repertoire in opera is performed by bass-baritones. The most starry bass-baritone role is the title role in Mussorgsky's grim epic Boris Godunov.
Sub-species and Extinctions
Trebles are boys which are often used in much opera to pad out ensembles scenes- they are roughly available in two types but few opera companies have the resources to make this distinction. A classical treble is that sickly sweet unbroken voice of a boy which is like taking a bath in chocolate sauce mixed with sugar. The choir in Tosca is of this variety, and Britten, because he was rather uncomfortably sexually attracted to it, wrote some of the best solo treble work in many of his operas where boys were often a major role (Turn of the Screw especially, and the fairy choir in A Midsummer Night's Dream). Ragazzi are the more realistic, rough 'n' tumble unbroken boys' voice- such as the urchins in Carmen.
Castrati are now, thank Christ, completely extinct and in fact banned by the Geneva Convention. Castrati, which existed up until Mozart's time, were boy trebles with powerful voices who had their testicles lopped to preserve their treble voice but in a man's body with all the resonance and power that would bring. Well, not really. Removing the testes was actually no guarantee of anything, which could be a grim future for the boy in question. The church condemned such practice, but turned a blind eye to mothers who said their son had been in an accident, or kicked by a horse. Castrati though were superstars of the day, with the ability to reduce women to swoons and, fascinatingly, was considered the most macho of all opera roles. The last castrati died at the beginning of the twentieth century, despite the fact it'd been illegal for over a hundred years (dang those horses!), and it is possible to hear a very scratchy recording of him. The castrati repertoire is now divided amongst tenors (with it transposed lower- a most unsatisfactory solution), mezzo sopranos (mildly better, but confusing when Caesar is played by a chick) and counter-tenors (lesser of three evils). Rent the movie Farinelli to learn more.
Thus ends the lecture. There will be no pop quiz, but enjoy the warm wash of self-righteous superiority next time the conversation turns to opera. Drop lines like "you know, I simply can't listen to Rossini when they cast sopranos as the lead- it's so outdated when there are people like Larmore and Bartoli around" and enjoy the awe and power that follows.
As it so happens, I've reviewed recordings of some of the operas mentioned. Here's a list of said mentioned operas, for your perusal pleasure.
Akhnaten
The Barber of Seville, Excerpts
The Barber of Seville, Complete
Lulu
The Magic Flute
The Marriage of Figaro, Complete
The Marriage of Figaro, Excerpts
The Medium
The Rape of Lucretia
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