Operatic Voice Types

Operatic voices can be classified by a variety of means. At base we define singers by the vocal range of their voice (basically what notes they can sing), but opera has developed a range of conventions for grouping singers with particular vocal styles as well. Frequently singers will sing across the sub-classifications, for example, a singer might sing a lyric tenor role one month and a spinto tenor one the next.

Soprano

The soprano is the highest female voice type and they often take the leading female role. The vocal range for an operatic soprano is roughly from middle C up to the C two octaves above, though plenty of music particularly for coloratura sopranos ascends even further.

Sopranos are split into five major categories:

Coloratura:The coloratura soprano is capable of seemingly superhuman feats. The voice is extremely agile, firing out fast paced coloratura sections that ascend as high as the 3rd F above middle C (and in a few cases even higher).

Soubrette:A soubrette soprano refers as much to an archetype of character as a voice type. These are cheeky, flirtatious parts, sung by singers with sweet, bright voices. The tessitura of these parts can sometimes be quite high but without an excess of coloratura.

Lyric:The lyric soprano usually possesses a fuller, richer sound than the soubrette and tends to have a more mature quality. Their tessitura generally lies higher than the soubrette but lower than the coloratura.

Spinto:The spinto soprano gets a good deal of the really plum roles in opera, particularly in the Italian Romantic tradition of Verdi and Puccini. These roles call for the light, brilliant high notes of the lyric soprano but with more heft in the big climaxes (spinto translates as "pushed").

Dramatic:These are big soprano voices with sufficient heft to be heard over a large orchestra whilst maintaining an evenness across the full range.

Mezzo-Soprano

Singing slightly lower than the soprano, the vocal range of an operatic mezzo-soprano (often abbreviated to just mezzo) spans from the G below middle C to the A two octaves above, though plenty of roles require the voice to stretch above and/or below this.

Mezzos breakdown into three broad categories:

Coloratura:Coloratura mezzo roles require agile runs up to even high C but also call for just as much oompf in the middle and bottom of the mezzo’s range.

Lyric:The lyric mezzo-soprano gets perhaps the least glamorous of roles, usually playing “trouser” parts (women playing men).

Dramatic:Frequently playing mothers or witches, the dramatic mezzo voice is warm, rich and unbeatably loud.

Contralto

A contralto is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type, with the lowest tessitura. Within current operatic practice, contraltos are often classed as mezzo-sopranos, because singers in each range can cover for those in the other. Contraltos may be broken down in the same three broad categories as Mezzo-Sopranos.

Countertenor

The highest male voice type, roughly equivalent in pitch to mezzo-sopranos. Countertenors were popular in the 17th Century but fell out of fashion until the mid-20th Century roughly coinciding with a boom in the popularity of Baroque and other early music. The countertenor range is roughly from the G below middle C to a high F one octave above middle C. These male singers achieve this high lying range through the use of their head voice (often called falsetto).

In opera countertenors largely take Baroque roles, particularly those originally given to Castrati. This voice type has been seized upon by some modern composers however, and has been increasingly utilised in contemporary opera.

Tenor

Tenors frequently take the leading male role (and are said to always get the girl, on stage and off!). The operatic vocal range for a tenor is roughly from the C below middle C to the C above middle C.

Tenors  breakdown into four broad categories:

Lyric:Warm, bright and capable of hitting the highest tenor notes with ease, lyric tenors get some of the most charming operatic roles. A fairly broad category, these singers can range in tonal colour, some much darker and fuller with others lighter and brighter.

Spinto:Similar to the lyric tenor in range but with more heft, particularly towards the top. These roles are far tougher than many people give them credit for.

Dramatic:Big, emotive and powerful, a dramatic tenor is usually spared the blushes of trying to hit a string of high notes but must project a rich sound against potent orchestral forces.

Heldentenor:Literally translates as heroic tenor. This is a vocal class largely introduced by Wagner, a collection of parts with low, almost baritonal, tessitura. They are massive roles, requiring the singer sustain a powerful sound over enormously long periods making them near unsingable.

Baritone

The middle male voice singing in the range from roughly the second G below middle C up to the G above it.

Baritones breakdown into three categories:

Lyric: The lyric baritone is a light, fruity deep male voice. These tend towards comic parts but they’re not without depth in some cases.

Verdi:The Verdi baritone as you might expect from the name is a voice type specific to Verdi operas. Verdi baritones are required to sing notes at the extremes of both ends of the baritone range and do so with a round sound.

Dramatic:The lowest true baritonal vocal type, dramatic baritones have a similar range to the Verdi singers, but the tessitura tends to lie lower.

Bass

The lowest voice of all. The standard operatic bass range is from the E above middle C to the E two octaves below. Some bass singers can go even lower, though this is seldom called for in the standard bass repertoire.

Bass-Baritone:The bass-baritone can sing as low as a bass but just as comfortably in higher lying tessitura close to the baritone range.

Buffo:Buffo bass roles are funny, comic relief, roles. They are very distinct parts with extensive “patter” singing requirements, the text frequently a tongue-twisting nightmare of alliteration.Though amusing, these are often villainous roles, albeit hopeless, blustering ones.

Basso profundo:The lowest voice type in opera is the basso profundo. These singers produce a wall of rich, unending sound with limited vibrato but enormous power. The parts are mostly limited to older male villains.