Opera (Classical) Female voice Fächer (fachs) 

What is practical with Callas is that you had all the voices in one: contralto, mezzo, soprano with coloratura option.

There are so many singers who cross lines. How could Caballe, a lyric, as she is listed here, sing NORMA, TURANDOT, FORZA, and other dramatic soprano roles. While she wasn't strictly a dramatic soprano, neither was Ludiwig a dramatic soprano. But she had a decade or so of singing soprano parts. Obratszova had the commanding dramatic mezzo for about five seasons once she started to sing in the West. I heard her sing Marina in BORIS GUDONOV on the opening night the the historical Bolshoi Opera's debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York opposite Vladimir Atlantov and they blew the roof off of the Met. But it didn't take long for that voice to lose its core and within just a few seasons it was sill loud but blowsy. Deutekom was a truly dramatic coloruatura dagilita like Edd Moser. Very exciting singers. Sopranos, by and large, in the modern era, take on more dramatic roles as they age, so a leggero such as Catherine Malifitano took on a much more ambitious repertoire as they aged. But it meant the career was pretty much over after 10 years of SALOME, BUTTERFLY, JENUFA, TOSCA, etc. The same with Scotto, whereas Freni a true lyric rarely strayed out of the path of big roles that emphasized her big lyric sound: Elizabetta, Desdemona, Adrianna, Manon Lescaut, Alice Ford., Her La Scala-based recording of FORZAs with Muti was a disappointment. She didn't sing TOSCA or MADAMA BUTTERFLY in the theater only for recordings. I do agree the fach system is a lot of hooey. Singers sing what they want to sing when they want to sing it once they're big stars.

Definitely the Contraltos for me. I also love Dramatic Coloratura Mezzos!

Dramatic contralto and dramatic mezzo :)

While I love the overall concept. It is important to state that a lot of these are NOT fach. Fach is a strictly German system. Also soprano sfogato is a natural mezzo with a soprano extension which would kinda disqualify Callas on all accounts, Verrett too depending on who you're talking to. These are the three major classification systems with their categories: FACH SYSTEM: Soubrette, lyrischer koloratursopran, dramatischer koloratursopran, lyrischer sopran, jugendlich-dramatischer sopran (equivalent to lyric-spinto), dramatischer sopran, charaktersopran, hochdramatischer sopran Lyrischer mezzosopran, dramatischer mezzosopran Dramatischer alt, tiefer alt Spieltenor, lyrischer tenor, jugendlicher heldentenor (equivalent to spinto tenor), charaktertenor, heldentenor Lyrischer bariton, kavalierbariton, charakterbariton, heldenbariton Spielbass, charakterbass, seriöser bass FRENCH SYSTEM: Soprano colorature, soprano léger, soprano lyrique, soprano grand lyrique, soprano dramatique, soprano falcon, soprano dugazon Mezzo-soprano lyrique, mezzo-soprano dramatique/galli-marié Contralto Haute-contre, tenor léger, trial tenor, tenor lyrique, tenor dramatique Baryton-martin, baryton lyrique, baryton dramatique, baryton-basse Laruette, basso chantante, basse profunde ITALIAN SYSTEM: Soubrette soprano, lirico-leggero soprano, lirico soprano, lirico-spinto/lirico-drammatico soprano, drammatico soprano, drammatico d'agilita Mezzosoprano leggero/mezzosoprano acuto/mezzosoprano di coloratura, mezzosoprano lirico/centrale, mezzosoprano drammatico/grave Contralto (no subclassifications) Tenore contraltino, tenore leggero/di grazia, tenore lirico, tenore lirico-leggero/lirico di mezzo carattere, tenore lirico-spinto/lirico-drammatico, tenore drammatico/di forza, tenore robusto, baritenore Baritono leggero/baritono chiaro, baritono lirico/cantabile, baritono lirico-spinto/lirico-drammatico/verdiano, baritono drammatico, basso-baritono Basso buffo/leggero, basso-baritono, basso-cantante, basso profundo Also it's important to note that a lot of singers in this video and overall will fit in a specific classification because of their specialisation, not biology. Giuletta Simionato and Christa Ludwig have voices that naturally sit like a soprano, and have a soprano colour. Ludwig was honest about it. Simionato said her voice had a mezzo colour but soprano tessitura. But they are mezzos because of the repertoire they specialise in (I'm talking about singers who can ACTUALLY sing that repertoire, not a lot of those modern 'mezzos' who still sound very soprano when singing mezzo and display no colours of a mezzo voice), not biology. If you were to classify voices purely off how they sit naturally, the pure colour, tessitura and the biology, half of 'dramatic' sopranos would be lyric sopranos, and there'd be maybe one or two contralto in the opera history.

Of these voices, my favorite is either the Wagnerian soprano or the lyric mezzo-soprano!

The Elena O. Clip is stunning

There goes Eleanor Steber breaking through the pack again with the most focused, melodramatic Leonora of the whole group of Leonoras. Plus she sweeps up to the B-flat with out a breath!

This video in my opinion is NOT a mess. It also depended on the singer. For example Leontyne Price's voice could also lend itself to the spinto fach such as Tosca or Leonora in La Forza. For the most part a lot has to do with taste.

this video has been V, useful I find myself at an age where i can easily sing donna Anna mimi Butterfly but no- one wants a 62 yr old to sing these parts! Adri xx

Janowitz described in the role (Rosalinda) which it is not: light lyric! The woman sings Eva in Meistersinger, Sieglinde in Walkure and Barak's wife in Frosch. These are all documented on CD's.

My favorie fach is the countertenor... So exotic and unique...

For contraltos, I would have gladly gone with Elvira Casazza, Sigrid Onegin, Dame Clara Butt, Armida Parsi-Pettinella, Kathleen Ferrier, Louise Kirkby-Lunn, Marian Anderson, Louise Homer, Marie Delna, Kerstin Thorborg, Karin Branzell, Margarete Klose, Alice Raveau, and Ernestine Schumann-Heink.

I think hillary summers is a dramatic mezzo. If not, lyric contralto with high tessitura.

THE HIGHEST COLORATURAS WILL ALWAYS WIN FOR ME lol

Why was Beverly Sills not included? I don’t have a favorite fach. Does it really matter? I like them all.

Thank you for this! I learned a great deal. Question: why is it that you never hear or see anyone billed as a contralto? It seems to me that the term is no longer in use. Also, just for the record, whatever happened to the "alto voice?" There are sopranos, tenors and basses, but no altos. I've never cared for the term "mezzo soprano" because I don't think "mezzos" are "half-sopranos" or half-anything for that matter. (BTW, thank you for explaining "spinto.") As for the singers themselves, I particularly loved your excerpts of Kirsten Flagstadt, Birgit Nilsson, and Lucia Popp.

What the fach? You need to do a Part II with the 6-year-career sopranos like Cerquetti, Souliotis, Sass, Mitchell, Rolandi, etc. This was really fun though. I understand your dislike for Sutherland.

I am so surprise of acuto sfogato soprano because they can hit C7 easily and Mado Robin can hit D7 too =)

Mezzo. Obraztsova and Pally.

I am very confused but I love it

You might still be yet....Have been following your posts with much interest until you made the comment about Sutherland, Personally, I think her voice became even more BEAUTIFUL as she aged until she retired! Small, less dramatic? Put your big boy pants on and listen to the most beautiful voice in the world (jmo) and listen to her at 59 years old sing the Fra Diavolo aria in Australia..........

Like or don’t like Joan should off been in the clip because what you have been is really good 😊

All Fächer or tessituras are legit as long as the technique is well developed and the repertoire is right. Nilsson for one is very well suited for Wagner and verism, but give her Italian operas with hints of bel canto and coloratura and her voice becomes out of place.

'actuo'? you mean 'acuto'?

The more I know about singing and the more I sing, the more I could care less about fach. It's interesting to know, but many non musicians and non singers make such a big deal about it "why is he/singing that part....it should be sung by (insert fach). Jessye Norman said it best..."Pigeon holes are only comfortable for pigeons".

Actually just to clarify. After her early years Sutherland's voice became huge . Specifically after 1964. I've spoken to those who heard her in the theatre and her voice was massive. She definitely wasn't a lyric coloratura

Why not consider Edita Gruberova among the soprano soubrette? Inexcusable not to include Dame Joan Sutherland. Anyway, many thanks for the selection.

Ingeborg Hallstein.

Gundula Janowitz was not a light lyric soprano.

Esistono due tipi di vocalità : 1 Quelli professionali 2 Quelli poco professionali. Poi le teorie sterili le lascio per voi ragazzi… il vecchio

Dramatic coloratura singing Der Hölle Rache (not Der Höhlendrache as most American sopranos do) and not Edda Moser? What is wrong with you. She's been keeping aliens away in terror thanks to her immortal Astraflammante recorded for Voyager II as one of humankind's greatest achievements. There is no better Königin der Nacht.

"Acuto" means acute. "Actuo" does not mean anything. But I enjoyed your video very much. My favorite fach is lyric mezzo, although I rather choose singers and arias more than fachs.

Низкие ноты у Синявской гораздо лучше, у Образцовой грубоватые.

Verrett was not a sfogato soprano. It’s dramatic soprano in English not high dramatic. Leontyne Price was a lyric and so was Steber. Battle was a leggero/coloratura. And it’s ACUTO sfogato. Sorry this video is a mess... 🤣

Well, while I am just picking myself up off the floor and dusting myself off, having fallen down in a dead faint that you do "not like Joan Sunderland for some reason" (which for me is akin to a Muslim "not liking the Prophet Muhammad, for some reason"😆) I will at least grudgingly acknowledge a degree of admiration that you are single minded enough to have your own opinion and furthermore, are prepared to admit it in public 😏 Even so, I cannot but help feeling mildly hurt and even offended on behalf of the glorious Dame Joan whose sainted reputation hardly needs any defence, let alone mine. Her praeternaturally clear, perfect limpidity and the purity and the sheer bell-like beauty of her voice I don't feel has ever been equalled and in my view no one alive today comes close. It may be 500 years, never mind 50, that we see her like again. Yes, she may have looked a little clumsy - which she admitted herself - and she no doubt lacked that Mediterranean, gypsy, almost diabolical, diva quality that certainly in a live performance packs a punch - but for that sound I'll sacrifice all the above and any amount of diction! There, I feel better now🤩😂

Christa Ludwig NEVER was a dramatic Mezzo-Soprano!

I am a strong believer that there's no such thing as a dramatic or lyric type within mezzos... You are a mezzo or you are not.