# Distinction between male vs. distinction between female opera singers



## AlainB (Nov 20, 2011)

I've always been wondering... how many of you happen to have a terrible time trying to distinguish opera singers of their respective genders?

I for one have a super hard time to distinguish voices of females; to me they all sound plainly the same! No real difference to recognize them by. Well, the only ones I'd probably really recognize by ear, would be Montserrat Caballé, Renata Tebaldi, Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne. Beside them, nuh-uh.. forget it.

The males on the other hand, I have no troubles identifying each one of them by ear (of course, I'm referring to the ones I know, not the ones who I've not listened to...).

Which also makes me ask this question to those who prefer female opera singers (since I know there are quite a few people around who do): why, especially considering the things I wrote above (I know that those things are subjective, but still... I wouldn't mind elaboration)?


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

AlainB said:


> I for one have a super hard time to distinguish voices of females; to me they all sound plainly the same! ... The males on the other hand, I have no troubles identifying each one of them by ear


What you're really saying is that you notice the differences - often very small - between male voices but not - so much - those between female ones. This is because you are more drawn to male voices than female.

For me, it is probably the reverse: I could differentiate, if not actually name, female voices better than male. But it has just occurred to me that, if I were to try to differentiate between violinists, I would be completely lost. Even allowing that listening to a violinist provides fewer cues, which are at a lower level, than hearing someone sing, I would be pretty bad.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

For me it all depends on whether or not I really like the singer. 

I don't like high voices very much so I can't distinguish between women singers but I can usually recognise the male singers I like.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I'm the same as Annie. A few female singers for me stand out (Callas, of course, but also Netrebko, Cotrubas, Hendricks, Kirkby), others are fairly generic. But a lot of male ones.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Good idea for a post! 

I actually love female voices much more than I do male ones, but a lot of the female voices are kind of indistinguishable to me. Callas was unique; Mattila is unique; Netrebko seems unique in the opera house - I get a kind of wonderful cranberry-colored metal in her voice, that isn't on the periodic table - but I can't hear her uniqueness on recordings. Cotrubas I can only tell by her habit, that wonderful buttery glide from one note to the next. Moffo really puts me off by her habit of sliding up to each note as she approaches it. Sonnambula is the only recording of hers I've heard where she doesn't do it. Marian Anderson did this a lot more and a lot worse. Sutherland of course is unique, that ethereal tremolo; but I feel bad that I can't tell other singers apart better.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I've never had difficulty telling singers apart, male or female . I guess it's because I started getting into opera so early, when I was only about 13 , and have so much experience listening . Just as each person has a distinctive speaking voice, it's the same when people sing .


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

Joan Sutherland, Kirsten Flagstad, Nirgit Nilsohn were kind of unique. Actually, I love Roberto Alagna's voice. I also loved Pavarotti, who didn't?

Martin


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> Joan Sutherland, Kirsten Flagstad, Nirgit Nilsohn were kind of unique. Actually, I love Roberto Alagna's voice. *I also loved Pavarotti, who didn't?*
> 
> Martin


Me. I recognise his technical excellence but I would never choose to listen to him.

I love Alagna in French repertoire. He pronounces the language so beautifully.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> I love Alagna in French repertoire. He pronounces the language so beautifully.


that's interesting. I was listening to his Elisir d'Amore, and thinking how much better his Italian singing is than Villazon. Have you heard it?


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

For me it also depends on whether or not I like the singer. I can always recognize the voices of Cotrubas, Ricciarelli, Janowitz, Jurinac, Baltsa, Caballe, and Behrens among the ladies (not really wild about Behrens' voice, but it had a very distinctive timbre). Among the men, I always know when I'm hearing Milnes, Wunderlich, Carreras, Jerusalem, Kaufmann, Moll, Ramey, Domingo, Ridderbusch, Raimondi, and Fischer-Dieskau.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> Joan Sutherland, Kirsten Flagstad, Nirgit Nilsohn were kind of unique. Actually, I love Roberto Alagna's voice. I also loved Pavarotti, who didn't?
> 
> Martin


Martin

I think what the OP meant was could we distinguish voices in a blind test, not which singers we actually liked.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Martin
> 
> I think what the OP meant was could we distinguish voices in a blind test, not which singers we actually liked.


I can recognize all of the above. I also can recognize Vera Firsova and Ivan Kozlovsky, Ruusian singers from the fifties, but I am sure nobody knows them... That's why I haven't mentioned them before.

Russlan and Liudmila, Glinka






Delicious Rachmaninov, Georgian song number 2






Kozlovsky also sung il barbiere di Seviglia in Russian, and many other European operas. At that time (Soviet Union), every opera was translated.






Probably you will know this beautiful song from Sadko (Rimsky-Korsakov)






Enjoy,

Martin


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