# Favourite voice types



## BaronScarpia (Apr 2, 2014)

Does anyone else have a favourite voice type? I know it's a horrible question, as there are so many out there. But some voices are just so vibrant and beautiful - for me, the mezzo-soprano is the perfect voice, with just the right mixture of high and low, light and dark, and such a selection of roles to play. Mezzo-sopranos can play 'bitches and witches', they can be men like Octavian and Cherubino as well as taking on roles originally for castrati, they can be heroines like Angelina and Rosina, princesses like Eboli, wise women like Azucena and villainesses like Amneris. They can even be sopranos when singing baroque soprano repertoire, verismo, Lady Macbeth and Wagner, or when taking on soubrette parts such as Despina or Zerlina. There's so much French opera for them to sing, as well as countless concert pieces and oratorios and cantatas (where they usually sing alto).

Is anyone else enamoured of the mezzo-soprano voice? Do you have any other favourite voices?


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

BaronScarpia said:


> Is anyone else enamoured of the mezzo-soprano voice?


I am  also for its sheer versatility. And it's easier on the ear than the soprano voice. *Here* are some of my favourite mezzos. Add Lucia Valentini Terrani (Tancredi and Arsace) to that list.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I have favorite singers of all voice types, but I'm basically a tenor's fan. Nothing like listening to Kaufmann or Wunderlich (or some others) to make me melt.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Bass

Err that's it!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ how about *this bass*?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

My favourite fach is soprano.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

The mezzo-soprano has always been my favorite voice type. After that it's the baritone, especially the "Verdi baritone."


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Soprano, specifically coloratura soprano, most specifically lyric coloratura soprano (though I also love dramatic coloraturas).

In short, I love Natalie Dessay


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## Volve (Apr 14, 2013)

Mezzo's pluck the strings of my heart! Right next to that, (bass-)baritones (I might be slightly biased on this one seen as I am a baritone). Christa Ludwig and Fischer-Dieskau made Lohengrin's act II one of the best musical experiences ever for me (for those interested in this, check out the Kempe recording with Wiener Philharmoniker, Jess Thomas and Elisabeth Grümmer in the major roles. Completaly worth it for Ludwig and FD alone!).


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Tenors, baritones and basses are my favorite voices.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I'm torn between mezzos and tenors, the middle-range voices that take the inner parts in choral singing. Probably not coincidentally, my two favorite orchestral instruments are the viola and the cor anglais, whose ranges encompass tenor and alto. But to make things more complex, I love especially certain singers who have qualities of both high and low voices - Caruso, Jon Vickers and Jonas Kaufmann, for example, who have voices with baritonal qualities and tenor range, and Rosa Ponselle and Kirsten Flagstad, who have soprano range with the tonal depth of mezzos.


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## BaronScarpia (Apr 2, 2014)

Oh my God, Woodduck!!! They are my favourite orchestral instruments too - that is too weird!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BaronScarpia said:


> Oh my God, Woodduck!!! They are my favourite orchestral instruments too - that is too weird!


Well, I've always been weird. What about you?


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## BaronScarpia (Apr 2, 2014)

Oh, I'm exceedingly abnormal.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BaronScarpia said:


> Oh, I'm exceedingly abnormal.


Pleased to meet you then, even if you do like Sutherland.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

BaronScarpia said:


> wise women like Azucena


ssssssssssssss
ok


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## Rhythm (Nov 2, 2013)

I'm made from the same cloth.

Seriously. It's palm-to-forehead when I hear those voice types and orchestral instruments. Similar listeners are few, in my experience .


Woodduck said:


> I'm torn between mezzos and tenors, the middle-range voices that take the inner parts in choral singing. Probably not coincidentally, my two favorite orchestral instruments are the viola and the cor anglais, whose ranges encompass tenor and alto. But to make things more complex, I love especially certain singers who have qualities of both high and low voices - Caruso, Jon Vickers and Jonas Kaufmann, for example, who have voices with baritonal qualities and tenor range, and Rosa Ponselle and Kirsten Flagstad, who have soprano range with the tonal depth of mezzos.


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## BaronScarpia (Apr 2, 2014)

Aramis said:


> ssssssssssssss
> ok


What? I mean 'wise woman' as in witch - you know, that stereotype of a mystic or 'fortune teller'.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Pleased to meet you then, even if you do like Sutherland.


Even a broken watch is right twice a day.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Rhythm said:


> I'm made from the same cloth.
> 
> Seriously. It's palm-to-forehead when I hear those voice types and orchestral instruments. Similar listeners are few, in my experience .


Et tu, Rhythm? That makes three of us (check out BaronScarpia).


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## messadivoce (Apr 18, 2014)

I like true contraltos but they are hard to find, just like those really low basso profoundos. I like when darker dramatic voices use coloratura too. And like Woodduck said, I like voices where you can hear the light and dark qualities, even in light lyric sopranos or leggero tenors. But any voice type can have that deeply resonating yet sparkling quality to it.


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## AliceKettle (Jun 15, 2014)

I'm a light lyric coloratura soprano or koloraturasoubrette, but my favorite voice type is dramatic coloratura soprano. They have it all the stratospheric high notes, the flexibility, and the dark undertones. My favorite dramatic coloratura roles are the Queen of the Night and Konstanze. My favorite dramatic coloratura opera singer is Joan Sutherland. She was a full dramatic coloratura soprano, and every time I hear her sing, her technique and nearly flawless technique leaves me in awe. Her voice was angelic, yet huge with dark undertones. I doubt will ever be blessed to hear an opera singer quite like Dame Sutherland. My favorite recording of her singing an aria from Mozart's opera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. It's called, Martern aller Arten:


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Tenors, yesterday and today. Amen!


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

nina foresti said:


> Tenors, yesterday and today.


And tomorow, when they get old - baritones.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

If I had to pick one voice type, it would be full lyric soprano, those great ladies like Schwarzkopf and Te Kanawa and Fleming who are so moving in that gorgeous Mozart/Strauss repertoire.


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

I love the Dramatic/Heldentenor voice. Particularly in Wagnerian roles; the likes of Melchior, King, Windgassen and Jon Vickers.

Also there are the Lyric and Coloratura Soprano voices; the sheer agility of some such voices is astonishing.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Jobis said:


> I love the Dramatic/Heldentenor voice. Particularly in Wagnerian roles; the likes of Melchior, King, Windgassen and Jon Vickers.
> 
> Also there are the Lyric and Coloratura Soprano voices; the sheer agility of some such voices is astonishing.


It is a bit special with Vickers the first times I heard recordings with him was in operas in Italian and I did not like his voice at all I thought it was too hoarse I want to hear clear voices. Then I heard him as Siegmund in Die Walküre and I was blown away.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I like dramatic sopranos such as Flagstad and Varnay and dramatic coloratura sopranos such as Sutherland and Callas. I also love dramatic coloratura mezzos such as Jamie Barton, Marilyn Horne and Ewa Podles.


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## Dili (Jun 19, 2014)

Contraltos. The deep, dark chest voices, and I am a great fan of the Russian tradition - Galina Baranova for example.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Dili said:


> Contraltos. The deep, dark chest voices, and I am a great fan of the Russian tradition - Galina Baranova for example.


I just checked her out. Outta sight, man! Could she even sing traditional contralto material? I doubt if she could sing above the tenor range.


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## Dili (Jun 19, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I just checked her out. Outta sight, man! Could she even sing traditional contralto material? I doubt if she could sing above the tenor range.


She was incredible! There is something incredible and unique that her voice brought into the words of the sad Russian romances ...


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## Elvira0518 (Mar 1, 2021)

Basses and bass-baritones.


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