# Male or female?



## Lisztfreak

Which voices do you generally prefer, male or female? Do you like higher or deeper voices (within the 'gender category') better?


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## Rondo

For me, it depends on the overall mood of the song. For instance, the male baritone at the start of the "Ode to Joy" in Beethoven's Ninth and Mahler's _Des Knaben Wunderhorn_ are really good. For females, ones which readily come to mind are Mahler's 2nd and 3rd, and Solveig's Song from _Peer Gynt_.


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## david johnson

just so the perform on the 'simple' side, i'm happy.

dj


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## Guest

For solos male, it hard for me to listen to a female voice up in the high registers. On the other hand i do prefer female voices in a choral song, an angelic, full yet subtle sound, if that makes sense.


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## Lisztfreak

Do men generally prefer female voices and vice versa or is it the opposite?

I usually find men's voices easier to listen to, perhaps more pleasant on long terms, but I couldn't say they are more expressive. Both the tenor in Berlioz's Requiem and the soprano in the closing of 'Lucia di Lammermoor' are expressive. So is Fischer-Dieskau singing lieder and Renée Fleming in Händel's airs. It's hard to decide. I guess it's much more in the music itself than in the singer.

As for ranges, my favourite are tenor for men and alto (or mezzosoprano) for women.


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## Handel

I like mezzo-soprano's voice for women and baritone/bass for men.


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## Krummhorn

Favorite voices for listening are Tenor (male) and Contralto.
I had a female tenor in my choir years ago - I must say that is was a pleasing tone. Her range was equal to the male counterpart.


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## Guest

Lisztfreak said:


> Do men generally prefer female voices and vice versa or is it the opposite?


This is interesting, very loosely I generally prefer Sopranos whereas my my Wife prefers Tenor or Bass, this is with out any visual input.


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## Amy

That is interesting, as I generally prefer the tone of male voices, and usually look for all male choirs when buying choral works. However this is sometimes not appropriate, especially for bigger works like Carmina Burana, which I think need sopranos rather than trebles for strength.


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## Saturnus

Sopranos and counter-tenors I like the best, but I can't choose between them in order to answer your first question.


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## zlya

I sang in a choir with an Italian Bass. Ok, he was Swiss-Italian, but every time he opened his mouth, half the soprano section swooned. (Rather prone to swooning, those sopranos). 

I'm glad you appreciate lady tenors, Krummhorn. I had one choir director tell me that I was just a lazy alto, and if I worked on it I could "fix" my range. I'm quite proud of my low C, and I don't think it needs a bit of fixing. Besides, it was great fun smashing the A above middle C while the other tenors (male) turned purple.


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## Edward Elgar

I have to say male solo, but I prefer a female section.

The recording I've got of Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony; the baritone is awsome, but when the soprano comes in it's just anoying!


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## Azathoth

I prefer mid-baritone to alto.

The extremes just annoy me.


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## Edward Elgar

Azathoth said:


> I prefer mid-baritone to alto.
> 
> The extremes just annoy me.


That seems to be the opinion in popular music, I'll challange you to find a pop artist (excluding Barry White) with an extreme range.


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## Saturnus

Freddie Mercury
Bobby McFerrin


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## fox_druid

I'm male and i love the warm voice of tenor, but i prefer songs for soprano,... but which do i like better depend on the song... 
i love baroque song with almost-impossible-to-perform melismas... it always trills my mind  I love to hear countertenor sings vivaldi or handel, and tenor sings Bach, and sometimes soprano on particular pieces. So i conclude that i like countertenor or sopranist (male soprano), err.. does it make sense?


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## Ephemerid

Lisztfreak said:


> Which voices do you generally prefer, male or female? Do you like higher or deeper voices (within the 'gender category') better?


I think I prefer them in precisely this order: tenor, soprano, bass, alto.

I do agree with Fox Druid also as far as liking the sound of the countertenor as well (when I occasionally get to hear one).

~josh


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## Tré

I'm a fan of boys choirs.

(i.e. the Holland Boy's Choir)


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## shorteybear

Hmm, i never thought about it, really. I wouldnt say I have any preferences as of now (that is, maybe i do, but I have not realized it yet). 

Certain melodies, themes, etc. call for certain different tones and voices. Moreover, I think one's mood or personal state of being calls for different tones and melodies. So, i find this question rather hard to answer...


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## Guest

This thread has been going for quite a while now so I will put another 50 cents worth, I love all choral music, but as a group within a choir I go for Sopranos, the vocal power that they can generate is fantastic and they also look good. 
*As an aside,* do any of you remember the Red Army Ensemble of the 60s such wonderful male singers Bass, Tenor, Alto. They toured the world when we were all scared of the Red Menace during the cold war and not to forget the wonderful Welsh Male Voice Choirs. Ah sweet memories.


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## marie

I like boys' choir best It feels most naturally comfortable to me. Among female voices, I like soprano. But I sometimes feel that I need extra energy to listen to it. Among adult males, I love tenor. But I don't know if I prefer male voices to female voices or vice versa. It's an interesting question, but I don't think that I myself have really thought of my preference in that way. So I don't know yet.


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## Yagan Kiely

If it is a good singer, I prefer soprano.
Out of males I rpefer tenor.


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## Lisztfreak

Those who think sopranos are annoying, try Chausson's *Poeme de l'amour et de la mer.*
Those, on the other hand, who find tenors sly, try Britten's *Les Illuminations.*

My favourite works for those two types of voices. They really show the abilities and expressiveness of human voice.


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## themusicman

Excuse the genres, but Steve Perry and Matthew Ward


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## themusicman

Excuse the genres, but Steve Perry and Matthew Ward


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## Guest

That's a bad stutter themusicman, lol


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## Lisztfreak

I may be a sexist, but I'd never even think of buying a recording of, for example, Schubert's lieder sung by a woman. I've heard such versions, but those songs are somehow just not made for a female voice.
Same goes for Les Illuminations (they can be sung by a soprano, too - but no, thank you!)


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## jhar26

Edward Elgar said:


> I'll challange you to find a pop artist (excluding Barry White) with an extreme range.


Jimmy Summerville.


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## jhar26

I like all voice types but I adore sopranos.


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## Atabey

Mezzo-sopranos...Mahler songs with Christa Ludwig (or Janet Baker)...Heavenly!


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## karenpat

I think I like male and female voices equally... As I've already mentioned in other threads I listen to countertenors a lot, so I'm partial to high male voices.. as for female voices I prefer the mezzo soprano voice to the higher soprano (which sometimes seems to squeaky for me).


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## Gneiss

Lisztfreak said:


> Which voices do you generally prefer, male or female? Do you like higher or deeper voices (within the 'gender category') better?


No matter what genre I prefer the female soprano voice to any other. Yes I prefer tenor to bass singers.

But really don't like the use of falsetto...


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## Kuhlau

I'm most drawn to soprano and mezzo-soprano voices. But then, I grew up with the music of Kate Bush. 

FK


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## ecg_fa

Overall I prefer female voices, esp. soprano & mezzo-- but I also like male voices too.

Ed


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## World Violist

I love the female contralto voice (Kathleen Ferrier made me write that, by the way). Among the mens' voices, I like baritone/tenor a lot, but contralto wins out by quite the fair margin.


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## Kuhlau

Counter-tenor is another favourite of mine.

FK


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## Guest

How about Emma Kirkby? she has to be one of the best.


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## Kuhlau

Well said, sir. I fully concur. 

FK


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## Guest

Kuhlau said:


> Well said, sir. I fully concur.
> 
> FK


I did mean Soprano and not counter- tenor,


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## Kuhlau

Naturally. Counter-tenor would be, say, James Bowman. 

FK


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## Guest

My preference would be David Daniels


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## musicican

It depends on the work, for example, in the opera a soprano has usually the most interesting melody.
However, I think listening to the mezzo or alto is more pleasant to listen to, because it is not that high.
Contraalto is also an interesting voice. I prefer: mezzo and bass, but I also like some sopranos and tenors.





I can't stand countertenors, because they do not sound as males.
However, in a choir you need all four voices (SATB).


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## JamesBond

karenpat said:


> I think I like male and female voices equally...


This ))))


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## OboeKnight

I love me some soprano 

I just really love the ear splitting pitches of soprano voices and always have lol. It depends on the situation though, I like male voices too.


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## ptr

...and I've always had a predilection for Mezzos and especially Altos, sopranos and male voices are just extras to fill out the stage... 
Kathleen Ferrier singing _Das Lied_ still makes me feel elated!

/ptr


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## SiegendesLicht

I love a good tenor or bass. They also usually sing much clearer than the female voices. The latter often distort their text to the point of being unintelligible, and I like to hear the words of what is being sung clearly.


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## JCarmel

I'm glad to hear that you've finally come to a decision?!!....

No seriously....I like any voice, so long as it's a good one. But if push came to shove...and it would have to be a hefty shove, 
I'd choose a baritone and/or a mezzo...
for the xtra-Mellow.


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## Ingélou

Andante said:


> How about Emma Kirkby? she has to be one of the best.


Coming in September to do a concert with Norwich Baroque, our local ensemble, in Norwich Cathedral... can't wait!

Generally I prefer female voices to male - probably mezzo-soprano - but of course it depends on the quality of the singer and his/her voice.


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## Taggart

Ingenue said:


> Generally I prefer female voices to male - probably mezzo-soprano - but of course it depends on the quality of the singer and his/her voice.


Quite agree, when you hear somebody like Jantina Noorman with Musica Reservata it raises the hair on the back of the neck.


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## deggial

much as I enjoy all voice types, I'm defenseless before a dark, expressive mezzo voice...


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## Guest

Lisztfreak said:


> Which voices do you generally prefer, male or female? Do you like higher or deeper voices (within the 'gender category') better?


I really have no gender preference. Just not too much vibrato, please, if at all possible!


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Also no gender preference, or even range style- just good voices.


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## JamesBond

deggial said:


> much as I enjoy all voice types, I'm defenseless before a dark, expressive mezzo voice...


This is my thought exactly


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## MagneticGhost

Edward Elgar said:


> That seems to be the opinion in popular music, I'll challange you to find a pop artist (excluding Barry White) with an extreme range.


Kate Bush.

I find that in Pop music I prefer a male voice.
In Classical I think the female voice shades it. 
In both genres - I'm not exclusive.


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## trajcep

When solo I prefer male, high and deep. When in choir - female.


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## AClockworkOrange

At first I strongly preferred female vocalists, mainly due to the singers I had been exposed to.

Now however, my view has become somewhat more balanced. I do prefer female vocals but the margin has narrowed. This is particularly thanks to discovering Thomas Quasthoff, Peter Schrier, Jonas Kaufmann, Hans Hotter and of course Brynn Terfel.

Montserrat Caballe and Kirsten Flagstad aside, my preference for female vocals has been boosted by lieder, particularly performances by Brigitte Fassbaender, Christa Ludwig, Ann Sofie Von Otter, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf as well as the aforementioned Kirsten Flagstad. Lucia Popp and Diana Damrau both as Queen of the Night also swayed me I must admit.

The comment on lieder is applicable to male singers too. My knowledge of Opera is quite limited at present as I have only really had chance to listen to a couple of operas. I would say may preference is 60 - 40 in favour of female at present.


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## Yardrax

Honestly, I think it depends on the work I'm listening to, and what voice type suits it, rather than any particular absolute preference for a certain voice type.


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## hello

I agree sort of with Rondo, etc. It depends. If it's a talk-singing deal, I prefer male voice. If it's operatic, I prefer female. I don't like operatic vocals in the lower pitches.


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## Aquos

My favorite voice is the alto in women; in men I prefer tenor.


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## TheBlackCat

In general I prefer female voice. Soprano and mezzo-soprano voices for female and baritone for male sound the best to me.


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## MrCello

Nothing beats a good bass.


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## EllenBurgess

mainly i prefer female voices as they are so sweet and i mainly love tune voice


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## Taggart

MrCello said:


> Nothing beats a good bass.


Pan fried? too short ??


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## Guest

EllenBurgess said:


> mainly i prefer female voices as they are so sweet and i mainly love tune voice


Hello Ellen what is a 'tune' voice?


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## oogabooha

The most gravely, deep bass voice  u.u


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## Neo Romanza

The female voice for me all the way, especially a mezzo-soprano.


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## Selby

Lisztfreak said:


> I may be a sexist, but I'd never even think of buying a recording of, for example, Schubert's lieder sung by a woman. I've heard such versions, but those songs are somehow just not made for a female voice.
> Same goes for Les Illuminations (they can be sung by a soprano, too - but no, thank you!)


Does this strike you?


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## jrmcmichael

female... whether its Anna Netrebko, Cecilia Bartoli, or Katherine Jenkins... I prefer it to be a female voice...


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## AClockworkOrange

I strongly prefer female vocalists.

Whether in opera or lieder, it is the female whom stands out. Having said that, I couldn't single out a specific range - it deep nd on the piece and the singer. It is an even split at present.

For example, in lieder, I especially love Brigitte Fassbaender's Winterreise and Schwanengesang. The only male vocalist to come close is Thomas Quasthoff but even he pales in comparison. There seems _to me_, to be much more communicated in her delivery and I prefer her phrasing and intonation.

I discovered an interest classical/operatic singers through a female vocalist so I may be biased but my first exposure was most likely the Three Tenors or at least Pavarotti.

Montserrat Caballe and Kirsten Flagstad drew me in and led me to discovering Brigitte Fassbaender, Christa Ludwig, Victoria De Los Angeles, Birgit Nilsson, Maria Callas and Elisabeth Scwarzekopf to name favourites.

Whilst I have found a few male vocalists who truly impress me, with the exception of Thomas Quasthoff, Bryn Terfel and most recently Joas Kaufmann (thanks to his Wagner album), male vocalists are stumbled upon rather than specifically sought out. This is not to say I don't value or respect males vocalists highly, I simply prefer female vocalists in classical - personal taste for better or worse.

Who knows, this time next year my opinion may change (unlikely but not impossible) but for now, I prefer female vocalists by quite a margin.


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## brotagonist

I can't abide shrieking sopranos for long, but vocal music is a marginal interest. What little I have collected is pretty evenly split, but favours the sopranos.

I couldn't imagine Berg's _Altenberg Lieder_ or Schönberg's _Pierrot Lunaire_ sung by a man, while Mahler's _Des Knaben Wunderhorn_ and Schubert's _Winterreise_ sound best sung by a man.

The subject matter, the author of the texts, and whether the composer seems to be talking to the listeners tend to determine the voice, but surprises make exceptional recordings.


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## Bix

karenpat said:


> I think I like male and female voices equally


I'm the same, I like a whole range of voices. It all depends on what mood I'm in, what I feel like listening to etc. I'm a tenor myself who used to be able to go into the counter range easily, but in 2007 I had a stoke and it effected my abilities - I'm still a good singer but have lost confidence and am out of practice so I find my range being just tenor  I can still sing at least, not so good on the piano any more.


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## korenbloem

I cant chose. It all depands on how it is song and what the purpose is. For example: I love the tenor singing of wagner's Tristan. But Fisher-Dieskau in winterreise, who sings as a baritone :angel:. But can anyone deny the beauty of Birgit Nilsson's her voice. Or Meredith Monk her voice, stunning.

I think the voice is just an other instrument. And it is the composer that decides what he does with that instrument. And a female tenor has a different soundcolour as a male and visa versa. the preformar brings it. But it is the composer in my book how knows (or doenst knows) how to use a instrument in his composistion.


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## Bas

Bass, Counter Tenor or Alto for me. 
(Peter Kooij, Andreas Scholl or Philippe Jarousky and my favourite alto is Bernarda Fink)


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## musicphotogAnimal

Taggart said:


> Pan fried? too short ??


with heaps of butter.  Preferably fished out of a freshwater river, ice cold.

Vocal preference: male: tenor (the damned buggers got all the good parts; I was stuck as a bass/baritone  )
female: lyric coloratura soprano - the typical baroque soprano. (insert Natalie Dessay). 

What's really messing with my mind is "Placido Domingo" doing "baroque opera"




Having a real hard time comprehending this, but he does do a damned good job of the role he was assigned. He's one tenor that I respect considering the fact that even at his age, he wants to continue to challenge his operatic horizons. In fact if they release this on CD, it may be a version of *Tamerlano* I purchase.


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## Marcel

Bass, Countertenor and Mezzo in this sort.


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## brotagonist

This is an older thread. I am not certain that I ever responded 

My favourite female voice is the higher one, soprano. My favourite male voices are the deeper ones, but with a preference for the baritone over the bass.


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## SixFootScowl

I like all voices except I have a hard time with altos. I have lately been listening to a lot of mezzo-sopranos and really like that voice a lot. I favor female over male voice in general.


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## Figleaf

There are very few sopranos I can listen to happily, and that's a great shame because I' m missing out on a lot. I enjoy them in smallish doses before the high register starts to grate on my ear- and that's not the fault of the singer's voice or artistry, it's just me. Adelina Patti is the only lady singer I can happily listen to all day on a loop. That wonderful mellowness of tone! She doesn't really sound like anyone else.

I've always adored male voices extravagantly. You can't beat a really mellow, voluptuous baritone like Jean Lassalle or Anton van Rooy, or Gerard Souzay in his younger days. Basses have a rarity value for me as well as a great beauty, because it's relatively hard to find an excellent bass singer who has a bright, open sound and isn't woofy or growly. I'd give nearly anything to have had more recordings by Edouard de Reszke: I was a little put off by his intonation when I first heard him, but I went back to the records recently and thought that he had possibly the most beautiful voice of them all and amazing musicianship. Pol Plançon is of course the loveliest bass to have recorded in his prime, and I never tire of listening to his records, even if he does tend to make nearly every other singer sound like a bawling barbarian in comparison!

So I love baritones, but tend to dislike baritonal tenors- go figure! I think it's that Caruso-ish heavy style of voice production rather than the baritonal quality per se that annoys me. Perhaps it's the unusualness of the high pure (and definitely pre-verismo) heroic tenor voice that gives it such a moving and (to me at least!) erotically charged sound. I can't get enough of Augustarello Affre- thank goodness he recorded so much, some of it in his vocal prime- or Francisco Viñas. The tenor voice is of course uniquely suited to the role of ardent lover, which makes it hard for us ladies to resist such seductive singing as this: 




 That's Emile Scaramberg, ardent lover par excellence.

Then there's the fascinatingly sexless, choirboyish sound that some lyric tenors have- John McCormack being the best example I can think of- which is so moving in the expression of a certain chaste passion, for want of a better description, in lieder and songs of a sentimental nature:



 'Slip into my bosom' would certainly invite sniggers when sung by any earthier sounding voice, but John makes it sound noble and ethereal.

Then there are singers who defy categorisation, not for reasons of vocal range, but because they have freak voices, or very unusual timbre, or are very much sui generis as artists. Patti I have already mentioned. Francesco Tamagno is the ultimate example of an artist who it would be insulting to reduce to a mere voice type, because of the exceptional quality of his instrument, his genius as a tragedian, and a certain numinous aura that jumps off the grooves of the old records. Thomas Beecham wrote of Victor Maurel that he was as much like an ordinary baritone as a Hottentot is to a Chinaman, and although we might want to phrase that differently his point still stands. Nobody else could manage to find this kind of expressive nuance in music which is often sung in an elegant yet perfunctory way: 




What amazing colours are in that voice, ragged though it is. I suppose you could put Fyodor Chaliapin in the uncategorisable category too, though his roughness disturbs me.
So to sum up: it's male voices for me, overall!


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## nina foresti

Tenors first with me


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## TravisTouchdown

I need real and RAW emotion. For males, this means a lot of belting and screaming their guts out. Nothing interesting happens if you don't venture beyond A4, be it rock, nu-metal, AOR, soul, rnb, etc. If the world doesn't fall apart, and everything is f0ckd, then it isn't really music. That can only be done with a *tenor* in the classical classification system/choral classification. It has to be a full-bodied, dramatic voice.
On women, it is the contrary. The sopranos generally sound way too thin. I don't care if they can belt up to C6 or beyond. Doesn't sound good in my ears. *Prefer mezzo with lots of flavor*, I need them to be strong in D5-F5 with lotsa timbre. E.g Kelly Clarkson, but deeper is fine when they have a world class timbre, like Whitney or Allison Iraheta. Given a good, full belt, it's all about the timbre, really.
For opera, it has to be a female, and preferably soprano.
Now, this is timbre:


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## Hmmbug

I was worried for a second that this was a thread about Justin Bieber. That would be the stuff of nightmares.

Probably the male voice, to answer the question.


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## DiesIraeCX

It really depends for me, for Mahler's songs, I prefer a female singer. As far as opera arias go, I prefer the male voice.


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## Giordano

The quality of the voice. 

Not male or female. Not soprano or alto. Not tenor or baritone.


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## hpowders

Female, especially in Mozart arias and concert arias. Mozart had a love affair with the female voice.


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## Itullian

Female............


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## naturebug

I like both for different reasons and it depends on each voice whether I like them or not. Some women sopranos are far to screetchy to listen to comfortably, some men tenors are too nasally. A deep rich voice for men are pleasant as are women who have practiced control and range.


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## naturebug

I totally agree! It's all about the quality and timbre of the voice and not whether it is male or female. Also how expressive and how much control they have over the quality.


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## Bas

Excellent female over male, male over mediocre female.


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## Marschallin Blair

King Richard and I agree: _female_, now and evermore. _;D_


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## Woodduck

No preference, really. Any great singer with great technique and great artistry in the right music is the one I want to hear. I suppose basses get the least interesting music to sing - they're mostly villains, grandfathers and buffoons - but put on Pol Plancon and my favorite vocal range for the next five minutes will be bass.


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## hpowders

One of the rare operas where I actually prefer the male arias and scenes is Don Carlo by Verdi.


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## Pimlicopiano

It's rare for something written for a male voice to sound right when taken by a female voice. If there is a transposition up an octave then much of the interplay of the voice and accompaniement can be lost. Overall baritone, contralto, mezzo would be favorites. Less keen on tenors which can often sound strangulated (Peter Pears anyone?). The counter tenor repertoire is beautiful, but only a few can do it justice. It was written for set of powerful lungs on a fully grown castrati singer, and the modern falsetto version can be painfully thin at times, especially in the theatre.


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## Figleaf

Pimlicopiano said:


> It's rare for something written for a male voice to sound right when taken by a female voice. If there is a transposition up an octave then much of the interplay of the voice and accompaniement can be lost. Overall baritone, contralto, mezzo would be favorites. Less keen on tenors which can often sound strangulated (Peter Pears anyone?). The counter tenor repertoire is beautiful, but only a few can do it justice. It was written for set of powerful lungs on a fully grown castrati singer, and the modern falsetto version can be painfully thin at times, especially in the theatre.


It's a bit unfair to cite Peter Pears as representative of 'strangulated' tenors. You're not wrong, but he was pretty much sui generis. I like him usually, though I can see why some don't. Totally agree with you about counter tenors.


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## realdealblues

I guess I prefer Male voices in most cases. 

Mahler's Das Lied Von Der Erde for instance I much prefer the Tenor/Baritone combination. I find it much more balanced with the music. I like the female vocal parts in Symphonies 2-4, although other than Bernstein's dreadful idea of using a boy soprano, I've not heard a man sing them.

I love Samuel Ramey's voice and will listen to any opera he appears in, even if I'm not a fan of the opera. I really like his timbre. I find it so distinct and soothing.

There are certain Female aria's though that I love and obviously wouldn't sound right with a man singing the part. 

Maybe it's just that higher pitched sounds tend to fatigue the ear more over long periods.


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## Badinerie

When I was younger It was Tenors and Baritones all the way. As I got into my 30's the women just took over. I still love the male voice. Where I am right now though the females have the dominant position in my affections. Probably my age!


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## Phu Nguyen

I'd like male singing female voice lol
I mean the countertenor


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## Morimur

Generally speaking I prefer the male voice because I naturally identify with it.


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## hpowders

I prefer female voices. Females have more flexibility in what they can do with their voices. Coloratura? It isn't even close.

Mozart + Soprano = Heaven.


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## schigolch

Female.................................................................


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## MoonlightSonata

hpowders said:


> I prefer female voices. Females have more flexibility in what they can do with their voices. Coloratura? It isn't even close.
> 
> Mozart + Soprano = Heaven.


Mozart+just about anything=Heaven.


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## Manxfeeder

Personally, in classical music, I prefer the male voice, because I don't like wide vocal vibrato, and it seems like women tend to warble more than men.


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## BalalaikaBoy

Edward Elgar said:


> That seems to be the opinion in popular music, I'll challange you to find a pop artist (excluding Barry White) with an extreme range.


popular music is full of ridiculously high tenors (who sound like someone is squeezing their testicles)


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## Pugg

BalalaikaBoy said:


> popular music is full of ridiculously high tenors (who sound like someone is squeezing their testicles)


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## Dim7

BalalaikaBoy said:


> popular music is full of ridiculously high tenors (who sound like someone is squeezing their testicles)


And that's exactly the way I like it! Not a fan of classical countertenors though.


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## brotagonist

I'm biaural: I listen to both. I probably have more recordings of sopranos than of any other voice.


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## BalalaikaBoy

Pugg said:


>


LMAO! where did you get that emoticon? :lol:



Dim7 said:


> And that's exactly the way I like it! Not a fan of classical countertenors though.


ugh, I can't stand it. it's so wimpy and lacks the full bodied richness of a deeper voice. that's not to say I think men or male voices should all be super masculine and aggressive sounding, but I like voices which convey a natural, mature power and vocal elegance of which the pop industry is severely lacking (even though I do occasionally like pop music. as Seth Riggs said in his book on Speech Level Singing "that's not to say that all pop music is bad. some of it is wonderful, it's just that there has been less time to screen out the bad material" (paraphrased)).


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## Fagotterdammerung

Slightly in favor of women's voices. While I like both voice types in more dramatic settings, the female voice has a tendency to have an instrumental purity in some settings that's quite otherworldly ( shared by some trebles and countertenors ). The male voice always has some element of "this is a person singing" left in evidence.


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## Gaspard de la Nuit

I think the main purpose of selecting different voice types is what the piece calls for or in opera the characterization of the role, but if I just had to listen to the voice and nothing else I'd probably go with the darker, heavier, larger voices, so heavy mezzo-soprano/ contralto and basses.


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## Figleaf

Fagotterdammerung said:


> Slightly in favor of women's voices. While I like both voice types in more dramatic settings, the female voice has a tendency to have an instrumental purity in some settings that's quite otherworldly ( shared by some trebles and countertenors ). The male voice always has some element of "this is a person singing" left in evidence.


I think it's that very corporeal quality, ideally combined with an ethereal-ness (for example in some tenors' high notes) that makes the male voice exciting. I have no use for singers (always women) who sound like flutes!

Countertenors (who don't count as men for vocal purposes, though I don't doubt their offstage virility) always sound strained and breathy to me.


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## Sloe

Figleaf said:


> I think it's that very corporeal quality, ideally combined with an ethereal-ness (for example in some tenors' high notes) that makes the male voice exciting. I have no use for singers (always women) who sound like flutes!
> 
> Countertenors (who don't count as men for vocal purposes, though I don't doubt their offstage virility) always sound strained and breathy to me.


Can you give example of female singers who sound like flutes?
I am curious.


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## Marschallin Blair

Sloe said:


> Can you give example of female singers who sound like flutes?
> I am curious.


Dame Joan can get pretty flutey.


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## Sloe

Marschallin Blair said:


> Dame Joan can get pretty flutey.


I thought Joan Sutherland sounded like Joan Sutherland.


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## Figleaf

Sloe said:


> Can you give example of female singers who sound like flutes?
> I am curious.


Perhaps a flute is not the best comparison, I don't know- but I meant those kind of voices which sound disembodied and instrument-like. Joan Sutherland (thank you Marschallin!) is a very good example. Not the first or last of that race of cold-blooded coloratura sopranos-






^^ This is actually a pretty good performance but there's a lack of drama and of a certain human quality, which repels me somehow. Plus those high pitched staccati stabbing me in the ears are intolerable. Maybe a penny whistle rather than a flute. :devil:


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## Figleaf

Another excellent singer I can't stand to listen to, for similar reasons. You get the general idea!






Whereas a man can have an ethereal sound (on certain notes at least) yet still sound human and affecting:


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## Fagotterdammerung

Melba has a certain strange quality of very different registers I notice in some sopranos of the period. Tetrazzini had a similar thing going on, that sharp contrast between the lower range and the middle-upper ranges. 

I enjoy flute-like, but I think of that less in terms of opera and more in the sense of the vocal timbre one often hears in performances of Renaissance vocal works - the very "pure" tone. 

There was a Hungarian coloratura from early in the 20th century who had an incredibly agile coloratura and a very cold vocal timbre - she really stands out both from today and her fellow singers of her era, but I can't remember her name for the life of me!


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## Xaos

I would say that it depends on the music's era, baroque music is almost exclusively (and rightfully) dominated by high-pitch singer roles namely sopranos and cotratenors (castrati) and it couldn't be any other way because it just fits perfectly with it's style and feeling. Vivaldi was a master composing for female soprano parts creating this great eerie and profoundly emotional mood changing music taking advantage of the lyrism and agility cultivated by singers of those times; you just have to hear his operas or his oratory _Juditha Triumphans_.
But definetively the protaginists of modern opera verista are the powerful voiced dramatic tenors; no one can deny this after hearing _e lucevan le stelle _(_Tosca_) or _nessun dorma_ (_Turandot_) of Puccini (specially performed by Pavarotti); the profound efects those arias produce makes them unparalleled among the singed music of the XIXth and XXth centuries.
So resuming I prefer female (mostly soprano and mezzo-soprano) for music of high lyrism as baroque operas and male tenor for dramatic parts in modern opera like Puccini's and Verdi's.


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## Figleaf

Fagotterdammerung said:


> Melba has a certain strange quality of very different registers I notice in some sopranos of the period. Tetrazzini had a similar thing going on, that sharp contrast between the lower range and the middle-upper ranges.
> 
> I enjoy flute-like, but I think of that less in terms of opera and more in the sense of the vocal timbre one often hears in performances of Renaissance vocal works - the very "pure" tone.
> 
> There was a Hungarian coloratura from early in the 20th century who had an incredibly agile coloratura and a very cold vocal timbre - she really stands out both from today and her fellow singers of her era, but I can't remember her name for the life of me!


Just to be perverse and contrarian as always- I actually really like that contrast between chest and head voice (do I use those terms correctly?) which you find among female singers on early records- it's just that I prefer lower voices to Melba's or Sembrich's, and of course anyone singing with a bit more heart than they generally did.

I don't know who your Hungarian is, I'm afraid...


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## Sloe

Figleaf said:


> Perhaps a flute is not the best comparison, I don't know- but I meant those kind of voices which sound disembodied and instrument-like. Joan Sutherland (thank you Marschallin!) is a very good example. Not the first or last of that race of cold-blooded coloratura sopranos-
> 
> ^^ This is actually a pretty good performance but there's a lack of drama and of a certain human quality, which repels me somehow. Plus those high pitched staccati stabbing me in the ears are intolerable. Maybe a penny whistle rather than a flute. :devil:


She really sounds like a flute thank you.
Yes it was not so nice listening to. Strange then that I like listening to flutes.


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## k1hodgman

I have an awe for androgynous voices (countertenor, contralto), and a love for (dark) Soprano's and Basses.


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## jenspen

I like the silvery/pale gold sweet voiced high sopranos (Elly Emeling, Barbara Schlick for instance and the younger Australian soprano Sally Macliver). This seems to me to be the natural voice type for a woman (yeah, I'm an amateur soprano). And because of the repertoire they sing - oratorio, Lieder, Mozart-scaled operas.

I love all male voice types. We are spoiled for choice when it comes to excellent baritones but my greatest admiration is for the singing of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (really going out on a limb there ). I love a lot of tenor voices too. The young Pavorotti could sound like a silver trumpet. My current favourite might be Makoto Sakarada because of the Suzuki Bach series. Robin Blaze (in the same Sukuzi series) has revived my interest in the counter-tenor voice. And a talented boy soprano, (such as the one that made many solo appearances on the Harnoncournt/Leonhhardt cantata project) is an altogether different type of vocal delight. Because of the kind of music I love I find that many of my favourite singers are native German speakers.

With a few exceptions (Kathleen Ferrier is the only one that_ leaps _ to mind) I generally find the lower female voices too fruity, hooty, wobbly, throaty and blokey. I'd rather hear boy altos in Bach. I'm hoping to develop a taste for the contralto voice one day.

What I don't like is very large operatic voices that wobble. Worse, two very large wobbling voices attempting a duet.


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## Guest

jenspen said:


> [...] What I don't like is very large operatic voices that wobble. *Worse, two very large wobbling voices* attempting a duet.


Yes, that wobble (or let's call it vibrato over nearly a whole major second!!!!) is what drives me to drink!


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## MoonlightSonata

Observations from one who has almost no experience with opera:

I tend to like lighter soprano voices - ideally with quite a narrow vibrato, and the same sorts of mezzo voices. With altos, I like heavier, darker voices, with slightly more vibrato but still not too much.
Tenors I don't like most of the time. I don't know why, it's probably just that the timbre annoys me. Baritones I probably like the most often - as long as they're not shouty on the high notes or growly on the low ones. I don't like a lot of basses, but the ones I do like I like more than any of the other voices - rich, dark, but not rumbling or growling like a lot of them seem to.


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## Becca

jenspen said:


> I love all male voice types. We are spoiled for choice when it comes to excellent baritones but my greatest admiration is for the singing of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (really going out on a limb there ).


Another baritone who I really like is Herman Prey. The second act finale of the Ponelle Marriage of Figaro with Prey, D F-D, Te Kanawa & Freni is so fantastic, mostly because of those two baritones


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## jenspen

Becca said:


> Another baritone who I really like is Herman Prey. The second act finale of the Ponelle Marriage of Figaro with Prey, D F-D, Te Kanawa & Freni is so fantastic, mostly because of those two baritones


An absolutely marvellous production - amusing, moving at times and very light of touch (i.e. Mozartian). Prey is hilarious, what a good actor - "Cherubino alla vittoria!". And the only Cherubino who was boyish enough to seem plausible and not a bit icky.


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## Becca

jenspen said:


> An absolutely marvellous production - amusing, moving at times and very light of touch (i.e. Mozartian). Prey is hilarious, what a good actor - "Cherubino alla vittoria!". And the only Cherubino who was boyish enough to seem plausible and not a bit icky.


Now consider that a few years after this production, I was at Covent Garden to see the Cherubino in that production, Maria Ewing, singing Salome ... and ending up quite naked at the end of the dance.


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