Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 9 La Traviata

L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O 14 | February 16 - March 22, 2019 As a Matter of Fach … Exploring voice types in opera and pop music By Grace Coberly W e can’t all sing like Beyoncé. at’s not to say we shouldn’t try! After all, there’s no better 2000s throwback than “Single Ladies,” and no better song to belt in the shower than “Love on Top.” However, no two singers sound exactly alike, as every voice has its own traits that make it unique. Beyoncé, for example, is pop music’s idea of a dramatic mezzo-soprano; her voice lies near the top of the human singing range and is more powerful than most. If she sang opera, she’d probably be a spectacular Carmen – even better than the Carmen she played on MTV! But can a pop star really use the same label as an opera singer? What goes into a vocal classification? If you’ve ever sung in a choir, you’re familiar with the four traditional vocal categories: from highest to lowest – soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Many choirs and choral works also include mezzo-soprano (between soprano and alto) and baritone (between tenor and bass). ese six categories, developed in Europe, are commonly used to classify the voices of Western singers, regardless of a singer’s preferred genre. All baritones, whether they sing show tunes, opera, jazz, pop, or 16th-century madrigals, tend to have similar ranges. However, they differ drastically in their vocal weight, color, and tessitura – the area of the voice where a piece of music generally “sits.” In the late 19th century, Germans invented the Fach system (the word means “compartment” or “subject of study”) to help differentiate between specific vocal categories. Since then, opera singers internationally have classified themselves by Fach , from soprano leggero (more commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as “coloratura soprano,” the highest soprano classification) to basso profondo (the lowest bass). While pop singers may not employ the same terminology to describe their vocal abilities, the same categories can be applied with just a little attentive listening. In pop music, the tenor voice is probably the most common vocal classification. In opera, the Fach system divides tenors into five subcategories, from lyric to dramatic. Lyric tenors have a clear, light, soaring sound and usually play romantic parts, such as the male leads in two operas at Lyric this season, Rodolfo in La bohème and Alfredo in La traviata . is Fach is easily found in pop, especially in music from the ’60s and ’70s: Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Simon and Garfunkel are all lyric tenors. Conversely, dramatic tenors are relatively uncommon in pop music (perhaps the best example in recent decades has been the late Freddie Mercury of Queen). Tenors are generally thought to be dramatic if their voices can sail out strongly over a very full orchestra, and if they boast a strong lower foundation for more vehement, heavily declamatory music. ese voices are emotive and powerful, and are often cast as opera’s most formidable heroes. One of the smaller subcategories is the spinto tenor (from the Italian verb spingere , meaning “to push”), exemplified in roles like Manrico in Il trovatore . ese singers fit snugly between lyric and dramatic tenors and can generally sing both types of roles. A spinto’s bright, often metallic upper range is reminiscent of a pop tenor’s belt range, particularly in an artist like Michael Jackson or Justin Timberlake. Surprisingly, both Jackson and Timberlake occasionally slip into a countertenor sound, in what is essentially alto range – that is, a falsetto reinforced by strong projection (Frankie Valli’s lead in “Sherry” is a TODD ROSENBERG DAN REST CORY WEAVER TODD ROSENBERG TODD ROSENBERG Five different types of sopranos in Lyric productions (left to right): Marie-Eve Munger (coloratura) as the Fairy Godmother in Cendrillon ; Amber Wagner (dramatic) in the title role of Turandot ; Tatiana Serjan (dramatic coloratura) as Abigaille in Nabucco; Sondra Radvanovsky (spinto) as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera ; and Ana María Martínez (lyric) as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin .