Friday, October 24, 2008

Well, now I don't know what the heck I am

What the Fach?! No, I did not just swear. Geez, people.

From Wikipedia:

The German Fach (pl. Fächer, literally "compartment") ([ˈfɛçəɐ]) system is a method of classifying singers, primarily opera singers, by the range, weight, and color of their voices. It is primarily used in Europe, especially in German-speaking countries and in repertory opera houses.

I was looking at this today, during one of my "really bored" moments. I have said for quite awhile that I am a Lyric Mezzo Soprano. But after reading the following, I'm not so sure:

Mezzo-soprano and Contralto Fächer
Koloratur-Mezzosopran


English equivalent: Coloratura mezzo-soprano
Range: From about the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C

Description: Found especially in Rossini's operas, these roles were written originally for altos with agility and secure top notes. Today they are often played by mezzo-sopranos and sometimes even by sopranos. At times a lyric or full lyric soprano with a flexible voice will assume the roles as written while a true coloratura soprano will sing the same music transposed upwardly to a higher key.

Roles:
Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia (Gioacchino Rossini)
Angelina La Cenerentola (Gioacchino Rossini)
Romeo I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Vincenzo Bellini)
Orsini Lucrezia Borgia (Gaetano Donizetti)

Okay...that's close. My range is a bit wider than that. (C below middle C to D flat above High C...just over 3 octaves). I like singing Rossini. Una voce poco fa is actually the only aria I have completely memorized. (I'm lazy.) So, then I look further down and see this:

Lyrischer Mezzosopran / Spielalt

Range: From about the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C
English equivalent: Lyric mezzo-soprano

Description: a lyric soprano's instrument in a lower range; the resulting sound is less piercing, more lachrymose and kind of sensitive. The voices are so similar in fact that many lyric mezzos with strong extensions to their upper vocal registers make the transition to singing as sopranos at some point in their careers.

Roles:
Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
Octavian Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss)
The Composer Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss)
Arianna Arianna (Claudio Monteverdi)
Dorabella Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
Carmen Carmen (Georges Bizet)
Dido Dido and Aeneas (Henry Purcell)

That's closer, and that's Lyric Mezzo. I can sing Dorabella & Carmen. But then, I looked further down and saw this:

Dramatischer Mezzosopran

English equivalent: Dramatic mezzo-soprano
Range: From about the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C

Description: Dramatic mezzo-sopranos have ranges very similar to a dramatic soprano. The main difference is the endurance and ease in which the two voice-types sing - a mezzo will concentrate singing most of the time in her middle and low registers and will go up to notes like high B-flat only at the dramatic climax. Consequently, many dramatic mezzo-sopranos have success in singing some dramatic sopranos roles that are written with a lower tessitura.

Roles:
The Sorceress, Dido and Aeneas (Henry Purcell)
Dalila, Samson et Dalila (Camille Saint-Saëns)
Amneris, Aida (Giuseppe Verdi)
Eboli, Don Carlo (Giuseppe Verdi)
Azucena, Il trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi)
Ortrud, Lohengrin (Richard Wagner)
Fricka, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre (Richard Wagner)

Umm...that's more me. I don't sing high consistantly, but I have a high B that comes out of NOWHERE. It's crazy. I don't think I'm technically a Dramatic, because my voice isn't that heavy.

Crap, I don't know what I am. I think I'm going to stick with Lyric Mezzo. It's not like I'll be singing at the Met any time soon...or ever. LOL!

1 comment:

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