O lyrical singing It is known for singers of operas and sacred songs. He favors a more elongated vocal tract (space between the vocal folds and the lips) and uses higher pitches (arrangement of notes to accommodate a given voice or a given instrument).
It’s the kind of singing that needs great vocal power; the voice must reach the entire audience and without using a microphone. Even if he is next to a symphony or philharmonic orchestra.
Within lyrical singing, voice classifications are divided into: tenor, baritone and bass (male), soprano, mezzo and alto (female).
These differences can vary by intensity, vocal amplitude, timbre, volume and some notes.
For men, tenor, baritone and bass, with tenor being the highest voice and bass being the most serious, and for women the vocal classifications are: soprano, mezzo and contralto and there are still subdivisions or extensions.
In order to study lyrical singing and be a singer, one must understand, first of all, that it is necessary to have power in the voice and that it will be required much more than for a popular singer. Finding a specialized place with good teachers is fundamental, if it is worked incorrectly, the voice can be harmed. Since lyrical singing requires long training, mastery of vocal projection and quality rich in harmonics.
Understanding where your vocal classification fits is also essential, as there are musical intentions that are created for a specific type of voice and this must be respected.
male voices
light tenor – Brilliant voice, which easily emits high notes, or in Mozart and Rossini operas, for example, light and smooth voice. Example: Almaviva, from ‘The Barber of Serville’, by Rossini and Tamino, in Die Zauberflöte/The Magic Flute, by Mozart.
Lyric tenor – Type of voice very close to the previous one, brighter in the highs and even fuller in the middle register and more timbre. Example: Luciano Pavarotti in the famous aria ‘La Donna è Mobile’, from Verdi’s opera Rigoletto.
dramatic tenor (Spinto) – Compared to the previous one, brighter and even fuller in the middle register. Able to handle dramatic climaxes at moderate intervals without wear and tear, and generally with a darker, more metallic timbre than lyrical tenors. Example: Tannhäuser, protagonist of the eponymous opera by Wagner.
Baritone “Martin” or French Baritone – Clear and flexible voice, close to tenor voice. Example: Pelléas, in the opera Pelléas et Mélisande, by Debussy.
bass baritone – More comfortable in the bass and capable of dramatic effects. Example: Wotan, in ‘Die Walküre/The Valkyrie’, by Wagner.
Bass singer – Voice close to baritone, more naturally lyrical than dramatic. Example: Boris Godunov, protagonist of the opera of the same name, by Mussorgski, composed between 1868 and 1873.
Countertenor – Very high-pitched male voice, which equals or even surpasses that of a contralto in length (Feminine Low Voice). Much appreciated before 1800, this is the voice of the main characters of the old French opera (Lully, Campra, Rameau), of a part of the Italian operas, of the contralto of the cantatas of Bach, etc. Example of the Leader of the Argonauts aria from the opera Giasone by Francesco Cavalli, composed in 1649.
deep bass – Voice of great extension to amplitude in the low register. Example: Sarastro in Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’.
female voices
O absolute character soprano (Brazilian Portuguese) is the type that has great extension and ease of interpretation of the entire repertoire for soprano and some mezzosoprano roles. The most famous example was Maria Callas, who sang from the leggero soprano repertoire to mezzosoprano and alto roles.
Generally, sopranos who venture into this category are mature lyrical and lyric-spinto sopranos with years of stage experience.
Callas had an enormous and very wide timbre, even from the beginning of her career, which allowed her to change the color of the timbre in different nuances that the interpretation required, in addition to its incredible extension. The usual range of an absolute soprano is approximately three octaves from G3-E6.
Coloratura Soprano or Light Soprano – the term coloratura originally meant “virtuosity” and was applied to all voices. Today, it applies to a type of soprano endowed with great extension in the high register, capable of fast and brilliant effects. Example: the character Queen of the Night, in the famous aria ‘Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen’ (Hell’s revenge boils in my heart) from the Opera ‘The Magic Flute’, by Mozart, composed in 1791.
The dramatic demands of the context add difficulty to the performance, making the role accessible only to highly qualified voices.
lyric soprano – Brilliant and extensive voice. Example: Marguerite, in the opera Faust, by Gounod.
dramatic soprano – It is the female voice that, in addition to its soprano range, can emit sonorous and dark bass. It is rare and usually plays mythical heroines. Example: Isolde, in ‘Tristan and Isolde’, by Wagner.
Spiked Soprano – It is the type of lyrical voice characterized by the ability to do spinto (from the Italian spingere, “to push”). It has vocal color and weight to sing dramatic passages without weariness, despite not having the typical characteristics of the dramatic soprano, and is normally associated with the lyric-spinto tenor. The term essentially defines the lyric soprano who sings most powerfully in dramatic climaxes.
Mezzo soprano – Intermediate voice between soprano and alto. She can be both lyrical and dramatic. lyrical: are the brightest and most acute vocal mezzos, even occupying the roles of sopranos in some cases. They also play boys and young men, usually in matching clothing. Lyrical mezzos have flexible voices and a great vocal range.
dramatic: mezzos with broad voices and coloration similar to that of the dramatic soprano. They usually play mature and/or seductive or villainous women. Although they rarely appear in baroque or classical opera, dramatic mezzo voices gained wide application from the 19th century onwards. The famous aria ‘Habanera’ from Bizet’s Opera Carmen requires this type of voice.
Contralto – Often abbreviated to alto, the alto voice extends the middle register towards the bass, thanks to the “chest” register. Example: Ortrude, in Wagner’s opera Lohengrin.
The Castrati
A castrato is a voice similar to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto, although it is produced by a male. This type was produced by castration of singers before they reached puberty, so that hormonal action was eventually reduced — although, in some cases, endocrinological problems naturally limited the maturation of the singer.
Castration of preadolescents greatly declined by the end of the 18th century, becoming illegal in Italy in 1870. Only a single recording of a castrato has survived to this day. In the video below, Alessandro Moreschi interprets “Ave Maria”, in a record of 1902 — so that the poor quality must be reassessed, of course. Moreschi is considered as the “Last of the castrati”.
It is worth emphasizing, however, that the voice of castrati differs from that obtained by male vocals through the technique known as “falsetto” — in which the tone produced is above the singer’s natural region, being produced by muscles of the larynx. A castrato was, effectively, a singer whose vocal chords did not mature, so his pitch was naturally higher.
Italian Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi became known as Farinelli, legendary Castrati, the most popular and highly paid opera singer in 18th century Europe.
In 1994, his life came to the screen in the Belgian film ‘Farinelli’, nominated for an Oscar for Foreign Language Film. Actor Stefano Dionisi played him, while his voice was achieved by mixing the voices of soprano Ewa Malas-Godlewska and countertenor Derek Lee Ragin. Only in the song ‘Lascia Ch’io Pianga, the voice is solely from the soprano.
(Source: L’Occitane Theater | Megacurious)