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The German Fach (pl. Fächer, literally "compartment" or also "subject (of study)", here in the sense of "(vocal) specialization") (German pronunciation: [ˈfax, ˈfɛçɐ]) system is a method of classifying singers, primarily opera singers, according to the range, weight, and color of their voices. It is used world wide, but primarily in Europe, especially in German-speaking countries and by repertory opera houses.

The Fach system is a convenience for singers and opera houses. It prevents a singer from being asked to sing roles which he or she is incapable of performing. Opera companies keep lists of available singers by Fach so that when they are casting roles for an upcoming production, they do not inadvertently contact performers who would be inappropriate for the part.

Below is a list of Fächer, their ranges as written on sheet music, and roles generally considered to appropriate to each. When two names for the Fach are given, the first is in more common use today. Where possible, an English and/or Italian equivalent of each Fach is listed; however, not all Fächer have ready English or Italian equivalents. Note that some roles can be sung by more than one Fach and that many singers do not easily fit into a Fach: for instance some sopranos may sing both Koloratursopran and Dramatischer Koloratursopran roles. In addition, roles traditionally more difficult to cast may be given to a voice other than the traditional Fach. For instance, the "Queen of the Night" is more traditionally a dramatic coloratura role, but it is difficult to find a dramatic coloratura to sing it (particularly given the extreme range). Therefore, the role is often sung by a lyric coloratura.

[edit] Soprano Fächer

Lyrischer Koloratursopran / Koloratursoubrette[link]

• English equivalent: Coloratura soprano or Lyric Coloratura soprano
• Range: From about middle C to the F two-and-a-half octaves above middle C (F6)
• Description: Usually (but not always) a light soprano who has a high voice. Can often have small voices lacking the richness and resonance of a dramatic soprano. Must be able to do fast acrobatics with easy high notes. Many have extremely high ranges (with notes above the F of the "Queen of the Night"), but there are also singers in this Fach who do not regularly sing higher than the high E flat. Often, women who sing dramatic coloratura roles have the ability to cross over to the more lyric roles (and vice versa); for instance, Joan Sutherland, Diana Damrau (dramatic to lyric); Lucia Popp, and Natalie Dessay (lyric to dramatic).
• Roles:
  • Oscar, Un ballo in maschera (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Tytania, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Benjamin Britten)
  • Zerbinetta, Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss)
  • Olympia, Les contes d'Hoffman (Jacques Offenbach)
  • Adele, Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss Jr.)
  • Adina, L'elisir d'amore (Gaetano Donizetti)
  • Marie, La fille du régiment (Gaetano Donizetti)
  • Amina, La sonnambula (Vincenzo Bellini)
  • Amenaide, Tancredi (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Elvira, I puritani (Vincenzo Bellini)
  • Gilda, Rigoletto (Giuseppe Verdi)
• Singers:
  • Kathleen Battle
  • Laura Claycomb
  • Diana Damrau
  • Natalie Dessay
  • Elizabeth Futral
  • Sumi Jo
  • Nellie Melba
  • Lina Pagliughi
  • Lily Pons
  • Lucia Popp
  • Mado Robin
  • Erna Sack
  • Luciana Serra
  • Beverly Sills
  • Rita Streich
  • Sarah Coburn

Dramatischer Koloratursopran[link]

• English equivalent: Dramatic coloratura soprano
• Range: From about middle C to the F two-and-a-half octaves above middle C
• Description: The same as above, only with a more dramatic, rich voice. Often heavier and more lyrical than a Coloratura soprano. Must also be able to do fast vocal acrobatics and reach high notes, such as the F6 of the "Queen of the Night". Some of the best examples of this voice type are Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, and June Anderson. This is a very rare vocal fach, as thick vocal folds are needed to produce the large, dramatic notes, which usually lessens the flexibility and acrobatic abilities of the voice.
• Roles:
  • Donna Anna, Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • The Queen of the Night, Die Zauberflöte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Konstanze, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Rosalinda, Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss Jr.)
  • Semiramide, Semiramide (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Lucia, Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti)
  • Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Imogene, Il pirata (Vincenzo Bellini)
  • Norma, Norma (Vincenzo Bellini)
  • Leonora, Il trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Violetta, La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Maria, Maria Stuarda (Gaetano Donizetti)
  • Lady Macbeth, Macbeth (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Odabella, Attila (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Abigalle, Nabucco (Giuseppe Verdi)

One must not mistake the Mozartian dramatic coloratura soprano with the Italian dramatic coloratura soprano. A singer that sings Konstanze, Donna Anna or Fiordiligi can not necessarily sing the Italian dramatic coloratura parts, due to other vocal demands. Imogene, Leonora and Violetta requires a dramatic soprano voice and are most often sung by dramatic sopranos with an agile voice that can easily produce coloratura and high notes. Roles like Norma, Lady Macbeth, Odabella or Abigaille are good examples of Italian roles that are not necessarily a coloratura soprano (even though the score calls for coloratura singing), but a full bodied dramatic soprano with a voice that can handle extreme dramatic singing and that is flexible enough to sing coloratura. Giuseppe Verdi wrote many parts like this in his early years. The dramatic soprano Ghena Dimitrova are the perfect example of such a voice. She sang all these parts as well as the very heavy Italian dramatic repertoire. Maria Callas is yet another famous example, but hers was a voice of such flexibility that she could sing almost anything she wanted.

• Singers
  • June Anderson
  • Radmila Bakočević
  • Maria Callas
  • Cristina Deutekom
  • Edita Gruberová
  • Caterina Mancini
  • Nelly Miricioiu
  • Edda Moser
  • Joan Sutherland
  • Luisa Tetrazzini
  • Ghena Dimitrova
  • Alexandrina Pendatchanska

Deutsche Soubrette / Charaktersopran[link]

• English equivalent: Soubrette
• Range: From about middle C to the C two octaves above middle C
• Description: A beautiful, sweet light lyric voice usually capable of executing florid passages similarly to that of a coloratura. The range is usually intermediate between that of a coloratura and lyric soprano. Most sopranos start out as soubrettes, changing fach as the voice matures.
• Roles:
  • Blondchen, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Despina, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Zerlina, Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Ilia, Idomeneo (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Belinda, Dido and Aeneas (Henry Purcell)
  • Adele, Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss)
  • Sophie, Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss)
  • Ännchen, Der Freischütz (Carl Maria von Weber)
  • Laetitia, The Old Maid and the Thief (Gian Carlo Menotti)
• Singers:
  • Barbara Bonney
  • Elisabeth Schumann
  • Dawn Upshaw

Lyrischer Sopran[link]

• English equivalent: Full Lyric Soprano
• Range: From about B below middle C to the C two octaves above middle C
• Description: A more supple soprano, capable of legato, portamento, and some agility; generally has a more soulful and sensuous quality than a soubrette, who tends to be largely flirtatious and somewhat tweety. The voice is very common; thus the purity and character of the basic timbre is essential. It is the "basic" soprano voice which is at neither extremes of the soprano range of voices; it is not known for having particular vocal attributes such as power, stamina, technical prowess, or agility. However, there are several lyric sopranos that possess a quantity of many of these vocal attributes, thus allowing them to sing a broader variety of roles. Nevertheless, the core of the true fundamentally lyric voice does not encompass such traits. Innocence, vulnerability and pathos are usually conveyed in the music written for the characters portrayed by the lyric soprano because of this endearing simplicity. This fach is also famous because the voices usually remain especially fresh until advanced age.
• Roles:
  • Mimì, La bohème (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Magda, La rondine (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Liù, Turandot (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Pamina, Die Zauberflöte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Micaela, Carmen (Georges Bizet)
  • Marguerite, Faust (Charles Gounod)
  • Manon, Manon (Jules Massenet)
  • Antonia, Les contes d'Hoffmann (Jacques Offenbach)
  • La Contessa, Le nozze di Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Amelia Grimaldi, Simon Boccanegra (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Thaïs, Thaïs (Jules Massenet)
  • Rusalka, Rusalka (Antonín Dvořák)
  • Tatyana, Eugene Onegin (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)

• Singers:
  • Licia Albanese
  • Montserrat Caballé
  • Lisa della Casa
  • Victoria de los Ángeles
  • Emma Eames
  • Renée Fleming
  • Mirella Freni
  • Anna Netrebko
  • Tarja Turunen
  • Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
  • Renata Scotto
  • Kiri Te Kanawa
  • Anja Harteros

Jugendlich Dramatischer Sopran[link]

• English equivalent: Lyric dramatic soprano
• Range: From about A below middle C to the C two octaves above middle C
• Description: The Italian version of this fach is the spinto, which literally translated means pushed. However this is not accurate in terms of these singers' vocal production. A lyric dramatic soprano has a lyric instrument that can also create big sounds, cutting through an orchestral or choral climax. This voice is sometimes referred to as a "young" or "youthful" dramatic soprano although this term doesn't necessarily refer to the singer's age but rather to the tonal quality of the voice. This fach is more clearly delineated in the German system than in the American system. Depending on the singer, however, this voice type can be versatile, as it lies at neither extreme of the soprano spectrum. Spintos are occasionally able to take on lighter mezzo roles, or, conversely, lyric and even coloratura roles.
• Roles:
  • CioCio-san, Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Manon Lescaut, Manon Lescaut (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Suor Angelica, Suor Angelica (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Elizabeth de Valois, Don Carlo (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Leonora, La forza del destino (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Amelia, Un ballo in maschera (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Marschallin, Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss)
  • Elsa, Lohengrin (Richard Wagner)
  • Susannah, Susannah (Carlisle Floyd)
  • Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Magda Sorel, The Consul (Gian Carlo Menotti)
  • Aida, Aida (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Liza, The Queen of Spades (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
  • Floria Tosca, Tosca (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Marie/Marietta, Die tote Stadt (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
• Singers:
  • Michèle Crider
  • Barbara Frittoli
  • Gundula Janowitz
  • Karita Mattila
  • Aprile Millo
  • Adrianne Pieczonka
  • Leontyne Price
  • Renata Tebaldi

Dramatischer Sopran[link]

• English equivalent: Full dramatic soprano
• Range: From about the A below middle C to the C two octaves above middle C
• Description: Characterized by their rich, full sounding voices, dramatic sopranos are expected to project across large orchestras, a feat that requires a powerful sound. Dramatic sopranos are not expected to have the vocal flexibility of the lighter Fachs. Although most dramatic sopranos have a darker, more robust quality to the voice, there are some that possess a lighter lyrical tone. In these instances, however, the substantial amount of volume and endurance normally associated with the dramatic soprano voice is still present. The darker voiced dramatic soprano may even make a foray into the dramatic mezzo-soprano territory with great success.

• Roles:
  • Senta, Der fliegende Holländer (Richard Wagner)
  • Leonore, Fidelio (Ludwig van Beethoven)
  • Ariadne, Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss)
  • Gioconda, La Gioconda (Amilcare Ponchielli)
  • Santuzza, Cavalleria rusticana (Pietro Mascagni)
  • Salome, Salome (Richard Strauss) (high dramatic soprano)
  • Die Kaiserin, Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss) (high dramatic soprano)

The last two roles mentioned, Salome and Die Kaiserin, are respectively high dramatic sopranos and require that the soprano can endure long stretches of very high tessitura. Richard Strauss himself said that Salome should be sung by someone with the flexibility of a dramatic coloratura due to the high tessitura.

• Singers:
  • Hildegard Behrens
  • Helga Dernesch
  • Jane Eaglen
  • Andrea Gruber
  • Lotte Lehmann
  • Zinka Milanov
  • Leonie Rysanek
  • Elisabeth Rethberg
  • Rosa Ponselle
  • Deborah Voigt
  • Jessye Norman
  • Regine Crespin
  • Sylvia Sass
  • Eva Marton
  • Florence Austral
  • Germaine Lubin
  • Giannina Arangi-Lombardi
  • Gina Cigna
  • Nina Stemme

Hochdramatischer Sopran[link]

• English equivalent: Wagnerian soprano
• Range: From about the G below middle C to the C two octaves above middle C
• Description: A voice capable of answering the demands of operas of Wagner's maturity. Basically, a full dramatic soprano voice taken to the next dimension. The voice is substantial, very powerful, and even throughout the registers. It is immense, stentorian and even larger than the voice of the "normal" dramatic soprano. Although the two voices are comparable and are sometimes hard to distinguish between, this voice has even greater stamina, endurance and volume than the former. Successful hochdramatische are rare: only one or two appear in a generation.^{[citation needed]}

• Roles:
  • Turandot, Turandot (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Minnie, La fanciulla del West (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Elektra, Elektra (opera) (Richard Strauss)
  • Brünnhilde, Der Ring des Nibelungen (Richard Wagner)
  • Kundry, Parsifal (Richard Wagner)
  • Isolde, Tristan und Isolde (Richard Wagner)
  • Dyer's Wife, Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss)

• Singers:
  • Florence Austral
  • Inge Borkh
  • Ghena Dimitrova
  • Kirsten Flagstad
  • Johanna Gadski
  • Gertrude Grob-Prandl
  • Gwyneth Jones
  • Lilli Lehmann
  • Frida Leider
  • Birgit Nilsson
  • Lillian Nordica
  • Deborah Polaski
  • Helen Traubel
  • Eva Turner
  • Astrid Varnay

[edit] Mezzo-soprano and Contralto Fächer

Koloratur-Mezzosopran[link]

• 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 (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Angelina, La Cenerentola (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Romeo, I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Vincenzo Bellini)
  • Orsini, Lucrezia Borgia (Gaetano Donizetti)

• Singers:
  • Malena Ernman
  • Cecilia Bartoli
  • Teresa Berganza
  • Sonia Ganassi
  • Vivica Genaux
  • Conchita Supervía
  • Marilyn Horne
  • Vesselina Kasarova
  • Joyce DiDonato

Lyrischer Mezzosopran / Spielalt[link]

• 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 rather sensitive. The voices are similar, giving rise to the term 'short soprano' i.e. a soprano without the highest notes. In fact, 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)
  • Suzuki, Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Arianna, L'Arianna (Claudio Monteverdi)
  • Dorabella, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Carmen, Carmen (Georges Bizet)
  • Dido, Dido and Aeneas (Henry Purcell)
  • Sesto, La clemenza di Tito (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

• Singers:
  • Sarah Connolly
  • Janet Baker
  • Susan Graham
  • Risë Stevens
  • Anne Sofie von Otter
  • Frederica von Stade
  • Tatiana Troyanos

Dramatischer Mezzosopran[link]

• 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 soprano 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)

• Singers
  • Grace Bumbry
  • Shirley Verrett
  • Fiorenza Cossotto
  • Fedora Barbieri
  • Christa Ludwig
  • Giulietta Simionato
  • Ebe Stignani
  • Dolora Zajick
  • Denyce Graves
  • Stephanie Blythe
  • Waltraud Meier

Dramatischer Alt[link]

• English equivalent: Dramatic Contralto
• Range: From about the F below middle C to the F two octaves above
• Description: Stylistically similar to the dramatic mezzo, just lower. Sings usually around the break between the chest-voice and middle-voice. Many mezzos tried their luck in these roles, yet real altos fare better. A deep, penetrating low female voice. This is a very rare voice type with a darker, richer sound than that of a typical alto.
• Roles:
  • Erda, Der Ring des Nibelungen (Richard Wagner)
  • Ulrica, Un ballo in maschera (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Florence, Albert Herring (Benjamin Britten)
  • Olga, Eugene Onegin (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
  • Marfa, Khovanshchina (Modest Mussorgsky)
• Singers:
  • Marian Anderson
  • Lili Chookasian
  • Maria von Ilosvay
  • Sigrid Onegin
  • Ewa Podleś

Tiefer Alt[link]

• English equivalent: Low Contralto.
• Range: From about the E below middle C to the E two octaves above
• Description: A low female voice.
• Roles:
  • Gaea, Daphne (Richard Strauss)
  • Geneviève, Pelléas et Mélisande (Claude Debussy)
  • Die Kranke, Moses und Aron (Arnold Schoenberg)
• Singers:
  • Clara Butt
  • Kathleen Ferrier
  • Ernestine Schumann-Heink
  • Gisela Litz
  • Nathalie Stutzmann
  • Sara Mingardo

[edit] Tenor Fächer

Spieltenor / Tenor Buffo[link]

• English equivalent: (Lyric) comic tenor. It is quite possible for a young Spieltenor to eventually work into the lighter Lyrischertenor category; the deciding factor will be the beauty of voice.
• Range: From about low C to the B an octave above middle C (C to b')
• Roles:
  • Pedrillo, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Monostatos, Die Zauberflöte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • King Kaspar, Amahl and the Night Visitors (Gian Carlo Menotti)
  • Mime, Das Rheingold (Richard Wagner)
  • Monsieur Triquet, Eugene Onegin (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
• Singers:
  • Peter Klein

Charaktertenor[link]

• English equivalent: Character tenor. Must have good acting abilities.
• Range: From about the B below low C to the C an octave above middle C (B to c')
• Roles:
  • Mime, Siegfried (Richard Wagner)
  • Herod, Salome (Richard Strauss)
  • Aegisth, Elektra (Richard Strauss)
  • The Captain, Wozzeck (Alban Berg)
• Singers:
  • Peter Klein
  • Paul Kuen
  • Gerhard Stolze
  • Robert Tear

Lyrischer Tenor[link]

• English equivalent: Lyric tenor
• Range: From about low C to the C-F an octave above middle C (C to c')
• Roles:
  • Tamino, Die Zauberflöte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Belmonte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Rodolfo, La bohème (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Ferrando, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Almaviva, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Arturo, I puritani (Vincenzo Bellini)
  • Elvino, La sonnambula (Vincenzo Bellini)
  • Ramiro, La Cenerentola (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Nemorino, L'elisir d'amore (Gaetano Donizetti)
  • Alfredo, La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Il Duca, Rigoletto (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Faust, Faust (Charles-François Gounod)

• Singers:
  • Luigi Alva
  • Alfredo Kraus
  • Carlo Bergonzi
  • Jussi Björling
  • Lawrence Brownlee
  • Ian Bostridge
  • José Carreras
  • Anton Dermota
  • Giuseppe Di Stefano
  • Juan Diego Florez
  • Nicolai Gedda
  • Beniamino Gigli
  • Luciano Pavarotti
  • Jan Peerce
  • Fritz Wunderlich
  • Peter Schreier
  • Leopold Simoneau

Jugendlicher Heldentenor[link]

• English equivalent: Light dramatic tenor
• Range: From about low C to the C an octave above middle C (C to c')
• Description: A tenor with a dramatic extended upper range with the necessary brightness to come through the orchestra's texture.
• Roles:
  • Don José, Carmen (Georges Bizet)
  • Lohengrin, Lohengrin (Richard Wagner)
  • Siegmund, Die Walküre (Richard Wagner)
  • Radamès, Aida (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Manrico, Il trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Idomeneo, Idomeneo (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Calaf, Turandot (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Cavaradossi, Tosca (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Florestan, Fidelio (Ludwig van Beethoven)
  • Canio, Pagliacci (Ruggero Leoncavallo)
  • Don Alvaro La forza del destino(Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Max, Der Freischütz (Carl Maria von Weber)
  • Dick Johnson, La fanciulla del West (Giacomo Puccini)

• Singers:
  • Plácido Domingo
  • Antonio Cortis
  • Georges Thill
  • José Cura
  • Richard Tucker
  • Enrico Caruso
  • Giacomo Lauri-Volpi
  • Giovanni Martinelli
  • Franco Corelli
  • James King
  • Vyacheslav Polozov
  • Mario Del Monaco

Heldentenor[link]

• English equivalent: Heroic Tenor
• Range: From about the B below low C to the C above middle C (B to c¹)
• Description: A full dramatic tenor with baritonal facility in the middle range and the brightness necessary to pierce a thick orchestral texture.
• Roles:
  • Otello, Otello (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Siegfried, Der Ring des Nibelungen (Richard Wagner)
  • Parsifal, Parsifal (Richard Wagner)
  • Tristan, Tristan und Isolde (Richard Wagner)
  • Walther von Stolzing, Die Meistersinger (Richard Wagner)
• Singers:
  • Jean de Reszke
  • Francesco Tamagno
  • Ivan Yershov
  • Giuseppe Borgatti
  • Wolfgang Windgassen
  • Ben Heppner
  • Lauritz Melchior
  • James King
  • Jon Vickers
  • Ramon Vinay
  • Set Svanholm
  • Hans Hopf
  • Max Lorenz
  • Klaus Florian Vogt

[edit] Baritone Fächer

Lyrischer Bariton / Spielbariton[link]

• Italian: Baritono Lirico
• English equivalent: Lyric baritone
• Range: From about the B below low C to the G above middle C (B to g')
• Description: A sweet, mild sounding baritone voice, lacking harshness. Many lyric baritone roles call for some fioritura and coloratura, a beautiful line, as well as a charismatic presence.
• Roles:
  • Conte Almaviva, Le nozze di Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Guglielmo, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Marcello, La bohème (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Belcore, L'elisir d'amore (Gaetano Donizetti)
  • Dottore Malatesta, Don Pasquale (Gaetano Donizetti)
  • Papageno, Die Zauberflöte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Onegin, Eugene Onegin (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
  • Albert, Werther (Jules Massenet)
  • Billy Budd, Billy Budd (Benjamin Britten)
  • Figaro, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Silvio, I Pagliacci (Ruggero Leoncavallo)
• Singers:
  • Giuseppe De Luca
  • Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
  • Gerhard Hüsch
  • Hermann Prey
  • Simon Keenlyside
  • Nathan Gunn
  • Thomas Hampson

Kavalierbariton[link]

• Italian: Baritono Cantabile
• English equivalent: A metallic voice, that can sing both lyric and dramatic phrases, a manly noble baritonal color, with good looks. Not quite as powerful as the Verdi baritone or Charakterbariton, who is expected to have a powerful appearance on stage, perhaps muscular or physically large.
• Range: From about the A below low C to the G# above middle C (A to g#' )
• Description: Harsher, more pronounced than the Lyric baritone.
• Roles:
  • Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Germont, La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Ford, Falstaff (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Rodrigo de Posa, Don Carlo (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Enrico Lord Ashton, Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti)
  • Count, Capriccio (Richard Strauss) (Range: c-ab' - does not require A2-B2 part of range)^[1]
• Singers:
  • Dmitri Hvorostovsky
  • Rolando Panerai
  • Robert Merrill
  • Leo Nucci
  • Giorgio Zancanaro

Charakterbariton[link]

• Italian: Baritono Verdiano
• English equivalent: Verdi Baritone.
• Range: From about the A below low C to the G# above middle C (A to g#')
• Description: A voice particularly effective with passages in its higher reaches. A high tessitura vis-a-vis the range extremes.
• Roles:
  • Wozzeck, Wozzeck (Alban Berg)
  • Nabucco (title role) (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Rigoletto (title role) (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Il Conte di Luna, Il trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Renato, Un ballo in maschera (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Macbeth (title role) (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Escamillo, Carmen (Georges Bizet)
• Singers:
  • Mattia Battistini
  • Lawrence Tibbett
  • Pasquale Amato
  • Piero Cappuccilli
  • Aldo Protti
  • Sherrill Milnes
  • Ettore Bastianini
  • Renato Bruson
  • Tito Gobbi

Heldenbariton[link]

• Italian: Baritono Drammatico
• Range: From about the G below low C to the F# above middle C (G to f#')
• Description: Means 'heroic baritone'. In the German opera houses a true Heldenbariton is a prized possession: a singer with exciting power and an authoritative mature sound and production.
• Roles:
  • Telramund, Lohengrin (Richard Wagner)
  • Amonasro, Aida (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Iago, Otello (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Alfio, Cavalleria rusticana (Pietro Mascagni)
  • Jack Rance, La fanciulla del West (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Tonio, I Pagliacci (Ruggero Leoncavallo)
  • Michele, Il tabarro (Giacomo Puccini)
  • Scarpia, Tosca (Giacomo Puccini)

• Examples:

• • Giangiacomo Guelfi
  • Silvano Carroli
  • Eberhard Wächter
  • Thomas Stewart
  • Titta Ruffo

Lyric Bassbariton/Low Lyric Baritone[link]

• English equivalent: Lyric Bass-baritone.

• Range: From about the G below low C to the F# above middle C (G to f#')
• Description: The bass-baritone's required range can vary tremendously based on the role, with some less demanding than others. Some bass-baritones are baritones, like Friedrich Schorr, George London, and Bryn Terfel; while others are basses, like Hans Hotter, Alexander Kipnis, and Samuel Ramey.
• Roles:
  • Don Pizarro, Fidelio (Ludwig van Beethoven)
  • Escamillo, Carmen (Georges Bizet)
  • Golaud, Pelléas et Mélisande (Claude Debussy)
  • Méphistophélès, Faust (Charles Gounod)
  • Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
• Example:
  • Thomas Quasthoff

Dramatic Bassbariton/Low DramaticBaritone[link]

• English equivalent: Dramatic Bass-baritone.

• Range: From about the G below low C to the F# above middle C (G to f#')
• Igor, Prince Igor (Alexander Borodin)
• Scarpia, Tosca (Giacomo Puccini)
• The Dutchman, The Flying Dutchman (Richard Wagner)
• Hans Sachs, Die Meistersinger (Richard Wagner)
• Wotan, Der Ring des Nibelungen (Richard Wagner)
• Amfortas, Parsifal (Richard Wagner)
• Examples:
  • Friedrich Schorr
  • Rudolf Bockelmann
  • Anton van Rooy
  • George London
  • James Morris
  • Bryn Terfel

Bass Fächer[link]

Basso Cantante/Lyric Bassbariton/High Lyric Bass[link]

• English equivalent: Lyric Bass-baritone.
• Range: From about the E below low C to the F above middle C (E to f')
• Basso Cantante means 'singing bass'.^[2]
• Roles:
  • Duke Bluebeard, Bluebeard's Castle (Béla Bartók)
  • Don Pizarro, Fidelio (Ludwig van Beethoven)
  • Count Rodolfo, La sonnambula (Vincenzo Bellini)
  • Blitch, Susannah (Carlisle Floyd)
  • Méphistophélès, Faust (Charles Gounod)
  • Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Leporello, Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Boris, Boris Godunov (Modest Mussorgsky)
  • Don Basilio Il barbiere di Siviglia (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Silva, Ernani (Giuseppe Verdi
  • Philip II, Don Carlos (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Count Walter, Luisa Miller (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Zaccaria, Nabucco (Giuseppe Verdi)
• Singers:
  • Norman Allin
  • Adamo Didur
  • Pol Plançon
  • Feodor Chaliapin
  • Ezio Pinza
  • Tancredi Pasero
  • Ruggero Raimondi
  • Samuel Ramey
  • Hao Jiang Tian
  • José van Dam
  • Ildebrando D'Arcangelo

Hoherbass/Dramatic Bassbariton/High Dramatic Bass[link]

• English equivalent: Dramatic Bass-baritone.
• Range: From about the E below low C to the F above middle C (E to f')
• Roles:
  • Igor, Prince Igor (Alexander Borodin)
  • Boris, Varlaam, Boris Godunov (Modest Mussorgsky)
  • Klingsor, Parsifal (Richard Wagner)
  • Wotan Der Ring des Nibelungen (Richard Wagner)
  • Caspar, Der Freischütz (Carl Maria von Weber)
  • Philip II, Don Carlo (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Banquo, Macbeth (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Fiesco, Simon Boccanegra (Giuseppe Verdi)

• Singers:
• Theo Adam
• Hans Hotter
• Marcel Journet
• Alexander Kipnis
• Boris Christoff
• Cesare Siepi
• Fyodor Chaliapin
• Mark Reizen
• Nicolai Ghiaurov
• Jerome Hines

Jugendlicher Bass[link]

• English equivalent: young bass
• Range: From about the E below low C to the F above middle C (E to f')
• Description: A young man (regardless of the age of the singer).
• Roles:
  • Leporello, Masetto, Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Colline, La bohème (Giacomo Puccini)

Spielbass/Bassbuffo/Lyric Buffo[link]

• English equivalent: Lyric comic bass
• Range: From about the E half an octave below low C to the F above middle C (E to f')
• Roles:
  • Don Pasquale, Don Pasquale (Gaetano Donizetti)
  • Dottor Dulcamara, L'elisir d'amore (Gaetano Donizetti)
  • Don Bartolo, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Don Basilio, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Don Magnifico, La Cenerentola (Gioachino Rossini)
  • Méphistophélès, Faust (Charles Gounod)
  • Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Leporello, Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Orgon Pernelle, Tartuffe (Mechem) (Kirke Mechem)]
  • The Sacristan Tosca (Giacomo Puccini)

• Singers:
  • Luigi Lablache
  • Fernando Corena
  • Ferruccio Furlanetto

Schwerer Spielbass/Dramatic Buffo[link]

• English equivalent: Dramatic comic bass
• Range: From about the C two octaves below middle C to the F above middle C (C to f')
• Roles:
  • Khan Konchak, Prince Igor (Alexander Borodin)
  • Baculus, Der Wildschütz (Albert Lortzing)
  • Ferrando, Il trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Daland, Der fliegende Holländer (Richard Wagner)
  • Pogner, Die Meistersinger (Richard Wagner)
  • Hunding, Die Walküre (Richard Wagner)

Lyric Seriöser Bass[link]

• English equivalent: Low bass. Italian: Basso Profundo.
• Range: From about the C two octaves below middle C to the F above middle C (C to f')
• Basso profundo is the lowest bass voice type. According to J. B. Steane in Voices, Singers, and Critics, the basso profundo voice "derives from a method of tone-production that eliminates the more Italian quick vibrato. In its place is a kind of tonal solidity, a wall-like front, which may nevertheless prove susceptible to the other kind of vibrato, the slow beat or dreaded wobble."
• Roles:
  • Rocco, Fidelio (Ludwig von Beethoven)
  • Osmin, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Sarastro, Die Zauberflöte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  • Pimen, Boris Godunov (Modest Mussorgsky)
  • Sparafucile, Rigoletto (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Padre Guardiano, La forza del destino (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Fiesco, Simon Boccanegra (Giuseppe Verdi)

• Singers:
  • Matti Salminen
  • Robert Lloyd

Dramatic Seriöser Bass[link]

• English equivalent: Dramatic low bass. Dramatic Basso Profundo is a powerful basso profundo voice.
• Range: From about the C two octaves below middle C to the F above middle C (C to f')
• Roles:
  • Vladimir Yaroslavich, Prince Igor (Alexander Borodin)
  • Hagen, Götterdämmerung (Richard Wagner)
  • Heinrich, Lohengrin (Richard Wagner)
  • Gurnemanz, Parsifal (Richard Wagner)
  • Fafner, Das Rheingold, Siegfried (Richard Wagner)
  • Marke, Tristan und Isolde (Richard Wagner)
  • Hunding, Die Walküre (Richard Wagner)
  • The Grand Inquisitor, Don Carlos (Giuseppe Verdi)
  • Il Commendatore (Don Pedro), Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

• Singers:
  • Ivar Andresen
  • Gottlob Frick
  • Kurt Moll
  • Martti Talvela

References[link]

• Kloiber, Rudolf; Konold, Wulf; and Maschka, Robert. Handbuch der Oper, 9. Auflage, Kassel (Bärenreiter) 2002, ISBN 978-3-7618-1605-9
• Steane, J. B. Fach in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 978-0-333-73432-2