Opera (Classical) Female voice Fächer (fachs)

[@brunopicaude3092]

What is practical with Callas is that you had all the voices in one: contralto, mezzo, soprano with coloratura option.

[@LaraGiulia]

Soprano drammatico d'agilità❤️

[@mistersmith1883]

Yep callas is my favorite singer

[@samueljaramillo4221]

That’s why she had a short career

[@mariofilippeschi4855]

she doesn't fit with any fach. In fact she was trained in way that they don't have that voice types clarification. There were only soprano and contralto.

[@leonardoorozco6143]

The absolute soprano sings from alto mezzo and soprano roles as well as heavy and light roles and assoluta Sing everything as the score is written without changing anything now the sopranos do not sing the bass María Callas sings The Marriage of Figaro as it was written now the coloratura sopranos sing

[@gregorymowery8879]

There are so many singers who cross lines. How could Caballe, a lyric, as she is listed here, sing NORMA, TURANDOT, FORZA, and other dramatic soprano roles. While she wasn't strictly a dramatic soprano, neither was Ludiwig a dramatic soprano. But she had a decade or so of singing soprano parts. Obratszova had the commanding dramatic mezzo for about five seasons once she started to sing in the West. I heard her sing Marina in BORIS GUDONOV on the opening night the the historical Bolshoi Opera's debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York opposite Vladimir Atlantov and they blew the roof off of the Met. But it didn't take long for that voice to lose its core and within just a few seasons it was sill loud but blowsy. Deutekom was a truly dramatic coloruatura dagilita like Edd Moser. Very exciting singers. Sopranos, by and large, in the modern era, take on more dramatic roles as they age, so a leggero such as Catherine Malifitano took on a much more ambitious repertoire as they aged. But it meant the career was pretty much over after 10 years of SALOME, BUTTERFLY, JENUFA, TOSCA, etc. The same with Scotto, whereas Freni a true lyric rarely strayed out of the path of big roles that emphasized her big lyric sound: Elizabetta, Desdemona, Adrianna, Manon Lescaut, Alice Ford., Her La Scala-based recording of FORZAs with Muti was a disappointment. She didn't sing TOSCA or MADAMA BUTTERFLY in the theater only for recordings. I do agree the fach system is a lot of hooey. Singers sing what they want to sing when they want to sing it once they're big stars.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

I mostly agree. Especially now days, I feel like there's more pressure to do everything which results in too many painful high Ebs that aren't even written and people like Anna Netrebko toasting out by her 40s trying to do Turandot without the training. But I think the reason singer like Flagstad were successful is because they gradually built stamina through many years of lighter roles. So working your way through the "system" can be a blessing or a curse

[@Guardmuscian2013]

Definitely the Contraltos for me. I also love Dramatic Coloratura Mezzos!

[@davidmuller9938]

Dramatic contralto and dramatic mezzo :)

[@maxcornise7204]

There goes Eleanor Steber breaking through the pack again with the most focused, melodramatic Leonora of the whole group of Leonoras. Plus she sweeps up to the B-flat with out a breath!

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

For real though. I love her interpretation. So much healthy tension.

[@UranusRising]

I've not really listened to her. As soon as I heard her, I thought I'm going to have listen because...wow!

[@richardmccowenclark2412]

This video in my opinion is NOT a mess. It also depended on the singer. For example Leontyne Price's voice could also lend itself to the spinto fach such as Tosca or Leonora in La Forza. For the most part a lot has to do with taste.

[@KajiVocals]

Spinto is not a fach. It's an Italian classification.

[@loveandletlove8529]

Well spinto refers to voice thickness and her voice is not as thick,it's dark cause she uses a partly collapsed vocal technique creating a woofy sound,but she is a heavier lyric or lighter spinto

[@richardmccowenclark2412]

@@loveandletlove8529 You’re Right. I remember in one of her interviews she even said that she was actually a lyric soprano.👍

[@cliffgaither]

@richardmccowenclark2412 :: It's amazing that even singers are not really capable of describing their own voices. Price said her voice was a "juicy" lyric ; you quote her, saying her voice was a lyric voice. She didn't really know her own voice because her _Carmen,_ for a "lyric", is her greatest vocal performance ! _Carmen !_ of all operas. What she would have done with _Dalila !_

[@mathildehb0076]

Of these voices, my favorite is either the Wagnerian soprano or the lyric mezzo-soprano!

[@pasqualeperrone1560]

The Elena O. Clip is stunning

[@markwilger511]

I agree!

[@KajiVocals]

While I love the overall concept. It is important to state that a lot of these are NOT fach. Fach is a strictly German system. Also soprano sfogato is a natural mezzo with a soprano extension which would kinda disqualify Callas on all accounts, Verrett too depending on who you're talking to. These are the three major classification systems with their categories: FACH SYSTEM: Soubrette, lyrischer koloratursopran, dramatischer koloratursopran, lyrischer sopran, jugendlich-dramatischer sopran (equivalent to lyric-spinto), dramatischer sopran, charaktersopran, hochdramatischer sopran Lyrischer mezzosopran, dramatischer mezzosopran Dramatischer alt, tiefer alt Spieltenor, lyrischer tenor, jugendlicher heldentenor (equivalent to spinto tenor), charaktertenor, heldentenor Lyrischer bariton, kavalierbariton, charakterbariton, heldenbariton Spielbass, charakterbass, seriöser bass FRENCH SYSTEM: Soprano colorature, soprano léger, soprano lyrique, soprano grand lyrique, soprano dramatique, soprano falcon, soprano dugazon Mezzo-soprano lyrique, mezzo-soprano dramatique/galli-marié Contralto Haute-contre, tenor léger, trial tenor, tenor lyrique, tenor dramatique Baryton-martin, baryton lyrique, baryton dramatique, baryton-basse Laruette, basso chantante, basse profunde ITALIAN SYSTEM: Soubrette soprano, lirico-leggero soprano, lirico soprano, lirico-spinto/lirico-drammatico soprano, drammatico soprano, drammatico d'agilita Mezzosoprano leggero/mezzosoprano acuto/mezzosoprano di coloratura, mezzosoprano lirico/centrale, mezzosoprano drammatico/grave Contralto (no subclassifications) Tenore contraltino, tenore leggero/di grazia, tenore lirico, tenore lirico-leggero/lirico di mezzo carattere, tenore lirico-spinto/lirico-drammatico, tenore drammatico/di forza, tenore robusto, baritenore Baritono leggero/baritono chiaro, baritono lirico/cantabile, baritono lirico-spinto/lirico-drammatico/verdiano, baritono drammatico, basso-baritono Basso buffo/leggero, basso-baritono, basso-cantante, basso profundo Also it's important to note that a lot of singers in this video and overall will fit in a specific classification because of their specialisation, not biology. Giuletta Simionato and Christa Ludwig have voices that naturally sit like a soprano, and have a soprano colour. Ludwig was honest about it. Simionato said her voice had a mezzo colour but soprano tessitura. But they are mezzos because of the repertoire they specialise in (I'm talking about singers who can ACTUALLY sing that repertoire, not a lot of those modern 'mezzos' who still sound very soprano when singing mezzo and display no colours of a mezzo voice), not biology. If you were to classify voices purely off how they sit naturally, the pure colour, tessitura and the biology, half of 'dramatic' sopranos would be lyric sopranos, and there'd be maybe one or two contralto in the opera history.

[@theoperatripleaxel5417]

My favorie fach is the countertenor... So exotic and unique...

[@mrkiplingreallywasanexceed8311]

Triple Axel I love it too! My dad was at King's School, Ely with James Bowman - they did History A-level together at the very end of the 50s! I'm absolutely sure you will have seen this but I highly recommend the Andrea's Scholl/ Christophe Dumaux recording of Purcell's glorious Sound the Trumpet which is here on KZbin... at about 44 seconds in you get the absolutely stunning effect of a hunting horn! Again by the same composer, I can't make up my mind whether I like the Scholl recording of Strike the Viol, or the undoubtedly more visually arresting version by Tim Mead. Knock yourself out and try them all😄

[@baritonebynight]

It is an interesting voice type....I have no idea how they do what they do. The first time I heard a countertenor live was at a Marilyn Horne foundation recital before I was even in music school. It was David Daniels who at that time was the best in the world. To me, they sound like a mezzo. However, in recent years, it seems that opera directors will often cast a second or third rate countertenor over a first class mezzo for roles that were originally written for a castrato....and the days of baritones singing the roles seems to be a thing of the past. I'm from the school of thought that one should cast the best singer for the part......be it countertenor, mezzo or baritone. I'm not saying this because I am a baritone as I would never sing these roles ( I'm a character singer primarily ....not a leading man).

[@cliffgaither]

@baritonebynight :: It's great you can appreciate countertenor voices. Some of them can sometimes be off-putting. Franco Fagioli has an amazing sound with a very good lower range ; unfortunately, his facial expressions are unfortunate. He sounds better singing Rossini than Baroque music, especially Rossini's recitatives. David Daniels was never really interesting as a countertenor, imo., but I heard him sing _Di tanti palpiti !_ It was magnificent !

[@davy91101]

Janowitz described in the role (Rosalinda) which it is not: light lyric! The woman sings Eva in Meistersinger, Sieglinde in Walkure and Barak's wife in Frosch. These are all documented on CD's.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

and your point is....Many singers do roles outside their norm

[@davy91101]

@@sockmonkeyarts5241 Sometimes wisely and sometimes not. Sometimes they are seduced by a major conductor into a role that will take a toll. Ludwig toyed with the role of Isolde but Milanov advised against it while she sang Barak's wife which is not a walk in the park and while it did no lasting damage she admited that she would not sing for a period of time after that. Ditto Fidelio. But Ludwig had rock solid technique. Those who don't pay the price as you have shown in your other video.

[@Nina-no8qj]

I mean kudos to you for using Carmen for contraltos. Apparently that’s what it was supposed to be originally

[@adriennefuller4984]

this video has been V, useful I find myself at an age where i can easily sing donna Anna mimi Butterfly but no- one wants a 62 yr old to sing these parts! Adri xx

[@samueljaramillo4221]

And why not if your still in good voice.

[@operaanimelover369]

For contraltos, I would have gladly gone with Elvira Casazza, Sigrid Onegin, Dame Clara Butt, Armida Parsi-Pettinella, Kathleen Ferrier, Louise Kirkby-Lunn, Marian Anderson, Louise Homer, Marie Delna, Kerstin Thorborg, Karin Branzell, Margarete Klose, Alice Raveau, and Ernestine Schumann-Heink.

[@cliffgaither]

operaanimallover :: Eula Beal !

[@kenndogg]

THE HIGHEST COLORATURAS WILL ALWAYS WIN FOR ME lol

[@maxcornise7204]

What the fach? You need to do a Part II with the 6-year-career sopranos like Cerquetti, Souliotis, Sass, Mitchell, Rolandi, etc. This was really fun though. I understand your dislike for Sutherland.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

What do you mean by 6 year? Also thank you ♥️

[@firethroughtheskies2648]

I think hillary summers is a dramatic mezzo. If not, lyric contralto with high tessitura.

[@samueljaramillo4221]

Why was Beverly Sills not included? I don’t have a favorite fach. Does it really matter? I like them all.

[@-TuanKhoi-]

I am so surprise of acuto sfogato soprano because they can hit C7 easily and Mado Robin can hit D7 too =)

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

But usually not well and not in a full-bodied head voice. I think an important distinction here is just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

[@kin-no-choo]

well... Dessay lost her voice twice. so like... come on 😅 in poland we even make a joke- 'when i'll loose my voice, i'll start singing baroque music ' 🤣

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

@@kin-no-choo Best thing i've heard all day. Accurate and funny

[@larrywoods6318]

You might still be yet....Have been following your posts with much interest until you made the comment about Sutherland, Personally, I think her voice became even more BEAUTIFUL as she aged until she retired! Small, less dramatic? Put your big boy pants on and listen to the most beautiful voice in the world (jmo) and listen to her at 59 years old sing the Fra Diavolo aria in Australia..........

[@larrywoods6318]

Anything less than WOW and your apology will not be accepted as honest.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

@@larrywoods6318 you made me laugh 10/10

[@zygggie6985]

I am very confused but I love it

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

Aren't we all

[@cliffgaither]

@@sockmonkeyarts5241 :: Very good answer !!

[@lesindorf-904videos]

Mezzo. Obraztsova and Pally.

[@danawinsor1380]

Thank you for this! I learned a great deal. Question: why is it that you never hear or see anyone billed as a contralto? It seems to me that the term is no longer in use. Also, just for the record, whatever happened to the "alto voice?" There are sopranos, tenors and basses, but no altos. I've never cared for the term "mezzo soprano" because I don't think "mezzos" are "half-sopranos" or half-anything for that matter. (BTW, thank you for explaining "spinto.") As for the singers themselves, I particularly loved your excerpts of Kirsten Flagstadt, Birgit Nilsson, and Lucia Popp.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

Alto I think is just the short, less classy version of contralto. To quote some of my other commentors, true well-trained contraltos are "rare as balls" or "rare as hen's teeth".

[@baritonebynight]

Alto is a choral part. It is not a voice type. Most of the women who sing the alto part are mezzo sopranos. Contraltos are extremely rare...most contraltos roles are sung my mezzos. I've only sung with one true contralto in my career.

[@alejandrotm]

All Fächer or tessituras are legit as long as the technique is well developed and the repertoire is right. Nilsson for one is very well suited for Wagner and verism, but give her Italian operas with hints of bel canto and coloratura and her voice becomes out of place.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

I disagree, I think her treatment of Verdian belcanto is very pleasing.

[@davidmuller9938]

Wagnerian soprano:it is not "high"dramatic. Hochdramatisch is better translating to "big dramatic", because Wagnerian roles are the lowest soprano roles, she can be sung even by a mezzo most of the times.

[@paulmckee6072]

Like or don’t like Joan should off been in the clip because what you have been is really good 😊

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

Naw I didn't want to have to listen to her while I edited the video

[@crazyorganist1609]

Actually just to clarify. After her early years Sutherland's voice became huge . Specifically after 1964. I've spoken to those who heard her in the theatre and her voice was massive. She definitely wasn't a lyric coloratura

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

Naw after the 50s her voice lost a lot of clarity and power

[@awokwok1029]

Lyric Coloratura doesn't mean small or weak.. Tetrazzini's voice was MASSIVE.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

@@awokwok1029 Sutherland's wasn't tho

[@awokwok1029]

@@sockmonkeyarts5241 yes.. I know.. I referred to "She is definitely wasn't a lyric coloratura because her voice was MASSIVE" Her voice was massive but i don't hear any dramatic interpretation in her singing...

[@cliffgaither]

crazyorganist :: Her voice may have been "huge", I wouldn't discount ear-witness accounts ... but it's difficult to explain what happened to her middle-voice. It was cloudy, muddy, mushy ; an echo in the Holland Tunnel.

[@donjose8250]

'actuo'? you mean 'acuto'?

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

Yes. Oops

[@baritonebynight]

The more I know about singing and the more I sing, the more I could care less about fach. It's interesting to know, but many non musicians and non singers make such a big deal about it "why is he/singing that part....it should be sung by (insert fach). Jessye Norman said it best..."Pigeon holes are only comfortable for pigeons".

[@loveandletlove8529]

They're description,and description shouldn't be limitation.

[@josecarlospereira914]

Why not consider Edita Gruberova among the soprano soubrette? Inexcusable not to include Dame Joan Sutherland. Anyway, many thanks for the selection.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

I just dislike Sutherlands' technique that much. And it's because Gruberova also sucked.

[@draganvidic2039]

Verrett was not a sfogato soprano. It’s dramatic soprano in English not high dramatic. Leontyne Price was a lyric and so was Steber. Battle was a leggero/coloratura. And it’s ACUTO sfogato. Sorry this video is a mess... 🤣

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

LMAO You are not wrong! There's a lot of confusion in this realm.

[@draganvidic2039]

@Devon Hawkins-Anderson Leontyne Price was a lyric singing spinto roles. ”Light lyric coloratura”=leggero. Don’t try to confuse people...🤣

[@draganvidic2039]

@Devon Hawkins-Anderson I’m right and you mess it up. Fachs are: Leggero, lyric, spinto & dramatic. With or without coloratura skills. The we’ve got Bartoli who is a leggero but trained as ultra lirico mezzo stratospheric aspirated coloratura acrobatic soprano.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

OMG people are fighting (educatedly) in my comments section! I feel like a real youtuber now! lol

[@vyeagra420]

@@sockmonkeyarts5241 tbh most of them are just rude for no reason,but its expected bc we are talking about vocal pedagogy 😂

[@ulrikewermann1268]

Gundula Janowitz was not a light lyric soprano.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

What is she then?

[@ulrikewermann1268]

@@sockmonkeyarts5241 She was a lyrico-spinto - listen to her in Freischütz or Fidelio or in her Richard Strauss performances. I heard her live every week in Vienna State Opera.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

@@ulrikewermann1268 I envy your experience But I would say she was still a lyric that just sang spintoish roles.

[@ulrikewermann1268]

@@sockmonkeyarts5241 She started as a lyric but not light soprano with Mozart for instance Pamina and very soon Fiordiligi, then Contessa then she went soon into the spinto but not too heavy fach, Freischütz and especially Richard Strauss. Then she also sang Fidelio - I could compare her to Christa Ludwig in this role and she was less lyric then Ludwig. Her voice was metallic, very similar to mine, some agents were comparing me to her and even Marcel Prawy categorized me as lyrico-spinto. (I never started a carrier, I was instable as a young woman).

[@ulrikewermann1268]

You envy me, and I miss this time of so many very good opera singers instead of media-pushed stars with micros ;-)

[@bodiloto]

Esistono due tipi di vocalità : 1 Quelli professionali 2 Quelli poco professionali. Poi le teorie sterili le lascio per voi ragazzi… il vecchio

[@percival74898]

Ingeborg Hallstein.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

Ew

[@jiso5232]

Example of so called stratospheric coloratura, an artificial voice. When she talked, she sounded almost like a spinto soprano (kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6STpItsbaeMpLs). Her natural voice wasn't as high as the natural voice of true (natural) coloraturas (e.g. Deutekom or Tetrazzini). But her operatic voice was undeveloped (very small) and she used constriction to sing high notes. However, she didn't use mixed voice, so the voice was not ugly, and she didn't harm her vocal cords. The voice was just small and somewhat artificial.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

@@jiso5232 exactly

[@jiso5232]

@Noack Somewhere I'm not talking about the power or intensity of the speaking voice, but about tessitura. Every operatic singer with this discrepancy either had problems with hers upper register in the later career or stayed with an undeveloped voice. As for Milanov, true dramatic sopranos and standard mezzos (meaning not heavy dramatic mezzos) are more or less the same natural voice type. The difference is in training, technique and the way of using the instrument. E.g. Caniglia, Dimitrova, Traubel, Ponselle and maybe even Milanov could be mezzos and e.g. Simionato, Stignani and maybe even D'Intino could be dramatic sopranos. Great examples are e.g. Ludwig and Dominguez - very similar voice types, one considered to be a mezzo, the other one a soprano, but both singing the same repertoire with similar success. Mödl is a similar case.

[@Volynyanka]

Низкие ноты у Синявской гораздо лучше, у Образцовой грубоватые.

[@ulrikewermann1268]

Christa Ludwig NEVER was a dramatic Mezzo-Soprano!

[@hansjancker5057]

She is more a lyric mezzo but can sing some dramatic soprano roles.

[@ulrikewermann1268]

@@hansjancker5057 yes, more or less good. I was once visiting a masterclass of hers, where she admitted, that this was no good idea of hers.

[@zeideerskine3462]

Dramatic coloratura singing Der Hölle Rache (not Der Höhlendrache as most American sopranos do) and not Edda Moser? What is wrong with you. She's been keeping aliens away in terror thanks to her immortal Astraflammante recorded for Voyager II as one of humankind's greatest achievements. There is no better Königin der Nacht.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

Cristina is better 😘

[@jiso5232]

Edda Moser herself always said that she wasn't a coloratura soprano, just a dramatic soprano who could sing high. She was true. She was a dramatic soprano with extension, just like Callas. Both of them later lost the extension, both of them had problems with the high notes (Callas's top notes began to deteriorate when she was ~30, Moser's around 35). True coloraturas (lyric or dramatic) keep the range above high C to much higher age, because the high tessitura is natural for them (e.g. Tetrazzini, Sari, Deutekom). However, young Edda Moser was a great singer of dramatic coloratura roles / arias.

[@mrkiplingreallywasanexceed8311]

Well, while I am just picking myself up off the floor and dusting myself off, having fallen down in a dead faint that you do "not like Joan Sunderland for some reason" (which for me is akin to a Muslim "not liking the Prophet Muhammad, for some reason"😆) I will at least grudgingly acknowledge a degree of admiration that you are single minded enough to have your own opinion and furthermore, are prepared to admit it in public 😏 Even so, I cannot but help feeling mildly hurt and even offended on behalf of the glorious Dame Joan whose sainted reputation hardly needs any defence, let alone mine. Her praeternaturally clear, perfect limpidity and the purity and the sheer bell-like beauty of her voice I don't feel has ever been equalled and in my view no one alive today comes close. It may be 500 years, never mind 50, that we see her like again. Yes, she may have looked a little clumsy - which she admitted herself - and she no doubt lacked that Mediterranean, gypsy, almost diabolical, diva quality that certainly in a live performance packs a punch - but for that sound I'll sacrifice all the above and any amount of diction! There, I feel better now🤩😂

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

Bruh her diction is awful, chest voice nonexistent, lacking in clarity and projection. She's OK as a lyric. But dramatic? Naw she sucks man. Her voice has no charm or personality for me.

[@mrkiplingreallywasanexceed8311]

@@sockmonkeyarts5241 😄 I feel honored to have elicited a reply, if not a heart! We all have our own way of hearing things. While the mechanisms are the same across the board, just as with how we see things via a complex network involving inverted images, retinal cells and the optic nerve followed by much processing by the brain, similarly sound waves are are perceived by us in a sligjtly different way too miniscule to describe, but factoring in our reactions to stimuli - I have it grated on everything but a friend of mine absolutely cannot stand Parmesan cheese which he says tastes like "baby sick" - the net results are often very different so, if that's how you see her, well there it is. By the way, in an effort to understand that, my take on her lacking "personality" I read as her being being so perfect - and sounding so gorgeous - as to transcend the individual. There are simply no rough edges from which a positive ID can be made which you for sure can do with a more "personable" performer like Callas who, by the way, I also love for those very reasons which are so totally different. As one wag once said, with Sutherland as Norma, you knew her kids would be safe - with Callas, you were on the edge of your seat, lest she eat them!!😏

[@mrkiplingreallywasanexceed8311]

@@sockmonkeyarts5241 by the way, one more thing from one fellow enthusiast to another - forgive me if you are already familiar with this but while we may have disagreed on Sutherland, I would love to hear your reaction to Olga Borodina singing Polina's aria from Pique Dame. It's on KZbin and you'll know the performance to which I refer if I say she's sitting left, behind a stage prop harpsichord. If you like meaty chest voice, I think you'd like that!

[@GordonLF]

"Acuto" means acute. "Actuo" does not mean anything. But I enjoyed your video very much. My favorite fach is lyric mezzo, although I rather choose singers and arias more than fachs.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

Yeah yeah I can't spell for crap oopsie lol

[@leonardoarrietarangel7271]

I am a strong believer that there's no such thing as a dramatic or lyric type within mezzos... You are a mezzo or you are not.

[@sockmonkeyarts5241]

I actually really agree with you! But normal conventions usually divide it, so I decided to play by the book and include "both" types.

[@draganvidic2039]

@Devon Hawkins-Anderson 80% of lyric mezzos are short sopranos. DiDonato, Garanca, Leonard, Koch... Und so weiter, und so weiter...

[@DanielFerreira-hz4cc]

@Adonister87 Yes, when you hear Barbra Streisand and compare with Oralia Dominguez the fach difference is sperb!

[@KajiVocals]

@@draganvidic2039 Birgit Nilsson said Garanca was a dramatic soprano, not a mezzo. And I agree.

[@KajiVocals]

The subcategories exist but they're very different from how it works for sopranos. A dramatic mezzo is typically a voice that has the ability to sustain a higher tessitura, and has a simply more developed voice and the way the phrasing is done also differs. Lyric mezzo phrasing differs a lot. The difference between the two is purely technical and approach-related. If we were to apply the same logic for dramatic vs lyric mezzo as for sopranos (naturally lower, darker, big voices vs smaller, brighter instruments), then you'd have very few actual dramatic mezzos. Fedora Barbieri would be one of them. And she is one regardless because of her approach.