[BaronScarpia]

Does anyone else have a favourite voice type? I know it's a horrible question, as there are so many out there. But some voices are just so vibrant and beautiful - for me, the mezzo-soprano is the perfect voice, with just the right mixture of high and low, light and dark, and such a selection of roles to play. Mezzo-sopranos can play 'bitches and witches', they can be men like Octavian and Cherubino as well as taking on roles originally for castrati, they can be heroines like Angelina and Rosina, princesses like Eboli, wise women like Azucena and villainesses like Amneris. They can even be sopranos when singing baroque soprano repertoire, verismo, Lady Macbeth and Wagner, or when taking on soubrette parts such as Despina or Zerlina. There's so much French opera for them to sing, as well as countless concert pieces and oratorios and cantatas (where they usually sing alto).

Is anyone else enamoured of the mezzo-soprano voice? Do you have any other favourite voices?

 

[deggial]

Is anyone else enamoured of the mezzo-soprano voice?

I am also for its sheer versatility. And it's easier on the ear than the soprano voice. Here are some of my favourite mezzos. Add Lucia Valentini Terrani (Tancredi and Arsace) to that list.

 

[MAuer]

I have favorite singers of all voice types, but I'm basically a tenor's fan. Nothing like listening to Kaufmann or Wunderlich (or some others) to make me melt.

 

[sospiro]

Bass

Err that's it!

 

[deggial]

^ how about this bass?

 

[schigolch]

My favourite fach is soprano.

 

[Bellinilover]

The mezzo-soprano has always been my favorite voice type. After that it's the baritone, especially the "Verdi baritone."

 

[rgz]

Soprano, specifically coloratura soprano, most specifically lyric coloratura soprano (though I also love dramatic coloraturas).

In short, I love Natalie Dessay

 

[Volve]

Mezzo's pluck the strings of my heart! Right next to that, (bass-)baritones (I might be slightly biased on this one seen as I am a baritone). Christa Ludwig and Fischer-Dieskau made Lohengrin's act II one of the best musical experiences ever for me (for those interested in this, check out the Kempe recording with Wiener Philharmoniker, Jess Thomas and Elisabeth Grümmer in the major roles. Completaly worth it for Ludwig and FD alone!).

 

[Revenant]

Tenors, baritones and basses are my favorite voices.

 

[Woodduck]

I'm torn between mezzos and tenors, the middle-range voices that take the inner parts in choral singing. Probably not coincidentally, my two favorite orchestral instruments are the viola and the cor anglais, whose ranges encompass tenor and alto. But to make things more complex, I love especially certain singers who have qualities of both high and low voices - Caruso, Jon Vickers and Jonas Kaufmann, for example, who have voices with baritonal qualities and tenor range, and Rosa Ponselle and Kirsten Flagstad, who have soprano range with the tonal depth of mezzos.

 

[BaronScarpia]

Oh my God, Woodduck!!! They are my favourite orchestral instruments too - that is too weird!

 

[Woodduck]

Oh my God, Woodduck!!! They are my favourite orchestral instruments too - that is too weird!

Well, I've always been weird. What about you?

 

[BaronScarpia]

Oh, I'm exceedingly abnormal.

 

[Woodduck]

Oh, I'm exceedingly abnormal.

Pleased to meet you then, even if you do like Sutherland.

 

[Aramis]

wise women like Azucena

ssssssssssssss
ok

 

[Rhythm]

I'm made from the same cloth.

Seriously. It's palm-to-forehead when I hear those voice types and orchestral instruments. Similar listeners are few, in my experience .

I'm torn between mezzos and tenors, the middle-range voices that take the inner parts in choral singing. Probably not coincidentally, my two favorite orchestral instruments are the viola and the cor anglais, whose ranges encompass tenor and alto. But to make things more complex, I love especially certain singers who have qualities of both high and low voices - Caruso, Jon Vickers and Jonas Kaufmann, for example, who have voices with baritonal qualities and tenor range, and Rosa Ponselle and Kirsten Flagstad, who have soprano range with the tonal depth of mezzos.

 

[BaronScarpia]

ssssssssssssss
ok

What? I mean 'wise woman' as in witch - you know, that stereotype of a mystic or 'fortune teller'.

 

[Marschallin Blair]

Pleased to meet you then, even if you do like Sutherland.

Even a broken watch is right twice a day.

 

[Woodduck]

I'm made from the same cloth.

Seriously. It's palm-to-forehead when I hear those voice types and orchestral instruments. Similar listeners are few, in my experience .

Et tu, Rhythm? That makes three of us (check out BaronScarpia).