VOICE By: Caleb Bryant 66

Vocal Classification Classifying singers by range and gender is the most common method. There are several other vocal classes besides the six basic ones given here. Female voices: 1. Soprano – the highest female voice 2. Mezzo Soprano – mid-range female voice 3. Contralto – the lowest female voice ( called alto in chorus music) Male voices: 4. Tenor – the highest male voice 5. Baritone – the mid-range male voice 6. Bass – the lowest male voice

Opera What is opera, anyway? Opera is drama told through music. It is a play in which dialogue is sung rather than spoken, usually presented on a very grand scale, with large, imposing sets, elaborate and colorful costumes, and stylized stage direction. There is often a chorus – an ensemble of singers who make up the townspeople and other supplemental characters. Often dancing (e.g., ballet) is part of the spectacle, as well.

Opera (cont’d) How did opera start? The history of opera as it is presented today in America goes back to the late Renaissance in Italy when a group of composers “invented” it to resemble what they thought music-drama had been like in classical Greece. Operas are usually sung in the language in which they were composed, which means that opera singers must be able to sing in Italian, German, French and other languages, as well as in English. Most of today’s opera houses offer English supertitles.

Opera (cont’d again) Traditional opera consists of two modes of singing. The recitative that is sung in a somewhat “speaking” manner that moves the plot along or helps to set up the next main song or aria. The aria is more melodic in character, and the singer focuses on one or more subjects or on an emotion. The overture in opera is from the French “ouverture” which means “opening.” It is the instrumental introduction to a dramatic, choral (i.e., opera), or, occasionally, instrumental (i.e., symphonic) piece.