Fun with FACHS

          Over the years past, in my associations with opera and singers of opera, in this country and in Europe, I became acquainted with the classification of voice types known as Fachs. As with other subjects my OCD tendencies prompted me to pursue detailed information of this system. What I thought I knew about a few Fach classifications proved woefully uninformed. This article is my attempt to share with my readers a small addition, from my personal activities, to the scholarly information available in the public domain regarding the Fach system.

          Some months ago I found on the Internet a posting “25 Voice Types and the Fach System. What’s Your Voice Category,” by Olga Banis, dated September 17, 2012. I printed the 12 pages of this post and intended to return to it now that I have time to draft this, my own article. Unfortunately, the online 12-page post has now been reduced to a one-page introduction. I assume the entire article may still be available to the public via the author’s Newsletter. Ms. Banis’s article is impressive: detailed and inclusive. I would not presume even to paraphrase it. To those who may seek greater knowledge of the Fach System I can do no better than to refer you to the Banis posting referenced above.

          In order to provide context to this article, I take the liberty of quoting several paragraphs from Ms. Banis’s post:

          “First off, Fach is a German word and is pronounced like the composer Bach, only with an “F.” …

          “The Fach System was developed by German opera houses towards the end of the 19th century and the reasoning behind it was to create distinct categories for all the roles in an opera, as well as, for singing voices, in order to aid auditions and casting.

          “Fach means classification, specialty, category. Singers were placed in a Fach according to their voice types and they would only study the characters that belonged in that category. Opera houses would keep records of singers according to Fach and they would call them in for auditions according to which roles were available.

          “All together singers and roles were placed in a Fach according to the following vocal characteristics:

“range – the notes your body can produce
weight – light voices, bright and agile; heavy voices, powerful, rich, and darker
size – the amount of sound you can produce and your voice’s dramatic effect
tessitura – part of the range which is most comfortable to sing
timbre or color – unique voice quality and texture
transition points – points where you change from chest, to middle, to head register
vocal registers – how extended each register is
speech level – speaking range
physical characteristics – height and build
age and experience”

          What I shall present below, at this time, is a series of selected Fach categories, together for each with an appropriate opera role, listing the opera and composer, but, for now, leaving it for you to enter the name of a singer whose voice fits the Fach and who in known for his/her mastery of the designated role. In the comings months, as I have the time, I shall select and enter the names of such singers I myself have heard perform these and other of the specified roles, listing the details (opera company, city, and date) of the performances.

Sopranos*

Soubrette

Light voice, younger singers, best in middle voice, no extensive coloratura, range from middle C (C4) to high C (C6).

          Zerlina, Don Giovanni (Mozart)

Lyric Coloratura

Like a soubrette with an upper extension to E6 or F6. Usually a light soprano, with a high voice. Can often have small voices, meaning they can lack the richness and resonance of voice that, for example, dramatic sopranos have.

          Lucia, Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)

Lyric Soprano

Beautiful, strong lyrical voice but not heavy, range from middle C to high C. Characters are often noble, self-sacrificing, suffering.

          Mimi, La Bohéme (Puccini)

Dramatic Coloratura

Voice in quality similar to a lyric soprano, but with an upper extension to F6 and ability for sustained coloratura. Must be able to do fast vocal acrobatics and reach high notes, such as the F6 of the Queen of the Night.

          The Queen of the Night, Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)

Spinto (aka Light Dramatic Soprano)

Stronger voice with more weight and power than a lyric soprano, able to sing up to B6 or C6. A light dramatic soprano must generally push her basically lyric instrument to create big sounds that can cut through an orchestral and/or choral climax. Depending on the singer, however, this voice type can be more 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. Spinto sopranos are known to be especially well suited to art song and operas in English.

          Desdemona, Otello (Verdi)

Dramatic Soprano

Heavy and powerful voice able to sing over large orchestras but with a lower range, from the B below middle C to the C two octaves above middle C. See also Wagnerian Soprano.

          Aïda, Aïda (Verdi)

Wagnerian Soprano (aka Hochdramatische Sopran)

From the F below middle C to the C two octaves above middle C.

          Turandot, Turandot (Puccini)

Mezzo Sopranos / Contraltos

Lyric Mezzo Soprano

Lighter mezzo voice, from G below middle C up to a secure B6. A heavier lyric mezzo can also sing Carmen, Charlotte, Dido. Often quite a steely sound. Tessitura sits fairly high in most cases. There are a lot of pants roles in this category! Lyric mezzos who are Zwischenfach can also often sing some roles listed as “soprano,” e.g. Despina from Cosi and Santuzza from Cavallaria.

          Octavian, Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss)

Coloratura Mezzo Soprano

Flexible in the mezzo range. Often just included under label of Lyric mezzo.

          Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini)

Dramatic Mezzo

Often a similar range to that of the lyric mezzo but with a fuller sound and a lower tessitura. Dramatic mezzos must sometimes perform alongside dramatic sopranos, and so their voices must be able to carry effectively despite singing in a lower tessitura.

          Carmen, Carmen (Bizet)

Contralto

A true contralto with a dark, deep voice is quite rare. In operetta she’s usually the comic alto. Also regularly sung by heavier mezzos with good low notes. Range F below middle C to A6.

          Erda, Der Ring des Nibelungen (Wagner)

Countertenors

Male alto (or, rarely, soprano) singing in the falsetto register. Often sings roles written for castrati in Baroque operas, which would otherwise be sung by female mezzos and contraltos. Although there’s been a push by countertenors to sing mezzo pants roles (like Cherubino in Figaro or Octavian in Rosenkavalier) this is a controversial casting choice.

          Orfeo, Orfeo (Monteverdi)

Tenors

Comic Tenor

Either lyric (aka Spieltenor) or dramatic (aka Charaktertenor)

Range up to C5.

          Frantz, Les contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach)

Tenor Leggiero

Light and sweet voice with very high range – sometimes conflated with Lyric Tenor.

          Belmonte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart)

Lyric Tenor

A range up to C5 with strong but not heavy lyrical voice.

          Faust, Faust (Gounod)

Italienischer Tenor

This is the German Fach name for the heavier tenor roles in the Italian style: these roles are often divided up between Spinto and heavier Lyric voices in other systems.

          The Duke, Rigoletto (Verdi)

Spinto (aka Jugendlicher Heldentenor)

A range up to B5 with stronger and more full voice.

          Lohengrin, Lohengrin (Wagner)

Dramatic Tenor (Heldentenor, tenore di forza/robusto)

A range to B5 with powerful voice able to sing over heavy orchestras.

          Otello, Otello (Verdi)

Baritones / Basses

Lyric Baritone (aka Kavalierbariton)

A range from G4 to A5; high tessitura and lighter voice.

          Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni (Mozart)

Charakterbariton (aka Verdi bariton)

A lower tessitura with range to G5, stronger and fuller voice.

          Scarpia, Tosca (Puccini)

Dramatic Baritone (aka Heldenbariton)

          Iago, Otello (Verdi)

Dramatic Bass-Baritone

A range from about E3 to F5.

          The Dutchman, Der fliegende Holländer (Wagner)

Spielbass (aka bass buffo, comic bass) – sometimes divided into lyric and dramatic

          Falstaff, Falstaff (Verdi)

Heavy Bass (aka Seriöser Bass) – sometimes divided into Lyric and Dramatic

A range C two octaves below middle C to E5, lowest voice, dark and deep.

          Sarastro, Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)

*These listings are also taken from the Banis post.