A Classical Verity - Vocal Pedagogue : The Contralto Fach
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- Опубликовано: 24 мар 2018
- In this video, the 3 sub-fachs of the Contralto Fach (Coloratura, Lyric, and Dramatic Contralto) are explained and examples are given. All of these singers are found, through much research, to posses qualities of certain sub-fachs. Hopefully you all enjoy this video and my next upload will be the Mezzo Soprano Fach.
Until next time, farewell!!
DISCLAIMER: Strangely enough, I have seem to have forgotten to include the Legendary Ewa Podles in this video! I do apologize wholeheartedly, as I swore I remember putting her in here (I even still have the edited clip sitting in the editing bracket on my desktop). Im quite apalled with myself, quite frankly. Nevertheless, if you would like to see the AMAZING clip that I intended to put in the video, it is titled "Voce di Donna o D'angelo" from La Gioconda.
Link here:
ruclips.net/video/qAueXMs29IM/видео.html
Do you categorize her as a dramatic contralto or a lyric with a lower extension?
Ewa Podles?
So woofy and ugly voice.
Very far from the truly legendary good ones from the past.
Some are here for example Kathleen Ferrier and Clara Butt.
I’d caution any young singers about judging their fachs. I’m a Bass-Baritone, but for a while thought I was a dramatic bass or basso profundo. Oftentimes singers think they are a contralto, but are only more comfortable singer in their lower register because they haven’t learned how to access the top of their range without strain. The issue with the fach system is thus: If I’m not mistaken, was meant to categorize roles not singers. Putting singers into boxes is often not accurate, and I think singers should be more flexible with what they are.
TL;DR: A young singers fach pales in comparison to what it can become. Don’t label yourself and stick to what you and your teacher think is right for your voice.
@ThatGreenDayFreak I'd say for right now you're a low mezzo or alto. Your voice might develop higher than that in time. Cherubinos arias might be better for you, and maybe even Vedrai Carino. If you don't take lessons, your should. Your teacher might be able to help you sing higher without tension. There might be something you're doing that's making those high notes harder than they have to be! Sing what's comfortable and stick to Mozart and Art songs for the time being!
@ThatGreenDayFreak Not always. Ok, if that what your teacher thinks. I know you’re not a soubrette, but many mezzos have done Zerlina! I’m not an expert my any means. Trust what your teacher is saying and keep doing what is comfortable for you!
Having heard your voice, I definitely think you’re a contralto!
Once I joined a choir, strained my voice, and now I train myself (with some help). I manage to get used in my middle voice (yes, it's important for ones that have low voices) to cover female songs but can't use head voice properly (it ends around A5). My lowest singing is E3 (although I can reach B2 in the piano) and the upper breaking point is around F4. I'm probably an Alto (successfully practiced, hooray); it's just my timbre that made it hard for me to fit into songs ;)
I wish my choir/vocal teachers would have taught me about the tones of voice and how that related to range. Instead I just had a low voice with rich tone trying to squeeze into an Alto.
Alto is a voice part not a voice type. Contraltos and mezzos sing the alto voice part in choirs.
wow the description of the coloratura Contralto describes my voice to the T. thank you for this invaluable information
This is a wonderful video. Thank you for preparing and sharing it here on RUclips.
Maureen Forester what a voice and such artistry !!
Immensa arte, voce meravigliosa. I consider Maureen rather a Lyric Contralto than a Dramatic Contralto. But perhaps it is truer to say that she oscillates between the two.
I am LOVING this video. I just started watching it when I saw the explanation and also the thing about Netrebko and the other so-called singers... I could not agree more!! She is the ANTI-ART IN PERSON!! And the others are absolutely terrible too.
You see... I am in love with Muzio and the old ones...
BRAVO for the person who has made and uploaded this video. You truly know about the art of singing.
THANK YOU, SIR OR MADAME!!!
As this video is a few years ago, maybe you have yet to hear Romina Boscolo. She is on RUclips singing Ulrica. Her contralto voice is just not believable ! It's almost "unnatural" that a woman can have such incredible vocal-depth ! She is tall & slender. Her voice is magnificent.
Thank you for this introduction to more amazing singers
*Has vocal range and Fach of Lyric Contralto*
*Is 19*
...
I need to learn opera
No Nathalie Stutzmann, the amazing contralto? Or Sara Mingardo? Still, an excellent video! I definitely fall into the lyric contralto category.
I don't like the presumption that dramatic contraltos have large frames...it pigeon holes women into a certain body type. I don't think it's true either...
ufff este tipo de canciones me encantan, a pesar de ser una jovencita de 17 años, me emociona este tipo de canciones, y no hay ninguna otro género que se le compare, pero también respeto los gustos de las demás personas, pero aun así amo con todo mi corazon estas canciones
come for the glorious contralto, stay for the Anna Netrebko/Katherine Jenkins lulz
I have a respect for classical even though my chosen genres happen to be pop, soul, rock, and R&B. I find myself able to hum some of this comfortably. Also can go up and down pretty far I can even hit a few whistles, too. This is my experience.
Great intro! Nice to know someone else shares my opinion :-)
Absolutely! Thank you for watching!!💜
how can D3 - F5 can be the TESSITURA of a Dramatic Contralto? Tessitura is the part in the vocal range of a singer where the voice sits best, where it has more qualities, the sound is richer and where it naturally floats. D3 - F5 is the "standard" vocal range for a Dramatic Contralto (or more precisely low contralto, Dramatic contralto's range in the Fach System is F3 - A5) , not its tessitura.
Same goes for the rest of the vocal types in this video. Later in the lyric contralto you mention as highest extreme a "B#5"... A B#5 is a C6, why write B#? Are we in C# major? By the way Lyric contralto is not even a Fach... i mean, it does not exist in the Fach System.
the Fach System is only one of the many ways to categorize singers and their voices, for that it should not be taken as "the only right way".
Music has its language, use it properly if you wanna call yourself "vocal pedagogue".
Giulietta Simionato sang many roles for «coloratura» contralto» and, tho she was a mezzo, is my favorite La cenerentola, Arsace and Rosina. Much more appropriet for those roles than Bartoli, in my opinion
What about Ewa Podles, Nathalie Stutzman, Sara Mingardo and Marijana Mijanovic?!
All of those women that you mentioned, at least in my opinion, are IMMENSELY artistic and passionate in their singing, I actually included Podles in the video. The only reason I didnt include the others is because I tried to keep the video a bit focused on artists of a more "common" hybrid, rather than the extremely intense work of the women aforementioned.
@@PeanutLaBelle Thanks for the reply! :)
Woofy unclear darkened voices.
Listen to Clara Butt here for the opposite.
Sara Mingardo is the only one on your list who doesn't need to darken her voice like the others do, especially Stutzmann and Podles. They´ve got such a tight tongue, I can even feel it while listening to them. They don't have a good technic, but they are still passionated singers with expressions and musicality ! Podles is never boring.
The question about Fach is important.. some singers have a dramatic personality but don't have the voice for it. Nature is not always kind to the singer. It's often the small voices that don't like the categorization of the subject. I never met a Papagena who wouldn't think she was actually a Pamina ...
Why were those singers monstrous? I'm not trained obviously but what was wrong?
The techniques by which the singers translated/sang the music written by the composers, some being over a 100+ years old, was faulty and, if you were to compare the sound of their voices to the sound of a Golden Age singer, you would hear a very significant and pronounced change. However, to be more clear, the singers were simply monstrous because, as in the clips presented, they were attempting to sing operatic repertoire in a manner that is dangerously inconsistent in regards to their results. One cannot sing Opera the same way one sings folk, pop or jazz music. However, the singers presented made an attempt to sing Opera in a way that was dreadful to listen to (i.e. "stretching" the voice, darkening the voice, shrieked high notes, dangerous oversizing of the voice, etc.) And thus, their results were 'monstrous'.
@@Eliketi please, listen to Claudia Muzio and then listen to Netrebko again. How can you think that Netrebko is either a good musician or a good singer after that?
So, my fach is the lyric contralto, but I can go comfortably lower than any of the example singers, including the dramatic and the coloratura. My voice is weird
Video proof?
Female tenor?
Most contraltos have a lower extension well below the examples given as classical composers never write anything low enough for us. Everything is sooo high! I think your voice is probably normal for a lyric contralto.
@@alarchwen6123 also, because in most opera house, you are required to sing without a mic, they write only for the parts of the voice that can very well carry itself over the whole house. You may be able to Sing a G2 as a contralto but so long as it gets overpowered by the ochestra its useless. If oncan yo as low as G2 and as high as a C6, but voice blooms the best at E3-G5, then thats the part they will use.
@@Das644 I never said I could sing G2 or C6? I said most contraltos can sing low. I know opera singers don't have mics. You're thinking is flawed they write things low enough for basses and they carry fine over orchestras. If Strauss and Wagner can write dramatic contralto arias then why can't other composers.
Great. Waiting for the next. Thank you.
It'll be coming soon, I promise!!💜
I disagree that singers need to limit themselves only to the Fach system. It’s part of why some singers are fed up with being restricted.
Oh my lord--between this and your SJW tangents on the other contralto videos about androgyny, just stop. The Fach system helps protect the vocal cords. Knowing your fach helps to keep one from straining or completely blowing out their vocal cords due to trying to achieve a technique/texture/weight demand. I do think that as one matures and develops their talents vocally, they can expand beyond that, but the fach system is a pretty important base in knowing where to start COMFORTABLY, without the ignorance of just stepping into the jungle, unaware. Out there be tigers, my friend. The fach helps one understand their limits as well as their talents, and why some things may just simply not be possible for their particular classification.
Your childish attempts to insult will be ignored henceforth in regards to my person. Otherwise, to address your comments, in reality, any healthy singer worth their salt can research how to take care of their voice and how to research to do healthy natural vocal protection either on their own (such as Franco Corelli did) OR you find a qualified trained voice teacher with knowledge in vocal pedagogy without resorting to an outdated voice restriction system. One can mature and develop their vocal skills safely and naturally with such a teacher and who will help them to learn to either not exceed the natural appoggio of the voice or to remain stuck in one place - call them "one-trick" ponies. Neither is healthy for any voice.
@@dagansgamingbox6604 Also, in regards to the Fach System - I'm not the only one who has made observations of the fundamental flaws with it - these articles help discuss the topic further. - operaversity.com/performance/fach-yeah-the-pros-and-cons-of-the-fach-system;
www.ipasource.com/the-fach-system
@@EmilyGloeggler7984 I saw your initial comment and nothing about my replies are SJW. I stand by what I said, and find it rather ironic that you said you'd ignore what you assume to be insults, yet chose to reply so lengthily--twice, and so readily become condescending towards anyone who dares use the term 'androgyny' to help identify the contralto fach in every video I've seen you comment on that uses it as a qualifier. The insulting, if anyone is doing it, would be *your* doing.
If you re-read, I more or less stated that it's a base to make one aware of limitations--as a classification would generally imply per difference. Vocal strain is incredibly easy to fall victim to if you DON'T know your limitations or have a base comfortable to start in.
Either way, you're free to disagree with me all you want. That's your take on it. I just wished you weren't so condescending to people that have tried to inform the curious based what these instructors themselves have learned. If you disagree with their information, that's not always their fault. Simple as that. It's a bad source of knowledge, not a bad teacher.
@@dagansgamingbox6604 I totally agree with you. If you're not trained properly in your own fach, you risk damaging your voice. Everybody has their limits, even though you can gain a few more notes with professional training. You can't train a contralto like a soprano. The renowned David Jones explains it very well in his articles.
Where's Marian Anderson!?! Also thanks for this!
I'm a composer, and I want to be writing my first opera soon(-ish). I have an idea for a character who seems to be fitting the category of a "dramatic contralto", if not, at least a "lyric contralto". Should I refrain from using these vocal types as of now since I am still in high school?
I warn you straightaway I won't be objective.
The contralto voice is one of the rarest female voices. Their voice isn't really as developped below their forties. This is a precious voice which needs a lot of maturity, control and stamina.
However! If you write for a contralto, this doesn't mean another voice wouldn't be able to sing it. The quality won't PERHAPS be as contralty as you expect but still works!
Nowadays they aren't many roles created for them anymore and I think it would really be amazing for your opera to have a contralto aria...
SO, yes you should haha!
Thank you!
No, please, give us an opportunity to shine. And when I say us, I am not an opera singer but believe my voice falls in the dramatic to lyric contralto range and would like more things to practice as an outsider to the opera house world.
@@romain4705 finally somebody with an intelligent comment.
This video is wonderfully informative. However, I think the author may have confused elitist opinion for technique in parts of the video but still a valuable watch.
2:22 to skip the unnecessarily condescending intro.
At first I didn't see the comment about monstrous singing before the Netrebko clip and I was like uhhh, what???
Whats that first song called?? I forgot oof
Ewa Podles how can you forget this amazing singer.....??? Anyway I do hope farewell........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Horrible voice
you could have described the fach system without insulting literally everyone you dont need to be an elitist to enjoy music n every singer doesnt fit nicely into the fach system so its actually restricting as hell
Im so sorry you feel that way! However, compared to the Golden Age of Opera singers (Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, Birgit Nilsson, Flagstad, and so many others), today's singers are SIGNIFICANTLY worse than what I would consider to be the minimum standard. That doesnt mean I dont love the singers I insulted; Prime Netrebko and Damrau are both BREATHTAKING! However, we see what happens when one ventures out of their fach and STAYS out of it, and that was the result.
Peanut LaBelle in this is why classical musicians are viewed as uptight. There is so need to insult other musicians the way they you did. Fach systems are a box that restrict people from exploring other parts of your voice. They can be helpful when your first learning how to sing, but you shouldn’t stick to that. A voice is a voice and has many colors and ranges and should NEVER be restricted. Maybe you should expand your world of music so you can learn not to bring other people down.
Peanut LaBelle I am in my first semester of studying to be an opera singer. So I am not super educated yet but I do think that it was very harsh and unnecessary the way you insulted them as I am sure they worked incredibly hard to be where they are.
@@PeanutLaBelle yeah this is ugly and just mean to some of these singers.
@@PeanutLaBelle I completely agree with you. And I am sorry about those offended, but bad singers have to be exposed in order to preserve the good quality in art. We are not insulting the person; we are saying only what is evident: Netrebko and some others are NOT singing well, and they should not be onstage. That is a fact. I really do not understand why people get so angry about it. Those singers are not students or children, they are supposed to be professionals who earn a huge amount of money per concert, and they are being hired by some of the most important venues in the world. If people are going to pay more than 100 euros or dollars or whatever, they have the right to listen to something amazing, not a bunch of men and women shouting or with a voice that is completely ingolata.
The old Italian systems are important and healthy and desirable. I wish the teachers taught them in the conservatories!
is the way they tend to look really one of the defining characteristics, or why is this mentioned exactly?
Build effects resonance. As well as your face shape. So high cheek bones can contribute to purer vowels and better resonance as well.
@@victoriacannady8277 I'm not saying there isn't a link, and I wouldn't mind an elaborate explanation on the whole topic, but it's not necessary for contralto to have the body type mentioned in the video, so it's a rather arbitrary observation.
@@reasonablyserious that is true. It doesnt apply to all and she doesnt mention it in the other categories. I would have left it out. Maybe it is one of the key defining characteristics. It is for me definately. Im 5'9". With a large bone structure.
Pour moi le contralto tel qu'il est décrit correspond à la voix moyenne des femmes. La tessiture du fa2 au fa4 ou du F3 au F5 en notation américaine correspond plus ou moins à la tessiture moyenne des femmes qui serait décalée non-pas d'une octave par rapport à celle des hommes mais un peu moins aux environs de 9 ou 8 demi-tons. La tessiture moyenne des hommes correspondrait à celle de baryton du sol1 au la3 ou du G2 au A4. Une sixte environ plus haut pour les femmes cela donnerait une tessiture moyenne du mi2 au fa4 ou du E3 au F5 donc très proche de la description habituelle de la voix de contralto. Il existerait en dessous une voix plus grave pour les femmes qui correspondrait à l'ancienne dénomination de contreténor altus qui est devenu contreténor pour les hommes et voix d'alto pour les femmes. La tessiture irait du ré2 au ré4 ou du D3 au D5. Dans une chorale de chanson contemporaine à quatre voix la voix d'alto est centrée plus ou moins sur cette note ré3 ou D4 avec un ambitus qui va à peu près du fa2 au si3 ou du F3 au B4. La voix de soprane correspondrait non-pas à celle de soprano mais à celle de mezzo-soprano centrée sur le la3 ou A4 avec un ambitus qui va à peu près du do3 au fa4 ou du C4 au F5.
My range is a C3 to F5, occasionally hitting a G5.. I'd say I'm more of a dramatic contralto, but most pieces out there have top notes out of my range, which sucks..
This is statistically doubtful. Do you sing classically?
@@XxQueenChristinaxX yes I do
Most pieces suitable for contraltos don't go above around an F so I'm not sure why you're struggling so much? Maybe you're trying more mezzo type arias?
@@livrowland171 yeah they’re mostly mezzo arias.. I sing mainly in a church so any pieces I work on has to be somewhat suitable for a church.. not much contralto stuff available there :( that being said, my range has expanded, so it’s not much of a problem now!
@@PriscinaSkyy OK, cool. Not sure what kind of church you go to, but for example Handel's contralto solos in the Messiah are churchy and don't go above around an E as far as I remember. How high do you go these days? Do you have any tips on improving high notes? :-) I also struggle much above an F generally.
00:40 Anna Netrebko?
Guys, the first singer to sing is a contralto or soprano?
In the intro or the monstroys singers? In the intro, those are both sopranos! That would be Maria Callas and Beverly Sills! So sorry if that confused you! But if you are referring to the monstrous singers, the first one was a Soprano, followed by a mezzo and another soprano.
@@PeanutLaBelle who were the monstrous singers? I was horrified for them.
D.M. Nunyabizness The Monstrous singers in the beginning were Anna Netrebko, Katherine Jenkins, and Diana Damrau. Quite frankly, Diana Damrau and Anna Netrebko could have been promising singers if they hadn’t destroyed their voices by singing otherworldly repertoire.
Can someone explain how I could be a contralto but all alto notes are too high for me (if it's above a G4)?
Training. Find a good teacher.
You are a bass. Not a contralto lol
Hi, thank you very much for your video. I have a question : I am at ease and able to sing low notes until B2,A2, does it means that I am necessarily a contralto (and specially a dramatic contralto) ? I mean if I am able to sing so low, does it mean that it's impossible for me to be possibly a mezzo or a soprano ? (I am not a coloratura because the high range is not confortable for me, but I can sing a A5 or B5 but not ofently in a song). I can sing really very low and I am confortable until the medium range (E5-F5), but I am able to sing high notes too but not too much...I ask you this question because I am not sure to have the color of a contralto. Thank you very much for your answer.
You can definently stretch your voice upwards, vocal type is often noy determined by range, but rather by the "sound" of your voice i supose, maybe you have a very wide range, but havent fully extended it as much as you can?
I am a fan of Dame Clara back before her recordings were a century, but the lost chord gives me the creeps.
This video needs an update to include Ewa Podles.
No
Je ne comprends pas certains choix : pour moi marie nicole lemieux glousse et chante ses graves dans la gorge. Sonia prima manque vraiment de clarté et n'a pas de ligne vocale
Anna Netrepko is No dramatic soprano!!
Her voice changed after she giving birth, so....
She is still no dramatic soprano. She is still a lyric soprano.
@@SingerGeneLeonard
I think that it isn't metter, she is still singing dramatic arias great
@@user-sp3fe4fz3c...Originally she has leggero voice type but her voice is destroyed
@@ErfeanFalcorck destroyed by what?
I though tessitura was the same as vocal range?
alright, got it: music.stackexchange.com/questions/45268/what-is-the-difference-between-tessitura-and-range
I guess google is my friend... even though they're also an evil multinational Big Data corpororation :(
Eva Podles ＝ Amazing contralto 💝
Ewa*
No
No Ewa Podleš?
Oh my goodness! I could have SWORN I put her in the video; I have the edited clip sitting on my desktop! Forgive my incompetence, Podles is absolutely amazing, and I had a wonderful clip that I was SO EXCITED to put into the video. I dont know what I was doing to not have included her.
Peanut LaBelle, no worries one bit. Would love to see the clip you would’ve put :)
Didnt scroll down first. I COMPLETELY agree.
autant je trouve magnifiques les choix des deux premieres categories, autant Je ne comprends pas le choix des contraltos coloratour , les trois exemples sont assez affligeants : une voix immature, une qui glousse et force ses graves, et enfin une qui tressaute en chantant et émet de la bouille
I always thought that Anna Netrebko is a genius
No she’s plain horrible
eh....you have a mix of good singers with clear, natural voices and and throaty singers who sing with a knodle. either way, there isn't really such a thing as a "lyric" contralto. you have contraltos who are dramatic, and contraltos who are...more dramatic.
Molte affermazioni di questo video mostrano solo che chi l'ha commentato conosce assai poco la vocalità. Con quale presunzione scrivere "A classical VERITY". Sonia Prima, Eunice Alberts, Aafje Heynis sembrano mezzosoprani, anche chiari. La Ferrier, Clara Butt sono effettivamente contralti. La voce - scurissima - della Ferrier contralto-lirico? Ma ha mai sentito Dal Lied von der Erde? Denn es gehet dem Menschen di Brahms?? Manca, oltretutto, un altro vero contralto: Marian Anderson. Insomma poche idea e sbagliate.
ruclips.net/video/h5JTnYTqXaE/видео.html&ab_channel=BATHSHEEBA%2aMamtaDhody
ruclips.net/video/bzfJnT84-Yc/видео.html&ab_channel=CzarDodon
No Ewa Podles? Possibly the truest and greatest contralto of our time.
See pinned comment above.
I think she is/was amazing but I object to her own statement that a 'true' contralto should have a range like hers. Seems unduly discouraging to most lower-voiced women to say they're not acceptable if they can't sing from baritone Bflat to a soprano Eflat...
Ewa Podles is not a 'true' contralto. In fact, she was originally classified as a soprano when she first began singing classically, and in her own words her voice has lowered to mezzo since then. She is singing contralto. She is not a contralto.
@@KajiVocals Right Right Right.
Woofy, ugly and strange
what if a contralto tessitura be between E3-E6 would be still considered coloratura contralto?
Contraltos are dramatic, if they are real contraltos. Lighter voices are higher voices. Gwendolyn Brown is worse than Netrebko by the way.
In the moment he said "throaty" I finished reading. All rubbish!!!
Sonia Prina is simply HORRENDOUS...
A contralto is a contralto so this whole video is wishful thinking...
@Adonister87
Yes but very common