Editing Opera (section)

==Operatic voices==
Operatic vocal technique evolved, in a time before electronic amplification, to allow singers to produce enough volume to be heard over an orchestra, without the instrumentalists having to substantially compromise their volume.

===Vocal classifications===
Singers and the roles they play are classified by [[voice type]], based on the [[tessitura]], [[vocal weight|agility, power]] and [[timbre]] of their voices. Male singers can be classified by [[vocal range]] as [[bass (voice type)|bass]], [[bass-baritone]], [[baritone]], [[baritenor]], [[tenor]] and [[countertenor]], and female singers as [[contralto]], [[mezzo-soprano]] and [[soprano]]. (Men sometimes sing in the "female" vocal ranges, in which case they are termed [[sopranist]] or countertenor. The countertenor is commonly encountered in opera, sometimes singing parts written for [[castrati]]—men neutered at a young age specifically to give them a higher singing range.) Singers are then further classified by size—for instance, a soprano can be described as a lyric soprano, [[coloratura]], [[soubrette]], [[spinto]], or dramatic soprano. These terms, although not fully describing a singing voice, associate the singer's voice with the roles most suitable to the singer's vocal characteristics.

Yet another sub-classification can be made according to acting skills or requirements, for example the ''[[basso buffo]]'' who often must be a specialist in [[Patter song|patter]] as well as a comic actor. This is carried out in detail in the ''[[Fach]]'' system of German speaking countries, where historically opera and spoken [[drama]] were often put on by the same [[repertory]] company.

A particular singer's voice may change drastically over his or her lifetime, rarely reaching vocal maturity until the third decade, and sometimes not until middle age. Two French voice types, ''premiere dugazon'' and ''deuxieme dugazon'', were named after successive stages in the career of [[Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre]] (Mme. Dugazon). Other terms originating in the star casting system of the [[Paris Opera#See also|Parisian theatres]] are ''[[Jean-Blaise Martin|baryton-martin]]'' and [[soprano]] ''[[Cornélie Falcon|falcon]]''.

===Historical use of voice parts===
:''The following is only intended as a brief overview. For the main articles, see [[soprano]], [[mezzo-soprano]], [[contralto]], [[tenor]], [[baritone]], [[bass (voice type)|bass]], [[countertenor]] and [[castrato]]''.

The soprano voice has typically been used as the voice of choice for the female protagonist of the opera since the latter half of the 18th century. Earlier, it was common for that part to be sung by any female voice, or even a [[castrato]]. The current emphasis on a wide vocal range was primarily an invention of the [[Classical period (music)|Classical period]]. Before that, the vocal virtuosity, not range, was the priority, with soprano parts rarely extending above a high [[A (musical note)|A]] ([[George Frideric Handel|Handel]], for example, only wrote one role extending to a high [[C (musical note)|C]]), though the castrato [[Farinelli]] was alleged to possess a top [[D (musical note)|D]] (his lower range was also extraordinary, extending to tenor C). The mezzo-soprano, a term of comparatively recent origin, also has a large repertoire, ranging from the female lead in Purcell's ''Dido and Aeneas'' to such heavyweight roles as Brangäne in Wagner's ''Tristan und Isolde'' (these are both roles sometimes sung by sopranos; there is quite a lot of movement between these two voice-types). For the true contralto, the range of parts is more limited, which has given rise to the insider joke that contraltos only sing "witches, bitches, and [[breeches role|britches]]" roles. In recent years many of the "trouser roles" from the Baroque era, originally written for women, and those originally sung by castrati, have been reassigned to countertenors.

The tenor voice, from the Classical era onwards, has traditionally been assigned the role of male protagonist. Many of the most challenging tenor roles in the repertory were written during the ''bel canto'' era, such as [[Donizetti]]'s sequence of 9 Cs above middle C during ''[[La fille du régiment]]''. With Wagner came an emphasis on vocal heft for his protagonist roles, with this vocal category described as ''Heldentenor''; this heroic voice had its more Italianate counterpart in such roles as Calaf in Puccini's ''Turandot''. Basses have a long history in opera, having been used in ''opera seria'' in supporting roles, and sometimes for comic relief (as well as providing a contrast to the preponderance of high voices in this genre). The bass repertoire is wide and varied, stretching from the comedy of Leporello in ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' to the nobility of Wotan in [[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Wagner's ''Ring Cycle'']], to the conflicted King Phillip of Verdi's ''[[Don Carlos]]''. In between the bass and the tenor is the baritone, which also varies in weight from say, Guglielmo in Mozart's ''Così fan tutte'' to Posa in Verdi's ''Don Carlos''; the actual designation "baritone" was not standard until the mid-19th century.

===Famous singers===
[[File:Senesino portrait edited.jpg|thumb|upright|The castrato [[Senesino]], {{Circa|1720}}]]
Early performances of opera were too infrequent for singers to make a living exclusively from the style, but with the birth of commercial opera in the mid-17th century, professional performers began to emerge. The role of the male hero was usually entrusted to a [[castrato]], and by the 18th century, when Italian opera was performed throughout Europe, leading castrati who possessed extraordinary vocal virtuosity, such as [[Senesino]] and [[Farinelli]], became international stars. The career of the first major female star (or [[prima donna]]), [[Anna Renzi]], dates to the mid-17th century. In the 18th century, a number of Italian sopranos gained international renown and often engaged in fierce rivalry, as was the case with [[Faustina Bordoni]] and [[Francesca Cuzzoni]], who started a fistfight with one another during a performance of a Handel opera. The French disliked castrati, preferring their male heroes to be sung by an [[haute-contre]] (a high tenor), of which [[Joseph Legros]] (1739–1793) was a leading example.{{sfn|Parker|1994|loc=ch. 11}}
<!-- EDITORIAL NOTE -
1) Please do not add every well-known singer to this concluding sentence. It is meant to give a few examples only of historic singers.
2) If you feel you must add yet another one, they should be ones who have had a *significant presence in mass media* outside the opera house.
-->

Though opera patronage has decreased in the last century in favor of other arts and media (such as musicals, cinema, radio, television and recordings), mass media and the advent of recording have supported the popularity of many famous singers including [[Anna Netrebko]], [[Maria Callas]], [[Enrico Caruso]], [[Amelita Galli-Curci]], [[Kirsten Flagstad]], [[Mario Del Monaco]], [[Renata Tebaldi]], [[Risë Stevens]], [[Alfredo Kraus]], [[Franco Corelli]], [[Montserrat Caballé]], [[Joan Sutherland]], [[Birgit Nilsson]], [[Nellie Melba]], [[Rosa Ponselle]], [[Beniamino Gigli]], [[Jussi Björling]], [[Feodor Chaliapin]], [[Cecilia Bartoli]], [[Elena Obraztsova]], [[Renée Fleming]], [[Galina Vishnevskaya]], [[Marilyn Horne]], [[Bryn Terfel]], [[Dmitri Hvorostovsky]] and [[The Three Tenors]] ([[Luciano Pavarotti]], [[Plácido Domingo]], [[José Carreras]]).