Operatic fachs can be confusing, but without knowledge of them you will never fully understand and identify with professional opera singers. Fachs are voice classifications like soprano or alto but indicate more than vocal range. They also categorize voices based on color (light or dark), size, and texture (heavy or light) of a voice.

Once you identify the various classifications and find which ones you prefer, you will have an easier time choosing operas to attend and cd’s to buy based on your own tastes.

Later when you assign your own voice to a particular fach, it will be easier to choose and learn music appropriate for you. Listed below are the most common types of sopranos. Click on the links marked "listen" to hear singers of each fach.

Soprano Acuto Sfogato: Soprano acuto sfogatos have the highest vocal range of all sopranos. They can sing and perform with ease above F6. Sometimes informally referred to as stratospheric coloratura sopranos, they have the same tone and weight as either a light or dramatic coloratura and sing the same roles.

• Roles - Same as light or dark coloraturas
• Soprano Acuto Sfogato - Susanna Foster  
• Listen to several clips of Maria Remolá

Light Coloratura: A very high and bright voice. Light coloraturas are known for their florid singing. Typical vocal range does not extend past F6 or below C4. Soprano leggero is a less common term referring to a light coloratura with a warmer tone.

• Roles - Juliette from Roméo et Juliette, Adele from Die Fledermaus 
• Light Coloratura - Beverly Sills

• Listen to Rachele Gilmore as Olympia in Tales of Hoffman

Dramatic Coloratura: Dramatic coloraturas have the same qualities as light coloraturas, but their voices are darker, heavier, and often larger.

• Roles - Queen of the Night from The Magic Flute
• Dramatic Coloratura - Joan Sutherland
• Listen to this compilation of various sopranos singing the queen of the night aria

Soubrette: Soubrettes have a light, bright tone with a slightly lower range extending to C6 or high C. Roles for soubrettes tend to range from flirtatious maids to young boys. Many opera stars starting out as a soubrette, shift into larger more challenging roles in their later careers.

• Roles - Barbarina from the The Marriage of Figaro, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera
• Soubrettes - Kathleen Battle, Dawn Upshaw
• Listen to Dawn Upshaw singing Stravinsky

Light Lyric Soprano: Lyric sopranos are the most common soprano type; lyric meaning light. They sound tender and sweet with a warm, pleasing tone that carries over a full orchestra. They are typically cast in younger roles and often play the lead role in an opera. The light lyric soprano has a warm tone slightly more brilliant and smaller than the full lyric.

• Roles - Gretel from Hänsel und Gretel and La Contessa in the The Marriage of Figaro
• Light Lyrics - Lucia Popp and Anna Moffo
• Listen to Lucia Popp 

Full Lyric Soprano: Full lyrics have a warmer and larger voice than the light lyric soprano.

• Roles - Mimi from La bohème
• Full Lyric - Renée Fleming
• Listen to Fleming singing Casta Diva

Spinto Soprano: Spintos have a heavier and darker sound than the lyric soprano, but not as heavy and dark as the dramatic soprano.

• Roles - Lyric and some dramatic roles
• Spintos - Leontyne Price and Renata Tebaldi
• Listen to Leontyne Price

Dramatic Soprano: Large voice with a darker timbre and significantly more volume than other sopranos. Typically their voices are a bit lower with a range between C4 or middle C to D6.

• Roles - Norma in Norma and Die Kaiserin in Die Frau ohne Schatten
• Dramatic Soprano - Jessye Norman
• Listen to Jessye Norman singing the same role as Leontyne Price

Wagnerian Soprano: Dramatic sopranos who specialize in singing Wagner. Their voices sing over large orchestras of 80 or 100 instruments. Their voices are the darkest, largest, and project the farthest as compared to other sopranos.

• Roles - Isolde from Tristan und Isolde and Brünnhilde from Die Walküre
• Wagnerian Sopranos -Deborah Voigt, Jane Eagle, and Birgit Nilsson
• Listen to Birgit Nillson