# Opera question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-question/295416 "2005-03-20T13:12:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-question/295416/1 "2005-03-20T13:12:22Z")
I don’t know a lot about opera, so I apologize if I’m making some false assumptions. It seems as if most operas follow a pattern in regards to the singing style of their lead parts. That is, heroine=soprano, and hero=tenor. If that’s true, what do they do if they want to feature a famous diva who does not fit this pattern? Bryn Terfel is a magnificent baritone (I believe it’s called), and Cecilia Bartoli is a mezzo soprano. So can the arias of the lead parts be altered to accommodate the ranges of the stars of the day? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-question/295416/2 "2005-03-20T13:36:35Z")
No, singers have different repertoires according to their vocal ranges. Bartoli has only ever performed 5 roles live Despina (Cosi Fan Tutti), Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro), Zerlina (Fra Diavolo), Rosina (The Barber of Seville) and Cenerentola (the title role it’s Cinderella). Famous mezzo-soprano roles include Carmen (Bizet’s Carmen), Delilah (Saint-Saens Samson and Delilah), Azucena (Verdi’s Il trovatore). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-question/295416/3 "2005-03-20T13:44:17Z")
While trying to find you a list of baritone roles to compare with tenor roles I found this little beauty - [Opera roles](http://www.bohemianopera.com/roles_af.htm) which explains the opera and voicing for virtually all opera roles. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-question/295416/4 "2005-03-20T14:04:15Z")
Since this is a question about The Arts, I’ll move it to our Cafe Society forum. **samclem** GQ moderator ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-question/295416/5 "2005-03-20T19:28:05Z")
Thanks, **don’t ask** , for both the website and your own info. So we’ll never see Cecilia Bartoli bust out and do a Countess Almaviva, eh? I always wondered. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-question/295416/6 "2005-03-20T20:06:31Z")
Hah! Your last question is ironic, because of course Rosina in _Barber of Seville_ is the same woman as Countess Almaviva in _Marriage of Figaro_. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-question/295416/7 "2005-03-20T21:55:43Z")
I do know this about the casting of major operas and performers at major opera houses: the decisions include many factors and variables, such as (sorry to say, cost), availability of singers, conductors, etc, but ultimately the decision to mount a particular production can not come down to putting two voices together that cannot sustain a particular opera - or vice versa. Today, no one would do that, but even if they tried, the result would no doubt be an artisitic mess, and therefore, no doubt a financial one. Operatic audiences are pretty sophisticated and wouldn’t appreciate singers working to take on a role that their voices are not correct for, and which they, therefore, had not mastered in their own particular repertory. Nope - bad idea. xo C. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-question/295416/8 "2005-03-20T21:59:02Z")
And of course, no singer would attemt any role that is not correct for his/her voice. That particular instrument needs loving care. They look for opportunities to sing just as opera companies look for the appropriate voices for their productions.