h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Why is opera sung (by women, at least) so high up? (not familiar with strict musical terminology, so that'll have to do.) is it really necessary? wouldn't it sound much more pleasant if it were sung normally and not so shrieky? (I think so.) Is there an actual reason, apart from taste, or is it a conspiracy to prevent the majority from being able to perform/enjoy it?

While I don't know any definate answers, I'd imagine one possible reason is that high pitched screaching noises (also referred to as tennor, falsetto or that-extremely-annoying-device-for-breaking-glass-with-no-apparent-reason) seem to travel farther than the more booming, bass voices.

I can't be too sure though. Once upon a time I did hear someone say that lower octave sounds travel farther than upper octave sounds. I suppose this would negate my entire response, so who knows?

thinking about it, I'd reckon that low sounds go further than nasty squeaky shrieking. or maybe that's just what I'd prefer to hear...

High sounds are more easily heard over an orchestra than low sounds. It takes more energy to produce a low sound than a high sound, so a singer gets better value for money if they sing high. People's voices naturally go higher in pitch when they are excited, so a high pitch is considered more dramatic than a low one. Even songs which are written low often end in a high flourish to bring down the house.

There are certainly plenty of low songs in opera. Mozart detested tenors so he wrote a lot of songs for basses. Purcell wrote a lovely alto "Dido's Lament". But in general you don't see "The Three Basses", or the world-class alto diva.

Brings a whole new meaning to 'did you get to 3rd bass'

oh, and low sounds travel further, hence elephants communicating via subsonics and whales as well.

How about the three Castrato?

...or is it Castrati?

are they those little Cuban cigars?

Those Cuban Cigars that have no nuts!

I think Opera would be vastly improved if they all took up mime instead. Wagners Ring cycle would then be lots of people running around with swords and anvils, totally unable to get out of invisible boxes.

Hope that helps.

Opera: You stick a sword into someone and they start singing instead of bleeding.

I'm not exactly sure what the original question means. There isn't just one type of voice in opera. There is coloratura soprano, lyric soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, contralto.

I agree that many opera singers do overuse their vibrato (the wavering in the tone). But, there are many singers I do enjoy listening to (Miriam Gauci, for one). She has a much lighter voice than many of her contemporaries and just seems to float in her upper register, rather than strain to hang by the fingertips, metaphorically. Some singers haven't learned to properly transition from their chest voice to their head voice either.

I'm sure there's a guide entry about it.

Having just read "Maskerade" (again) by Terry Pratchett, I think I have now heard all the jokes about operas.

However, if you take something like the Queen of the Night's solo from the Magic Flute - which is one of the highest things any soprano can be asked to sing - the effect is (if done properly) suitably ethereal, as the Queen of the Night, is, of course, not an ordinary mortal.

It also acts as a contrast to the lower voices. And when several people are singing at once, it means you can hear each one individually, but still enjoy the harmony of the duet/trio/quartet.

Not knowing anything about opera, and very little about singing, I'll stop there.

I mean, it's different from non-opera singing. Make any sense? (and apart from the approximation of singing by chart types etc.) It's all 'up there' somewhere; if they were singing in a non-operatic way, it would (to me) sound far more pleasant.
or maybe I'm suffering from subconscious soprano envy (being alto and therefore stuck on the less catered for side of the piano)... or a manifestation of desire to destroy Charlotte Church.