Fach vs. Voice Type: A Call for Critical Discussion

Abstract

TO TEACH HEALTHY AND EFFICIENT PHONATION may be the primary task of a voice teacher, yet there remain many other significant duties to be addressed. Among these obligations is the preparation of the singer to advance to the next level of education or professional work, and it is common for voice teachers to be judged as much (if not more) by their students' professional success as the amount of technical progress the students make while in that studio. For the training of singers hoping to launch a career in opera, an important part of preparation for auditions is the selection and perfection of an audition package. The selection of the arias for this package depends not only on the vocal qualities and restrictions of the singer in question, but also on current casting trends and market expectations. To offer an aria in the package that does not fit the current conception of that particular voice type, whether the inappropriateness of the role be pedagogically justifiable or merely a matter of taste, is to run the risk of exclusion from invitations to audition. Indeed, one hears directors explain that upon receiving hundreds of requests for auditions, any aspect of the application that points to a lack of professional preparation, such as inappropriate repertoire, offers an easy means by which to exclude those singers who are not yet ready to be heard. This process of reducing the applicant pool to a feasible number of singers, while frustrating to those who do not make the cut, is necessary for companies to save time and money. In order to choose appropriate repertoire for auditions, then, a teacher must be sure not to suggest arias that are outside the expectations of a potential casting director. The most effective way to avoid such a faux pas is to be familiar with current casting trends, which are codified according to the always evolving Fach system. The problem with this system lies in the seemingly inextricable conflation of Fach and voice type. The system was indeed organized according to voice type, yet its fluidity demands the separation of the two. Despite the fact that Fach listings carry the titles of particular voice types, to consider Fach and voice classification synonymous would be to allow for the possibility that voice classification, like Fach, is dependent on market trends. Just as voice classification depends primarily on ease of tessitura, timbre, and agility, so too can various roles be distinguished as appropriate for particular voice types according to the demands inherent in the score. As tastes change, however, casting trends emerge that have little to do with the actual demands of the score. Our collective expectations of vocal timbre for the portrayal of particular characteristics (femininity, masculinity, promiscuity, chasteness, etc.) shift, and the casting trends for particular types of roles shift correspondingly. Compounding the problem are technological advances, which now allow opera fans to (repeatedly) view singers at close range via DVD, making this shift in expectations not just one of vocal timbre, but also of body type. These demands on casting to satisfy fluid sociocultural expectations move roles about in the Fach listings regardless of the roles' tessitura, agility, or orchestration demands. Voice classification is a description of the capabilities and limitations of an instrument, a physiological fact akin to-if not as easy to determine as-a person's height or eye color. Of course, the voice changes as it matures, and the manner in which an instrument is treated (hygiene and technique) can alter its capabilities and limitations. Yet these alterations serve to highlight or hinder qualities already present in the potential of the given instrument, not to change the instrument into another. To alter the body or strings on a violin, for instance, would not make it a viola, nor vice versa. Continuing with this analogy, even the loss of the upper strings of the violin would not render it a viola, though it would lose the majority of the sounds most commonly associated with the violin. …

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