Voice Articles

Article / Updated 09-16-2022

Vibrato, the variation of a sustained tone or pitch, is one of the differences between singers and styles of music — how much vibrato they use and whether they use it all the time. A normal vibrato rate is five to eight pulses or fluctuations in the tone per second. Vibrato can be fast or slow, depending on the singer. A really slow vibrato is sometimes called a wobble, which is often created by a lack of breath coordination. Vibrato that’s too fast is called a tremolo and usually results from too much tension somewhere in the throat or neck area. When you sing, one option is to use straight tone, with no vibrato or variation in the tone. You can use straight tone when you sing various styles of music, but you want the straight tone to be a choice, because it’s a different sound. Knowing how to move from straight tone to a tone with vibrato is important in adding variety to your singing tone. Young male singers (before they hit puberty) don’t have vibrato, but almost everyone else has it or can acquire it. One way to understand vibrato is to listen to other singers, especially classical singers. Almost every classical singer has vibrato. Listen to the pitches as the singer holds them out, to hear the variation of the tone. After you spend some time listening to others, record yourself singing a song that has sustained pitches. Listen to the recording of you singing. Notice the variations of your tone as you hold out the pitches. You may find that the vibrato was there all along, and you just didn’t know it or didn’t know what it was called. Common vibrato patterns Classical singers use vibrato on sustained tones except in some contemporary or modern music and early classical music. For this material, they use straight tone and vibrato. Musical theater singers use both vibrato and straight tone. Vibrato is commonly used in earlier musical theater and straight tone is often used in contemporary material. Musical theater singers often start the note with straight tone and then allow the vibrato to come in. Folk singers tend to use straight tone and some vibrato. The rate or variations in pitch during vibrato are not as drastic in the folk singer compared to the classical singer. If you think of vibrato as an ornament to the sound, then the classical singer uses lots of vibrato to ornament the material and the folk singer uses only some vibrato. Rock, pop, country, and R&B singers often use straight tone and some vibrato on sustained tones. Because these styles of music have fewer sustained tones than classical music, the singers have fewer opportunities to use vibrato; therefore, it isn’t considered a characteristic of the style. That doesn’t mean the artists don’t use it, but they use it more sparingly than a classical singer. The artist singing the style of music may have to adjust the use of vibrato when singing different styles of material because some artists cross over between styles of music.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-02-2022

The best way to become a better singer is to work on singing exercises that help you improve your tone and technique. These exercises can range from simple vocal warm-ups to drills that help you build your skills and fine-tune your sound. After you warm up your voice, you’re ready to tackle the world of vocal exercises, starting with a drills for practicing breath control and working on your tone.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-25-2022

As an opera fan, you may be familiar with the range of opera voices and basic opera terms. If you’re a more recent aficionado, you may benefit from tips on how to choose an opera to attend and what to do when you’re at the opera house. And any opera lover can benefit from scanning a timeline of some of the greatest operas ever written.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 09-24-2021

The craft of singing requires you to do several things at one time starting with aligning your body and breathing. Whether you’re preparing for an audition or a performance, the successful presentation of any song includes preparing yourself as well as your song.

Article / Updated 06-20-2019

Breathing is breathing, right? Not so with singing. For singers, good breath control and strong lungs contribute to powerful performances. It all begins with knowing how to breathe from deep within your body — from your diaphragm, actually, which is a membrane of muscle and tendons located between your lungs and abdomen. Follow this checklist to ensure that your breathing helps make your singing better: Each breath drops low in the body. Open your throat to prevent gasping. Chest stays steady as you inhale. Body movement consists of the lower abdominal area and the ribs expanding upon inhalation. With exhalation, the abdominal area moves in as the air is slowly released.

Article / Updated 02-15-2017

Always kick off a practice session by warming up your voice for 10 to 20 minutes. Select a vocal exercise that starts in the part of your voice that’s easy to sing. Sing the warm-up exercise softly at first and then gradually increase your volume. Here’s an exercise you can use to get your voice warmed up and ready to practice. It starts lower in your voice and gradually moves up the scale. The exercise lists the word hum because humming (singing a note with your teeth open and your lips closed) is a great way to warm up the voice. Feel free to use this exercise and move higher or lower in your range to help warm up your entire voice. Even if you don’t read music, you can use this exercise as a warm-up because the pattern in the figure sounds like the first three notes of the chorus in “Do-Re-Mi,” the song the children sing with Maria in The Sound of Music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Using the song as a guide, think of the notes in the pattern as using the syllables do-re-mi-re-do.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

The four singing voice types are soprano, mezzo, tenor, and bass. Even though these names sound like characters in a mob movie, they're nothing to be afraid of. Under each voice type heading, you discover specific traits about each voice type: the range, register transitions, voice tone, and any subdivisions of that voice type, as well as the names of a few famous singers to help you put a sound with the voice type. Soprano: Singing on top The soprano has the highest range of the female voice types. The following aspects are characteristic of her voice type: Range: Often Middle C to High C although some sopranos can vocalize way beyond High C and much lower than Middle C. A soprano is expected to have a High C and many sopranos can sing up to the G or A above High C. Choral directors or musical directors listen for the singer's comfort zone when determining if the singer is a soprano. Although a mezzo can reach some of these higher notes, a soprano is capable of singing high notes more frequently than a mezzo. Register transitions: Because not all sopranos are the same, the register transitions don't occur on just one note. The transitions usually occur as the soprano shifts out of chest voice around the E-flat just above Middle C and into her head voice around F-sharp (fifth line on top of the staff) in the octave above Middle C. Strength: A soprano's strength is a strong head voice. Voice tone: The soprano voice is usually bright and ringing. Weakness: Sopranos have a harder time projecting in middle voice. Subdivisions: High, higher, highest — okay, that's not exactly technically accurate, but most other voice types have subdivisions that fill in the gaps. Common Performance Roles: The soprano is usually the lead in the show, such as Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Marian the Librarian in The Music Man, and Mimi in La Bohème. Naming Names: Famous sopranos you may know include Dolly Parton, Julie Andrews, Sara Brightman, Maria Callas, and Olivia Newton John. Mezzo: The low female voice The difference between a mezzo (mezzo is the abbreviated term for mezzo-soprano) and a soprano is often tessitura.(Tessitura refers to where most of the notes lie in a song — the notes that a voice feels most comfortable singing.) Many mezzos can sing as high as a soprano, but they can't stay as high as a soprano. For example, some roles in operatic literature require the mezzo to sing as high as the soprano lead, but the mezzo doesn't have to remain that high as long as a soprano does — thank goodness — because the mezzo comfort zone is usually different than the soprano; mezzos prefer to live in their middle voices. On the other hand, a soprano hates to live in her middle voice all day, preferring to sing high notes and soar above the orchestra. To further confuse you, many sopranos sing mezzo repertoire. How dare they! That's not fair, but it's a fact. As in other aspects of life, after the soprano becomes famous, she sings repertoire that she enjoys and that may be music written for somebody else, such as mezzos. So just because a soprano sings a song doesn't mean it's a soprano song. You have to look at the details, such as range of the song, and decide if that range fits your voice. Range: The mezzo range is usually G below Middle C to a High B or High C. Many mezzos vocalize as high as a soprano but can't handle the repetition of the upper notes. Register: The register transitions for the mezzo usually occur at E or F (first space) just above Middle C and the E or F (fifth line) one octave above that. Strength: Mezzos have a strong middle voice. Voice tone: The mezzo voice is usually darker or deeper than her soprano counterpart. Weakness: A mezzo's head voice is often her weakness. Subdivisions: One subdivision of mezzo is contralto. Less common than mezzos, contraltos can usually sing from F below Middle C to about an F (fifth line) below High C. A contralto can vocalize or sing higher and has an even darker, richer color and is more at home in the lower part of her voice. Sometimes singers darken their voices intentionally to make themselves sound like contraltos. The contralto may take her chest voice dominated sound up to a G (second line) above Middle C and shift into head voice around the D (fourth line) an octave above Middle C. Examples of contraltos include Marian Anderson and Maureen Forrester. Common Performance Roles: The mezzo is often the mother, witch, or the sleazy girl in town. Her roles include such fun ones as Miss Hannigan in Annie, Mrs. Pots in Beauty and The Beast, Carmen in the opera Carmen, and Aunt Eller in Oklahoma! Naming Names: Famous mezzos you may know include Marilyn Horne, K.D. Lang, Lorrie Morgan, Patsy Cline, and Karen Carpenter. High-singing men: Tenor Thanks to the Three Tenors, The Irish Tenors, and even Three Mo' Tenors, you probably have a good idea of what a tenor sounds like. Range: The tenor range is about two octaves with many singing a little lower than C (second space in bass clef) and a little higher than the male High C (third space treble clef). Register: The tenor voice doesn't make a huge transition from his lower voice to his middle voice. His transition into his middle voice occurs around Middle C (or the E just above Middle C) and then a transition into head voice around F-sharp or G above Middle C. Strength: The tenor's strength is his head voice. Voice tone: The tenor voice is usually bright and ringing. Weakness: His weakness is often his lower voice. Subdivisions: In the musical-theater world, a subdivision of the tenor, called the bari/tenor, reigns. This voice type is someone with the power to project in the middle voice and the higher ringing money notes of the tenor. The other voice type that you frequently hear of in the opera world is the countertenor — a male singer who sounds like a female. This voice type sings in the same range as the mezzo (sometimes soprano) and sounds similar. When you've heard the countertenor singing enough, you can distinguish him from a mezzo. Until then, just enjoy the unique quality that these gentlemen bring to the singing world. Common Performance Roles: The tenor is almost always the lead, winning the girl at the end of the show. Examples include Rodolfo in La Bohème, Don José in Carmen, Tony in West Side Story, Billy in Chicago, and Rolf in The Sound of Music. Naming Names: Famous tenors you may know include Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and José Carreras, whom you may recognize as the Three Tenors, as well as John Denver, Enrico Caruso, Daniel Rodriguez (the Singing Cop), Elton John, and Stevie Wonder. The low lowdown on bass Bass is the lowest of the voice types. The bass is the guy that sings all the cool low notes in the barbershop quartet. Range: His range is usually F (below the bass clef staff) to E (first line treble clef) but can be as wide as E-flat to F. Register transitions: The bass changes from chest voice into middle voice around A or A-flat just below Middle C and changes into head voice around D or D-flat just above Middle C. Strength: His low voice is his strength. Voice tone: His voice is the deepest, darkest, and heaviest of the male voices. Weakness: His high voice is his weakness. Subdivisions: Filling in the middle between tenor and bass is the baritone. The baritone can usually sing from an A (first space bass clef) or F (first space treble clef) below the male High C. The bass-baritone has some height of the baritone and some depth of the bass and his range is usually A-flat (first space bass clef) to F (first space treble clef) and sometimes as high as G below the male High C. The baritone's register transitions usually occur at the A or B just below Middle C and the D or E above Middle C. Common Performance Roles: The bass or baritone is often the villain, father, or older man. Examples include Ramfis in Aïda, the Mikado in The Mikado, and Jud Fry in Oklahoma! Some exceptions to this villain image are King Arthur in Camelot, Porgy in Porgy and Bess, and the Toreador in Carmen. Naming Names: Famous basses you may know include Samuel Ramey, James Morris, José Van Dam, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Barry White.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

A voice lesson is usually a time when you're alone with your voice teacher, so you want to feel comfortable with that person and also feel positive about the work you're doing on your voice. In order to evaluate how well you work with your teacher, you need to know what you can expect from her. This article gives you an idea of what type of interaction to expect with your teacher in your lessons. Feeling good when you leave the voice lesson Feeling good about your lesson is a two-way road. The purpose of a lesson is to gain more information about singing, so you want your teacher to focus on the work. However, you need to able to shoulder her criticism well. During a voice lesson, you should be doing plenty of singing, and your teacher should be giving you feedback on the sounds that you're making and offering suggestions on ways to improve those sounds. Constructive criticism is about your singing technique and isn't directed at you personally. If you feel your teacher isn't giving you positive feedback, ask him. Focusing on the work helps you see the teacher's constructive criticism as a means to help you get to the next level. If you expect your teacher to do nothing more than gush over your talents, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Any teacher worth her salt won't shy away from telling you what you're doing wrong (or from telling you what you're doing right). Even if you find a teacher who does nothing but praise you, you're wasting your time because that type of lesson won't help you improve. To feel confident at each lesson, you need to make sure that you know what to practice. During your lesson, your teacher should suggest exercises for you to practice to help you improve your technique. She should then help you apply those concepts to songs that you're singing. If you aren't sure about what to practice, you can ask your teacher to clarify which exercises to focus on for the next lesson. Being good friends with your voice teacher isn't really all that important, but you should feel confident about the work you do in each lesson. Working with imagery and other vocal tools Because you can't see your voice, you have to have some tools to help you make changes. One way to obtain these tools is to make sure that your lesson involves work with a variety of techniques such as imagery. As your lessons develop your singing voice, the teacher may use images to help you understand how to make the best sounds. The teacher may ask you to notice the sensations as you sing, give you something to visualize as you sing, or give you something to listen for. All three approaches can work beautifully for you as you work on your voice. You may also find that one approach works best for you. Knowing which one works best for you is good, because you can translate what your teacher says into your own language. For instance, if your teacher describes something to you and explains the anatomy of why that worked, you may remember what it felt like when you made the best sounds. If you enjoy working with images, you can find a way to visualize the sound to enhance your experience. Don't fret if a teacher wants to explain physically what's happening. You may not want to know in the beginning, but later on, you may be glad that you understand why a particular image works. Applying tried-and-true singing methods Teaching people to sing is an old profession. If you encounter a teacher who claims to have a "never-before-revealed, life-altering system of teaching," be wary. You want a teacher who bases his teaching on facts and not just experiments. Your voice may be very different from your teacher's voice. That's not a problem if your teacher has been teaching for at least five years. He should've encountered different vocal problems and figured out a way to work with them. If you discuss lessons with a prospective teacher and she doesn't have a "system" of teaching, that's okay. Many great teachers combine all the information that they've encountered into their own method. You may need three to six months to really grasp the concepts in voice lessons and hear changes in your voice. You should hear changes within the first month, but the big concepts and tough technical exercises may take a while to gel. Enjoy each lesson with the understanding that you're on a journey that you can't make in one day.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Performance anxiety is a big problem among performers of all kinds and at all levels of experience. Finding ways of dealing with anxiety and turning nerves and adrenaline into positive forces in your performance are just as important as great technique. Whenever those butterflies in your stomach get out of hand, this article offers some dependable methods for working through your anxiety. Facing the symptoms of performance anxiety Knowing what you're afraid of is half the battle. After you pinpoint the source of your fear, you can take charge of it. The most common fears are Voice cracking during the performance and not being able to hit the high note Looking stupid in front of friends Forgetting the words to the song Fearing success or failure, rejection, or the unknown You may find comforting the knowledge that thousands of other singers face the same icky anxiety you feel right before a performance. The symptoms include butterflies in your stomach, shaky knees, dry mouth (sometimes called cottonmouth), a sudden urge to cry or run away, trembling hands, a racing heart rate, nausea, runny nose, cold hands but sweaty underarms, and the urge to pee no matter how many times you visit the bathroom. News Flash: Adrenaline isn't the enemy! In all honesty, you want a little adrenaline to boost your performance. Assuming that you must be calm before a performance is the same as setting yourself up for huge pangs of anxiety when you don't turn out to be as cool as a cucumber. Expecting to be nervous and jittery, on the other hand, can enable you to sing through your anxiety. In fact, you can use the fight-or-flight excitement of adrenaline coursing through your body to enhance your performance. By reframing your thoughts about the performance, you change from fight-or-flight adrenaline to a rush of excitement to seize an opportunity. Your symptoms are out in the open, and now you can talk about how to relieve your anxiety. Make a choice to change your thoughts about your performance. If you continually dread the symptoms that you know are going to arise, the following tactics won't work. So remind yourself that you're anxious because you fear something; the symptoms don't just randomly appear. Practicing well to alleviate performance anxiety The biggest key to alleviating anxiety is preparation. Preparation isn't the same as overpracticing or aiming for perfection. Overpracticing means that you practice so much that you lose sight of the joy of singing and only focus on singing perfectly. Aiming for perfection takes the joy out of singing because everything becomes a contest, if only with yourself. The following pointers can help get you prepared and ready for performing. Staying positive and motivated as you practice. Figure out a way to motivate yourself. What kind of reward do you need to get yourself to practice regularly? People who don't like being alone oftentimes don't like to practice. You must recognize that and then be even more disciplined to do your work. Your positive thinking during your practice sessions carries over into your performing. Setting goals for each practice session. The first practice session goal may be to successfully sing the song through without words to find consistent breath flow. The second practice session goal may be to keep that same easy flow of breath as you sing the words. Trying to tackle too many things at once causes frustration. Practicing at the level you intend to perform. That means you have to practice all the details of your song separately, and then gradually put them all together until you consistently create the sounds that you want to create in your performance. Setting a deadline for memorizing the song. The melody and words of the song need to be in your long-term memory. When you attempt to memorize the song the night before the performance, you may be overwhelmed trying to deal with the excitement of performing and remembering the words at the same time. Have the song memorized at least one week before a performance. That gives you seven days to work on the song without looking at the music. If you're singing a group of songs, you may want to have them memorized earlier so you have time to work with the accompanist and work on your acting objectives as you use your singing technique. Speed-reading through your text to help you remember the words. Forgetting the words of a song that you've memorized usually happens because your concentration momentarily slips. For example, you may start thinking about being happy that the high note sounded good and suddenly, as you're getting back to business, you realize you haven't any idea where you are in the song. Practicing your concentration and speed-reading through the text on a regular basis helps you put the text into your long-term memory and not just short term. Playing to your strengths Doing things that you know you're good at builds confidence and relieves anxiety. Setting yourself up for success by playing to your strengths makes even more sense when you're nervous about performing. Use the following tips to put yourself in a winning frame of mind: Choosing pieces that enhance your strengths. Singing one song in a performance means that you have an opportunity to find a piece that really enables you to show your areas of expertise. When you need to choose ten minutes of music, the task naturally gets harder, but finding the appropriate material is part of the preparation. Focusing on your strengths. Singing songs that require agility is a great goal when that is something you feel confident doing. If not, make the performance about your fabulous tone, breath control, or any other aspect that you feel confident sharing. Managing your thoughts before a performance Performers who don't experience performance anxiety may tell you to just get over it and stop being afraid. These people are adrenaline junkies. They love that rush of adrenaline that hits just before the performance. But trying to stop being afraid may only frustrate you. You have to deal with your anxiety, which is different than adrenaline. Anxiety adds a sickening sensation on top of the adrenaline. You don't want to stop the adrenaline, but rather eliminate the underlying fear that leads to anxiety about performing. Anxiety brings negative thoughts into your head. Negative thoughts may try to convince you that you're going to forget the words even though you know the song cold. Just hearing so much busy talking inside your head can ruin your concentration and make you forget the words. Sometimes you can use negative practice to find the extremes of your symptoms. Try making the symptoms worse the next time you practice. By visualizing or imagining a critical audience, you may experience some symptoms of anxiety. Notice what those symptoms are and how you feel about the audience. As you feel that sense of dread, sing through your music. Visualize yourself being able to complete your task regardless of how grumpy your imaginary audience looks. Making a list of the negative thoughts that frequently pop into your mind is a way to manage your thoughts. By facing those thoughts you can recognize that they aren't helpful and can therefore switch to positive thoughts instead. Making a list of affirmations to counter your negative thoughts also can help you retrain your mind to focus on the positive. Affirmations include saying things such as: "My singing is improving each day. I am confident that my breath control gets better with each practice session." Removing the audience as an anxiety-inducer Your thoughts may turn to the audience whenever you become concerned about what they think of you and your singing. You can't get rid of the audience; after all, an audience is a necessity for your performance. You can, however, pretend that the members of the audience aren't really in the audience — an option that works for some people. You don't have to sing directly to the audience or look them in the eyes. You can look over their heads and not have to worry about reading the expression on their faces when you look them right in the eyes. Doing your job as you sing means that you must tell a story. Insecurity can lead you to believe that everyone is looking at you harshly. Reframing your thoughts so that you accept the audience and let go of the hostile image you may have of the audience can go a long way toward overcoming your doubts. You've probably heard this suggestion for overcoming stage fright: Imagine that all the people in the audience are sitting in their underwear. You can also remind yourself that the audience chose to attend your performance, and they want to hear you sing well. Building performance focus Have you ever been so focused on a task that you lost track of time or were startled when someone came up behind you? That's the kind of focus that you want as you sing. Focus totally on your task at hand, leaving the rest of the stuff for later. To help you practice concentrating, try Staging some distractions. Practice in front of an audience of friends and ask them to randomly whisper, rustle paper, drop a book, or stand up and walk around while you're singing. The first few times you may lose your composure, but just laugh it off and keep trying until you can hold your concentration and ignore the distractions. Practicing concentration. Set a timer for five minutes and practice focusing totally on your singing for those five minutes. Five minutes may seem like a short amount of time — until you have to fill it with only one task. You may find your mind wandering and thinking about something else after a few minutes. That's okay. Set the timer and try again. Working up to concentrating for the full five minutes may take a few days. You can also practice focusing and then intentionally letting your mind wander so you can tell the difference. Leaving distractions at the door. That fight you had earlier in the day, the report that's due tomorrow, your upcoming vacation — any number of everyday concerns may occupy your mind. Create a ceremony that enables you to leave those distractions at the door. Put a basket outside your practice room door and mentally dump all your worries and frustrations into it before you enter the room. You can also write a to-do list before your session, so you know exactly what you need to think about right after you practice. Acknowledge that you still have to resolve those issues in your mind and then move to the current task at hand.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) lived at the height of the Classical period in music history — a time of elegance, beauty, refinement, and grace. He wrote 22 operas — 10 of them as a teenager. Although many operas written by other composers during that time seem out-of-date and stilted, Mozart's still appear remarkably fresh to today's audiences. Austrian-born Mozart was one of the best opera composers who ever lived — and many consider him to be the greatest composer, period. From the very beginning of his short life, Mozart mastered music with a natural grace and facility that blew people away. He was the Tiger Woods of composers. With his dad's nurturing, young Wolfgang was composing piano concertos by age 4. Shortly thereafter, he wrote his first symphony. And he wrote the opera Bastien and Bastienne when he was 11. Young Mozart goes abroad Wolfgang probably would have been happy to stay at home and compose operas for fun. But Leopold Mozart, Wolfie's father, had other ideas. To show off his genius son, he packed up young Wolfgang and his older sister Nannerl and toted them all over Europe. Everywhere they went, Leopold touted his son as a scientific phenomenon. One of his posters in England said: "To all lovers of sciences: The greatest prodigy that Europe, or that even Human Nature has to boast of is, without contradiction, the little German boy Wolfgang Mozart." (No pressure, Wolfie.) By age 13, Wolfgang found a job as concertmaster of the orchestra and organist of the court of the archbishop of Salzburg, where he worked for 12 years. But his constant traveling and angling for better jobs irked the archbishop. Finally, with absolutely no clue how politically incorrect he'd look to future generations, the archbishop fired Mozart. When he grew up, Mozart moved to Vienna to seek his fortune. Vienna was a center of musical activity, and he had been successful on tour there as a child prodigy. But Mozart wasn't a child prodigy anymore — and he had a hard time finding steady work. Without a steady job, Mozart sustained himself in Vienna by writing operas. During this time, Mozart married a young woman named Constanze Weber (daughter of another well-known composer, Carl Maria von Weber). Perhaps to commemorate this happy occasion, he used the name Constanze for the heroine in his exotic, comic-rescue opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio. This opera had everything: great tunes with trendy Turkish-sounding effects, a wacky story, harems and other exotic attractions, and great escape scenes. It had something else, too: It was in German — the language of the people for whom it was written — rather than in Italian, like most operas. Mozart believed in communicating directly to the people, and he was supported by the emperor of Austria-Hungary, Joseph II. To Mozart, it came naturally Mozart was especially good at opera. His melodies were simple, graceful, and full of feeling. He loved writing parts for several characters to sing simultaneously — and managed to make all the words clear. He also mastered the orchestra's colors, using cleverly chosen groups of instruments to create special effects and sounds. Furthermore, Mozart had a knack for picking the right plays to turn into operas. One of his best picks was a play by Pierre de Beaumarchais called The Marriage of Figaro, a hilarious (and very controversial) send-up of contemporary society and politics. This opera offers great examples of the kind of realistic motivations that drive Mozart's characters. One year after the premiere of Figaro, the city of Prague commissioned Mozart to write an opera to celebrate the marriage of the emperor's niece. And what solemn story did he choose to musicalize for this sacred union? The tale of Don Juan, the sleaziest sex maniac of them all. The opera was Don Giovanni, and it was a smash hit. Lorenzo da Ponte, Mozart's lecherous librettist Of course, Mozart doesn't deserve all the credit for his sensational operas; after all, he only composed the music. The rest of the credit goes to the guy who wrote the words (the libretto). Mozart's best librettist was Lorenzo da Ponte (1749–1838). Together, Lorenzo and Wolfgang wrote three famous operas: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. These three Mozart–da Ponte productions were the high point of what they called, in Italy, opera buffa — a kind of farcical musical comedy — and, essentially, the end of it. Time had marched on, and the standard formulas were getting stale. In the year of his death, Mozart composed The Magic Flute. Like his earlier hit The Abduction from the Seraglio, it is a German Singspiel — it has spoken dialogue between songs. The Magic Flute is a story about good and evil, redemption through virtue, immature bird catchers, and a Queen of the Night who owes no apologies to the Wicked Witch of the West. In this opera more than any other, Mozart tells a story honestly and directly. It remains a favorite even today. Mozart died very shortly after the premiere of The Magic Flute, at age 35. Since his death, the music world has never seen anyone with Mozart's combination of musical genius, compositional facility, and seemingly divine inspiration. His music is the essence of the Classical style: elegant, graceful, refined, high-spirited, and unsentimental, but with a deep vein of emotion.