Wikipedia

I see that Wikipedia in the article on tenors correctly lists Villazon as a lyric tenor and Domingo as a dramatic tenor. Some of the role classifications seem a tiny bit iffy to me, but in general it's a reliable article.

I used the term leggiero in my technique book to describe a less than fully legato style rather than a voice classification. Interesting. They are leggiero tenors because they sing in a leggiero style, presumably. Leggiero, if I understand it correctly, means midway between legato and staccato.

Here is something interesting from the soubrette article:

Here are four different voice types singing the same soubrette role, Susanna, in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart arranged in ascending amount of weight.

* To hear soubrette Dawn Upshaw as Susanna click on:


For soubrette to lyric Kathleen Battle, click on


* To hear light lyric soprano Lucia Popp as Susanna click on


* To hear full lyric soprano Anna Netrebko as Susanna click on


To hear a dramatic soprano Margaret Price as Susanna, click on