The Spinto Voice

Katie Golan

What Is A Spinto Voice?

• Spinto means literally in Italian “pushed” or “driven”

• The spinto voice is considered to be of a lyric quality but has the power and range of a more dramatic nature

• The full Italian categorical name of the spinto voice is lirico spinto, for tenors the spinto voice may be referred to as “tenore di forza”

(tenor of force/strength) or “robusto” (robust/sturdy)

• The full German fach label for the spinto voice is jugendlich-dramatisch

The Spinto Soprano

•The spinto soprano:

• Is able to cut through large orchestras

• Generally can sing lyric and dramatic roles which makes their repertoire list vast and varied• For example: Leontyne Price sang Pamina from Die Zauberflöte

and yet also sang the title role in Tosca

Range Expected of a Professional Spinto Soprano:

Spinto SopranosLeontyne

Price

Aprile Millo

Daniela Dessi

Renata Tebaldi

Karita Mattila Gundula

Janowitz

Spinto Soprano Roles•Madama Butterfly, Madama Butterfly •Manon Lescaut, Manon Lescaut •Suor Angelica, Suor Angelica•Elizabeth de Valois, Don Carlo•Leonora, La forza del destino•Amelia, Un ballo in maschera•Marschallin, Der Rosenkavalier•Elsa, Lohengrin•Susannah, Susannah •Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni •Donna Anna, Don Giovanni•La Contessa, Le Nozze di Figaro•Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte•Magda Sorel, The Consul •Aida, Aida•Liza, The Queen of Spades •Floria Tosca, Tosca 

Leontyne Price as Aida

Spinto Sopranos singing!

Leontyne Price's Farewell Performance of Aida: "O patria mia“

Karita Mattila sings "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca

Daniela Dessi sings "Sempre Libera" from La Traviata

Renata Tebaldi singing "Suicidio" from La Gioconda

The Spinto Tenor •Like the soprano spinto, the tenor spinto has a lyric voice that is capable of a more weight in their voice that allows a dramatic sound not found in lighter tenors

• In the “old school Italian tradition” the spinto tenor was originally separated into two more categories: lirico spinto and drammatico-spinto

• This separation has simply been cut down to just “spinto tenor”

• The German fach categorical expression for “spinto tenor” is jugendlicher heldentenor

Range Expected of a Professional Spinto Tenor:

SPINTO TENORSEnrico Caruso Richard

TuckerPlcáido Domingo

Jussi Bjorling

Giuseppe di Stefano Franco Corelli

SPINTO TENOR ROLES•Canio, Pagliacci•Des Grieux, Manon Lescaut•Don Carlos, Don Carlos•Ernani, Ernani•Hermann, Queen of Spades•Idomeneo, Idomeneo•Macduff, Macbeth•Manrico, Il trovatore•Mario Cavaradossi, Tosca•Maurizio, Adriana Lecouvreur•Max, Der Freischütz•Pollione, Norma•Stiffelio, Stiffelio•Riccardo, Un ballo in maschera•Turiddu, Cavalleria rusticana

Enrico Caruso as Canio in Pagliacci

Spinto tenors singingEnrico Carus singing "Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci

Giuseppe di Stefano singing "Nessun dorma" from Turandot

Placido Domingo sings "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca

Richard Tucker sings "La donna e mobile" from Rigoletto