Editing Opera (section)

===Vocal classifications===
Singers and the roles they play are classified by [[voice type]], based on the [[tessitura]], [[vocal weight|agility, power]] and [[timbre]] of their voices. Male singers can be classified by [[vocal range]] as [[bass (voice type)|bass]], [[bass-baritone]], [[baritone]], [[baritenor]], [[tenor]] and [[countertenor]], and female singers as [[contralto]], [[mezzo-soprano]] and [[soprano]]. (Men sometimes sing in the "female" vocal ranges, in which case they are termed [[sopranist]] or countertenor. The countertenor is commonly encountered in opera, sometimes singing parts written for [[castrati]]—men neutered at a young age specifically to give them a higher singing range.) Singers are then further classified by size—for instance, a soprano can be described as a lyric soprano, [[coloratura]], [[soubrette]], [[spinto]], or dramatic soprano. These terms, although not fully describing a singing voice, associate the singer's voice with the roles most suitable to the singer's vocal characteristics.

Yet another sub-classification can be made according to acting skills or requirements, for example the ''[[basso buffo]]'' who often must be a specialist in [[Patter song|patter]] as well as a comic actor. This is carried out in detail in the ''[[Fach]]'' system of German speaking countries, where historically opera and spoken [[drama]] were often put on by the same [[repertory]] company.

A particular singer's voice may change drastically over his or her lifetime, rarely reaching vocal maturity until the third decade, and sometimes not until middle age. Two French voice types, ''premiere dugazon'' and ''deuxieme dugazon'', were named after successive stages in the career of [[Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre]] (Mme. Dugazon). Other terms originating in the star casting system of the [[Paris Opera#See also|Parisian theatres]] are ''[[Jean-Blaise Martin|baryton-martin]]'' and [[soprano]] ''[[Cornélie Falcon|falcon]]''.