Opera singers' vocal ranges
Reported catalog ranges for 25 Opera singers run from D#2 to G#6, with a median span of about 2.4 octaves. Staged roles written for one voice category and sung unamplified over an orchestra.
What sets Opera singing apart
Opera singers perform staged roles over a full orchestra, unamplified, and each role is written for a particular voice category, so the written range of a part is fixed and the singer has to own it night after night. That is why operatic profiles fit the voice-type categories most naturally.
Classical is the wider tradition, taking in concert, art song and crossover singers as well as the stage.
How ranges sit in Opera
- The median reported catalog span across these profiles is 29 semitones, 3.5 semitones narrower than the library median of 32.5.
- Largest reported span here is Birgit Nilsson (C#3–D6); the lowest listed endpoint belongs to Samuel Ramey at D#2 and the highest listed endpoint to Diana Damrau at G#6.
- Catalog voice labels here, most common first: sopranos, tenors, bass-baritone, mezzo-soprano, baritone, countertenor, bass.
Most profiles' figures are commonly cited spans from the catalog, not recordings checked note by note; a few have reviewed or disputed sources. Open a profile for what its sources support.
Where would your voice sit on this chart?
The free range test runs in your browser in about two minutes and reports your lowest and highest notes in the same note names as every bar below.
Every voice on one axis
full voice, up to the cited ceiling above it: falsetto · head · whistle no full-voice ceiling cited
Singers Andrea Bocelli through Juan Diego Flórez
- Andrea BocelliC3–B4C3–B41.9 oct
- Anna NetrebkoG3–D6G3–D62.6 oct
- Birgit NilssonC#3–D6C#3–D63.1 oct
- Bryn TerfelF2–A4F2–A42.3 oct
- Cecilia BartoliF3–D6F3–D62.8 oct
- Diana DamrauA#3–G#6A#3–G#62.8 oct
- Dmitri HvorostovskyG2–A4G2–A42.2 oct
- Enrico CarusoB2–A#4B2–A#41.9 oct
- Jessye NormanE3–C6E3–C62.7 oct
- Joan SutherlandG3–F6G3–F62.8 oct
- Jonas KaufmannB2–C5B2–C52.1 oct
- José CarrerasC3–C5C3–C52.0 oct
- Juan Diego FlórezC3–E5C3–E52.3 oct
Singers Leontyne Price through Tarja Turunen
- Leontyne PriceG3–C6G3–C62.4 oct
- Luciano PavarottiC3–C5C3–C52.0 oct
- Maria CallasF#3–D#6F#3–D#62.8 oct
- Mario LanzaC3–C5C3–C52.0 oct
- Montserrat CaballéG3–C6G3–C62.4 oct
- Philippe JarousskyD3–G#5D3–G#52.5 oct
- Plácido DomingoA2–C5A2–C52.3 oct
- Renée FlemingG3–C6G3–C62.4 oct
- Rufus WainwrightA2–D5A2–D52.4 oct
- Samuel RameyD#2–F4D#2–F42.2 oct
- Sumi JoA3–F6A3–F62.7 oct
- Tarja TurunenF3–E6F3–E62.9 oct