Roberto Alagna, on being a tenor:

The tessitura—the range most consistently exploited in a given piece of vocal music—is not natural. The voice of the tenor was something built, and the modern tenor is very young. The other voices, like baritone and bass, you have in nature. But tenors are like a mutant. When I speak, my voice is much lower than when I sing. Before Caruso and a few others, the tenor sang in falsetto. But after them, tenors had to sing in full voice, and that was the beginning of the difficulties.

The voice of the tenor is very delicate. Plácido said the same thing, that he has to work hard to sing the tessitura. When you have from nature a light voice—like Juan Diego Flórez has—then it is easy on the top, because the larynx is little bit higher. But others are like me or Domingo or Pavarotti. If I stop singing for three days, I am a baritone. And then I have to work a lot to put the voice in the right position again.

Okay, aren't all speaking voices generally lower than singing voices?  It has been said that Domingo began his career as a baritone before he discovered his top notes. I cannot say for sure, but after listening to this clip of Domingo at the age of 21 he seems to have pretty great control over his range.

Pavarotti was always a light tenor, with high notes right to the end of his life. In case you do not remember, here he is singing Nessun Dorma at the 2006 Olympic Opening Ceremony in Torino. He sings an B-flat at the end, not stratospheric, but still high enough.

Im not exactly sure the point Alagna is trying to make. It seems odd to say that the tenor voice is mutant, when he mentions the ease in which Juan Diego Florez accesses his top.

On the flip side, I have heard countless sopranos who struggle for years trying to access their high notes. Is it fair to imply that it is any easier for a woman? Maybe the base of the matter is that singing is in itself difficult. It is a challenge for all voice types, especially those who must continually perform in a high tessitura. The higher the range means the more strength and energy needed.

Since I'm female, it would be really wonderful to hear from a male singer on this one.

Read the full interview with Roberto Alagna, by David Mermelstein, Washington Post