tell me more about extremely high pitched soprano singing / tessitura in opera / dog-whistle shrill peeping and shrieking

I am writing something about Ades' opera "the tempest" and the role of Ariel calls for some really crazy high pitches- but I'm not particularly well versed in the opera tradition with regards to coloratura roles and such- what are the highest notes that female singers can hit? what's the edge of what's possible? who wrote the highest part for human singing ever? (also, bonus question: what's the relationship between this tradition in opera and, say, Minnie Ripperton and Mariah Carey and the whole "Dog-whistle R&B" bird peep shrill topnote thing that they can do?)

If you're curious about what I'm talking about, here's Audrey Luna singing Ariel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPkEj3B9KKI

also, for another example check out 3:34 in this Henze piece, which is gorgeous:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5teJlFUsnc8

also, lol at the classical softcore porn images used when high culture takes it to youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32hdZaQi4-I

At 2:45ish she becomes a whistle tip. I think Mado Robin was considered the coloratura soprano with the most extreme range for a long time, and people wrote parts for her specifically to exploit the wtfness of her voice. I don't know a lot about this stuff at all, but it interests me.

I know that Diana Damrau can hit a high A flat.

So can she:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZWLPPO0KL4

(from about 8:00-the end)

I don't know if that's just standard for major league coloratura sopranos anymore.

Thanks for these, this is great! Keep it coming! let's break some glass in our workplaces!

I don't really understand the difference between whistle register and whatever the alternative is - regular/standard register? I've read (since this thread was started, lol) that Mado Brown has the highest sung note w/out whistling, but that the highest whistling note belongs to Georgia Brown? She's a Brazilian singer who holds the Guinness Record for highest human voice, apparently. Listening to her stuff makes me feel genuinely uncomfortable, and I listen to some bonkers shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS_2QmruX0

NM, she doesn't hold the record anymore, but held it til '05.

i'm only a casual opera listener but i vastly prefer mezzo soprano voices (if we're being really honest, tenors) to high sopranos. i'd never call it amusical but hearing notes that high is just not pleasant for me

not that this has anything to do w/ this thread i just thought i'd let that be known

most of the whistle register stuff here would absolutely not fly in opera, fwiw. vocal range is a... let's say *touchy* subject, and bringing up, say, mariah carey's upper range is good for about two days' worth of flame war.

alex ross on this opera, by the way: http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/04/thomas_ads_temp.html

Mado Robin is the shit btw

http://youtu.be/PTXW-3PayHs

The diff between her and most other stunt singers is that her voice was pretty amazing when she reins it in as well, she just is also able to unleash the batshit when she wants. Iirc she was considered the best interpreter of the bell song from Lakme until she (and it) sorta faded in the public eye.

Also sustaining those notes is what separates the whistle types from the real deal.

Here's the bell song btw:

http://youtu.be/Fl_C-XFcUUk

Some discussion on this thread sorta kinda: Who has/had the most high-pitched vocals in music?

oh, that's very helpful, thank you guys

katherine, I want to know about the very "touchiness" you refer to- obviously the kind of quantifiable "how high can you go? how long can you hold it?" is not the same as control, artistry, finesse, talent, etc. I'm guessing that you're implying that bringing up these kinds of stunts justifiably annoys people who are more interested in a holistic way of understanding and appreciating singing as a talent of interpretation, right? are there roles whose particular difficulty constitute an extra kind of cachet? (Queen of the Night, say?) Has Ades' Ariel now entered that canon?