Mezzo-soprano
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Female |
Male |
A mezzo-soprano (meaning "half soprano" in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3-A5, middle C = C4). Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or richer) vocal tone than sopranos, and their voice type sits between the soprano and the contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, after the names of famous singers. A castrato with a mezzo-soprano range was called a mezzo-soprano castrato.
Mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, with Bizet's Carmen and Rosina (in Rossini's Barber of Seville) as the most notable exceptions. Typical roles for mezzo-sopranos include "witches, bitches, and breeches", a common expression that summarizes their function in opera. Witches are the old hags, nurses, and wise women, such as Azucena and Ulrica (which can also be performed by contraltos); breeches are male roles sung by female singers, such as Cherubino; and bitches are villains and seducers, such as Amneris or Eboli.
Some roles designated for soubrette sopranos are also often sung by mezzo sopranos. This gives the roles a fuller and more dramatic quality, which often suits them well. Such roles include Despina in Così fan tutte and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Other roles designated for dramatic sopranos walk a fine line between soprano and mezzo territory. Mezzos quite often play Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth, and even Isolde in Tristan und Isolde. These examples are simply proof that the line between soprano and mezzo soprano is not clearly defined.
In soul music, a person will sometimes be classified mezzo-soprano, if she can sing both contralto and soprano. To earn this classification however, she must be able to reach the D and even E above Soprano C, as well as the corresponding note below Middle C, thus possessing a three-octave range.
Mezzo-soprano roles in operas
- Zweite Dame (2nd Lady) (Die Zauberflöte)
- Dritte Dame (3rd Lady) (Die Zauberflöte)
- Adriano (Rienzi)
- Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor)
- Amneris (Aida)
- Annius (La clemenza di Tito)
- Baba the Turk (The Rake's Progress)
- Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia)
- Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde)
- Carmen (Carmen)
- Cecilius (Lucio Silla)
- Cenerentola (La Cenerentola)
- Charlotte (Werther)
- Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro)
- Dalila (Samson et Dalila)
- Dido (Dido and Aeneas)
- Dorabella (Così fan tutte)
- Emilia (Otello)
- Erika (Vanessa)
- Flora (La traviata)
- Fricka (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre)
- Gertrude (Hamlet)
- Idamantes (Idomeneo)
- Isabella (L'italiana in Algeri)
- La Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica)
- Laura (La Gioconda)
- Leonora (La favorite)
- Lola (Cavalleria rusticana)
- Maddalena(Rigoletto)
- Mallika (Lakmé)
- Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro)
- Marguerite (Le Damnation de Faust)
- Meg Page (Falstaff)
- Mercedes (Carmen)
- Mignon (Mignon)
- Nicklausse (Tales of Hoffmann)
- Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier)
- Olga (Eugene Onegin)
- Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice)
- Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus)
- Ortrud (Lohengrin)
- Ottavia (L'incoronazione di Poppea)
- Pauline (The Queen of Spades)
- Preziosilla (La forza del destino)
- Princess Eboli (Don Carlos)
- Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi)
- Rosina (The Barber of Seville)
- Serse (Serse)
- Sesto (La clemenza di Tito)
- Siebel (Faust)
- Stephano (Romeo et Juliette)
- Suzuki (Madama Butterfly)
- Sonyetka (Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District)
- The Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos)
- The Countess (The Queen of Spades)
- Tancredi (Tancredi)
- Urbain (Les Huguenots)
- Venus (Tannhäuser)
Mezzo-soprano roles in operettas and musicals
- Adelaide (Guys and Dolls)
- Anne Catherick (The Woman in White)
- Cleo Wellington (Glamorous Night)
- Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti)
- Grizabella (Cats)
- Iolanthe
- Eva Peron (Evita)
- Ellen Scott (Miss Saigon)
- Fantine (Les Misérables)
- Kim (Miss Saigon)
- Leona Samish (Do I Hear A Waltz?)
- Linda (Lost in the Stars)
- Liza Elliot (Lady in the Dark)
- Lucy (Jekyll and Hyde)
- Mad Margaret (Ruddigore)
- Madame Thénardier (Les Misérables)
- Marian Halcombe (The Woman in White)
- Marguerite (The Scarlet Pimpernel)
- Madame Giry (The Phantom of the Opera)
- Meg Giry (The Phantom of the Opera)
- Mei Li (Flower Drum Song)
- Miss Hannigan (Annie)
- Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd)
- Nellie Forbush (South Pacific)
- Nessarose (Wicked)
- Nettie Fowler (Carousel)
- The Old Lady (Candide)
- Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus)
- Phoebe Meryll (The Yeomen of the Guard)
- Red Riding Hood (Into the Woods)
- Rosemary (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying)
- Rose Maurrant (Street Scene)
- Tessa (The Gondoliers)
- The Narrator (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)(Can be played by a soprano with a decent belt capability)
- Vera (King's Rhapsody)
- Mother (Ragtime)
- Ulla (The Producers)
- The Lady of the Lake (Monty Python's Spamalot)
- The Witch (Into the Woods)
- Maureen Johnson (Rent)
- Anna Leonowens (The King And I)
Famous mezzo-sopranos
Classical music
- Patricia Adkins-Chiti
- Marian Anderson
- Janet Baker
- Agnes Baltsa
- Fedora Barbieri
- Cecilia Bartoli
- Cathy Berberian
- Teresa Berganza
- Olga Borodina
- Grace Bumbry
- Emma Calvé
- Fiorenza Cossotto
- Annette Daniels
- Barbara Dever
- Margreta Elkins
- Brigitte Fassbaender
- Elina Garanca
- Maria Gay
- Vivica Genaux
- Rita Gorr
- Susan Graham
- Denyce Graves
- Mary Gayle Greene
- Monica Groop
- Marilyn Horne
- Vesselina Kasarova
- Magdalena Kožená
- Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
- Marjana Lipovšek
- Christa Ludwig
- Carla Maffioletti
- Nan Merriman
- Ann Murray
- Anne-Sofie von Otter
- Ewa Podles
- Nell Rankin
- Gabriela Scherer
- Regina Resnik
- Rinat Shaham
- Giulietta Simionato
- Frederica von Stade
- Conchita Supervia
- Salli Terri
- Tatiana Troyanos
- Jard van Nes
- Shirley Verrett
- Carolyn Watkinson
- Dolora Zajick
Popular and crossover music
NOTE: In most cases, it is not possible to find a reputable source for the vocal range of pop singers. It seems most names were listed here on an empirical basis. It must be noted that in the pop world, the vocal range of a singer is often artificially enhanced.
- Cindy Birdsong
- Mary J. Blige
- Nicole Bogner
- Carol Burnett
- Karen Carpenter
- Jeese Carpenter
- Belinda Carlisle
- Natalie Cole
- Aretha Franklin
- Judy Garland
- Anneke van Giersbergen
- Debbie Gravitte
- Kelly Rowland
- Katherine Jenkins - Semi classical
- Cyndi Lauper
- Lynda Laurence
- Amy Lee
- Patti LuPone
- Sarah Maclachlan
- Idina Menzel
- Ethel Merman
- Bette Midler
- Jane Olivor
- Édith Piaf
- Sandie Shaw
- Simone Simons
- Donna Summer
- Teairra Mari
- Tina Turner
- Tsakane Valentine
- Violetta Villas
- Tamia Washington
- Mary Wilson