Mezzo-soprano
Voice type |
---|
Female |
Male |
A mezzo-soprano (meaning "medium" or "middle" "soprano" in Italian) is a female singer whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3-A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4). While mezzo-sopranos generally have a heavier, darker tone than sopranos, the mezzo-soprano voice resonates in a higher range than that of a 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 also called a mezzo-soprano castrato or mezzista.
Mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, with the protagonist in Bizet's Carmen and Rosina in Rossini's Barber of Seville as the most notable exceptions. Typical roles for mezzo-sopranos include witches, nurses, and wise women such as Azucena in Verdi's Il Trovatore; trouser role (male characters played by female singers) such as Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro; and villains and seductresses such as Amneris in Verdi's Aida. Mezzo-sopranos are also well represented in baroque music, early music and baroque opera, they are sometimes cast in soubrette roles if a more dramatic sound is desired, and some of the lower-tessitura soprano roles can be sung by mezzos as well. In current operatic practice, contraltos are also counted as mezzo-sopranos. For the different types of mezzo-sopranos, see voice type.
Some roles designated for lighter soubrette sopranos are sung by mezzo sopranos, who often provide a fuller, more dramatic quality. Such roles include Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte and Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Mezzos also sometimes play dramatic soprano roles such as Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth, and Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal.
Mezzo-soprano roles in operas
The following is a list of mezzo-soprano roles in the standard operatic repertoire. Many mezzo-sopranos also sing traditionally alto roles, and some sing soprano roles as well.
Mezzo-soprano lead roles in operas
- Carmen, Carmen (Bizet)
- Cenerentola, La Cenerentola (Rossini)
- Charlotte, Werther (Massenet)
- Dalila, Samson et Dalila (Saint-Saëns)
- Didon, Les Troyens (Berlioz)
- Hänsel, Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck) -- trouser role
- Judith, Bluebeard's Castle (Bartók)
- Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini)
- Mignon, Mignon (Ambroise Thomas)
Other mezzo-soprano roles in operas
- Adalgisa, Norma (Bellini)
- Amneris, Aïda (Verdi)
- Azucena, Il trovatore (Verdi)
- Brangäne, Tristan und Isolde (Wagner)
- The Countess, The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky)
- Dorabella, Così fan tutte (Mozart)
- Fricka, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre (Wagner)
- Giulietta, Les contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach) -- Performed by a soprano if one singer plays all the heroines.
- Herodias, Salome (Richard Strauss)
- Jezibaba, Rusalka (Dvořák)
- Klytemnästra, Elektra (Richard Strauss)
- Laura, La Gioconda (Ponchielli)
- Lola, Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni)
- Magdalena, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner)
- Mallika, Lakmé (Delibes)
- Marina, Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky)
- Meg Page, Falstaff (Verdi)
- Olga, Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky)
- Ortrud, Lohengrin (Wagner)
- Preziosilla, La forza del destino (Verdi)
- Princess Eboli, Don Carlos (Verdi)
- Principessa, Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea)
- Suzuki, Madam Butterfly (Puccini)
- Venus, Tannhäuser (Wagner) -- Sometimes performed by the soprano who sings Elisabeth.
- The Witch, Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck)
Mezzo-soprano trouser roles in operas
- Cherubino, Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart)
- Idamante, Idomeneo (Mozart)
- Nicklausse, Les contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach) -- though he is the (female) Muse in disguise
- Octavian, Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss)
- Ratmir, Ruslan and Lyudmila - designated as a contralto part
- Siebel, Faust (Gounod)
Mezzo-soprano roles in operettas and musicals
Each of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas has a prominent mezzo-soprano role, all of which were played in the 1880s by Jessie Bond, so they are not each listed here. In addition, many modern musicals have one or more "belt" roles that generally fall within the range of mezzo-soprano, some of which are listed below, but these examples are too numerous to list.
- Anna Leonowens (The King and I)
- Adelaide (Guys and Dolls)
- Ado Annie (Oklahoma!)
- Dinah (Starlight Express)
- Ellen Scott (Miss Saigon)
- Elphaba (Wicked)
- Eponine (Les Misérables)
- Eva Peron (Evita)
- Grizabella (Cats)
- Helena Landless (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
- Kim (Miss Saigon)
- Lucy (Jekyll & Hyde)
- Magenta (The Rocky Horror Show)
- Margaret (The Light in the Piazza)
- Maureen Johnson (Rent)
- Mei Li (Flower Drum Song)
- Miss Hannigan (Annie)
- Mother (Ragtime)
- Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd)
- Nellie Forbush (South Pacific)
- Nettie Fowler (Carousel)
- Nessarose (Wicked)
- Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus)
- Roxie Hart (Chicago (musical))
- Tracy Turnblad (Hairspray (musical))
- The Lady of the Lake (Monty Python's Spamalot)
- The Witch (Into the Woods)
- Ulla (The Producers)
Notable Mezzo-sopranos
Classical and Operatic Mezzo-sopranos
![]() |
Classical and operatic singers are singers who have regularly performed unamplified classical or operatic music in concert halls and/or opera houses.
- Irina Arkhipova
- Janet Baker
- Agnes Baltsa
- Fedora Barbieri
- Cecilia Bartoli
- Teresa Berganza
- Olga Borodina
- Grace Bumbry
- Fiorenza Cossotto
- Helga Dernesch
- Margreta Elkins
- Enya
- Brigitte Fassbaender
- Elīna Garanča
- Maria Gay
- Vivica Genaux
- Rita Gorr
- Susan Graham
- Denyce Graves
- Marilyn Horne
- Vesselina Kasarova
- Magdalena Kožená
- Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
- Christa Ludwig
- Waltraud Meier
- Nan Merriman
- Elena Nicolai
- Elena Nikolaidi
- Laura Vlasak Nolen
- Anne Sofie von Otter
- Nell Rankin
- Regina Resnik
- Giulietta Simionato
- Frederica von Stade
- Risë Stevens
- Conchita Supervía
- Tatiana Troyanos
- Shirley Verrett
- Carolyn Watkinson
- Dolora Zajick
Crossover and Popular Mezzo-sopranos
- Alicia Keys
- Cassie
- Cathy Berberian
- Ciara
- Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas
- Idina Menzel
- Jennifer Lopez
- Joss Stone
- Katherine Jenkins
- Rihanna
See also
- Opera
- List of important operas
- List of important opera companies
- List of opera festivals
- List of opera houses
- Voice type
- Category of Operatic Mezzo-sopranos
- List of musical terminology
External links
- Collection of public domain scores (Indiana U)
- International Music Score Library Project
- Smaller collection of public domain scores (Harvard)
- Collection of librettos and translations
- Collection of librettos (Karadar)
- Collection of librettos (Stanford)
- Verdi librettos
- German/English Wagner librettos
- Aria database
- Mezzo-soprano voices with video examples