Mezzo Soprano [PDF]

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Mezzo-soprano [mezzo] (It.: ‘medium soprano’; soprano Fr. mezzo-soprano, bas-dessus, second Ger. Mezzosopran, tiefer Sopran). Sopran

dessus dessus;

A voice, intermediate in pitch between contralto and soprano.. It is usually written for in the range a to f ″ and may be extended at either end, particularly in solo writing. Non-vocal uses of the term derive from a similar use of range; for example, the C-clef identified as mezzo-soprano soprano, with c′ on the second line up, defines a staff whose range is a to b′.. In regard to voices, the term may apply historically both to women and men (castratos or countertenors), although more commonly it refers only to women. The distinction between soprano and mezzo-soprano (or ‘mezzo mezzo’) became common only towards the end of the 18th century. 1. Before 1800. In the 17th century most music for ‘soprano’ ‘ had a range c′ to g″, ″, which by later criteria would be deemed appropriate for a mezzo-soprano.. During the first half of the 18th century, however, composers of operas and cantatas began writing soprano parts that not only extended the upper range slightly, frequently reaching a″, but also demanded lengthy fioriture in the range g′ to g″. Along withh this trend towards higher and lighter parts for the soprano voice came an awareness of the somewhat weightier mezzo-soprano voice, which was unsuited to the new soprano roles. J.J. Quantz, in his autobiography in Marpurg's Historisch-kritische kritische Beyträge zur z Aufnahme der Musik (i, 1754–5, 1754 pp. 213, 240–41), 41), carefully distinguishes contralto, mezzo-soprano and soprano.. The castrato Senesino, ‘who was always regarded in England as a contralto’ (Burney, History,, iv, 1789, p.275), was described by Quantz as having ng ‘a penetrating, clear, even, and pleasant deep soprano voice (mezzo soprano)’ )’ which he rarely used above f″. In comparing the soprano Cuzzoni (whose range was c′ to c‴) ‴)) with Faustina Bordoni, Quantz (quoted in Burney, iv, 318ff) similarly reported that the latter had ‘a less clear than penetrating mezzosoprano voice’ with the range b to g″.. However, Quantz's use of the term mezzo-soprano was not generally accepted into practice until after 1800. Even then, operatic roles, other vocal music (both solo and choral) and voices themselves can often be identified as mezzo-soprano only by association with what is deemed mezzo-soprano today, for, as implied in Quantz's prescient prescient use of the term, the mezzo-soprano partakes of both soprano and contralto qualities. The leading male roles in Handel's operas were generally taken by alto castratos who sang in the range a to e″; ″;; foremost among these was Senesino (Francesco Bernardi). Although the primo uomo part was for castrato, the secondo uomo part was frequently written for a woman in the same range. Handel unusually composed the primo uomo part in Radamisto for Margherita Durastante; it was taken over by

Senesino (with compositional changes) on his arrival. Handel did not again compose a primo uomo part for a woman until 1748 when he wrote Solomon for the mezzosoprano Caterina Galli. Handel wrote leading female roles in the soprano range, but rarely went above a″. A somewhat lower range was used for older female roles, such as the widow Cornelia, played by Anastasia Robinson, in Giulio Cesare, and the wives of Hercules (Dejanira) and Jephtha (Storgè), both sung by Galli. Robinson began her career as a soprano, but her voice deepened. That she is today referred to as a contralto, while Galli is termed a mezzo and Bordoni a soprano, illustrates the problem of identifying a female mezzo-soprano before 1800. In theatre music, women singers typically sang in the mezzo-soprano range. Susanna Cibber, an outstanding singing actress sang the alto solos in the Messiah première and performed a number of male roles in revivals of Handel's oratorios: David (Saul), Micah (Samson) and Lichas (Hercules). In Lutheran church music, alto choral parts and solos would have been sung by boys, but in Anglican services often by countertenors. Handel reserved the countertenor voice in his dramatic music for young men. The countertenor Daniel Sullivan sang Athamas (Semele), Micah (Samson), David (Saul) and the title role of Joseph, all mezzo-soprano parts by range and early examples of the tendency to compose young men's parts in this register (Cherubino, Octavian). Castratos sang only rarely in oratorios, but in the 1750s the alto castrato Gaetano Guadagni performed in many Handel oratorio revivals, singing parts originally composed for Cibber. In France, the importance of a higher and lower soprano voice in solo and choral ensembles created a more consistent terminology: DESSUS for the soprano voice and BAS-DESSUS for the mezzo-soprano. Rousseau (Dictionnaire, 1768) commented that the solo mezzo-soprano voice was more esteemed in Italy than in France, but referred to the acclaim for a certain Mlle Gondré, ‘a very fine basdessus’. Mozart's use of the treble voices in his serious operas remained similar to his Baroque predecessors. He wrote young, heroic male roles for castrato (Idamantes in Idomeneo and Sextus in La clemenza di Tito); his female roles are all for soprano, but some fall into the mezzo range including Cherubino (a breeches role), Dorabella and, in La clemenza di Tito, Annius (another breeches role) and arguably Vitellia. 2. 19th century. The extension of the upper soprano range in the early 19th century caused many singers who would previously have been simply ‘soprano’ to take the classification of mezzo-soprano. The disappearance of the castrato, who generally occupied a similar pitch range, gave further impetus to the development of the place of

the mezzo-soprano in opera, and indeed many of the important mezzo parts in the first decades of the 19th century are heroic, travesty roles (see TRAVESTY). Benedetta Pisaroni, who began her career as a soprano, took many male roles, creating Malcolm in Rossini's La donna del lago (1819) and performing both Arsace in Semiramide and the title role of Tancredi. Karoline Unger, whose range extended from a to d‴, is sometimes referred to as a contralto, but her roles and her range seem to belie it. Maria Malibran, a fiery and exciting singer, is now categorized as a mezzo-soprano although her greatest rival was the soprano Henriette Sontag; they performed many of the same roles, including Norma. Her range was allegedly g to e‴, but Bellini lowered the role of Elvira in I puritani for her (she never sang that version, which was not heard until the 1980s). Some roles today associated specifically with the mezzo-soprano were written for soprano, such as Adalgisa in Bellini's Norma (written for the soprano Giulia Grisi). It is not always possible to be specific in establishing distinctions between voice types in the mezzorange: there are singers who are described sometimes as soprano and other times as mezzo, and others variously described as contralto and mezzo. The term MEZZO-CONTRALTO has also been used, for example for Malibran and for Rosine Stolz, for whom Donizetti wrote two rewarding parts when he was writing for the Paris Opéra, Léonor (La favorite, 1840) and Zayda (Dom Sébastien, 1843). Stoltz also created Ascanio in Benvenuto Cellini (1838); Halévy also wrote roles for her. Beginning with Azucena in Il trovatore (1853), Verdi composed a long series of magnificent mezzoparts. Maddalena (Rigoletto) and Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera), originally intended for contralto, have usually been sung by mezzo-sopranos. Princess Eboli in Don Carlos, perhaps Verdi's finest mezzorole, was first sung in Paris by Pauline Guéymard-Lauters (1867), whose wide compass and powerful upper register also enabled her to sing soprano roles. At the Italian première of Don Carlos, Eboli was sung by Giuseppina Pasqua, whose strength lay more in her middle register; later she created Mistress Quickly in Falstaff (1893). Sofia Scalchi, whose large, imposing voice had a range of f to b″, sang Azucena, Amneris and other Verdi mezzo roles and was Siébel at the performance of Gounod's Faust at the opening of the New York Metropolitan Opera. In Germany the three categories of female voice are even more difficult to distinguish. Eglantine, the villainess of Weber's Euryanthe, was written for a mezzo but created by the soprano Therese Grünbaum (1823). Adriano (Rienzi, 1842) and Venus (Tannhäuser, 1845) were first sung by a soprano, Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient. These three roles and Ortrud (Lohengrin), Magdalene (Die Meistersinger) and Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) were all introduced to the Metropolitan by Marianne Brandt, a contralto whose range allowed her to sing any

part from the coloratura role of Astaroth (Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba) to Kundry (Parsifal). The mezzo role of Fricka (Das Rheingold) was created in Munich by a soprano, Sophie Stehle (1869–70); it again fell to a soprano, Friederike Grün, at Bayreuth in the first complete Ring cycle. Later the Liverpool-born mezzo Marie Brema, who made her début as Lola in the London première of Cavalleria rusticana, was much praised as Fricka; she also sang Ortrud and Kundry at Bayreuth. In the first London Ring, Fricka was sung by Hedwig Reicher-Kindermann, another mezzo with an extraordinary compass who sang Erda in the first cycle at Bayreuth and was later a magnificent Brünnhilde. 3. 20th century. The difficulty of categorizing mezzo-sopranos did not abate in the 20th century and if anything grew more acute with a continuing decline in the use of the term ‘contralto’ for a particularly rich female voice with an extended lower register; there are therefore ‘high’ and ‘low’ mezzo-sopranos. In addition, a distinction in vocal timbre can be drawn between lyric mezzos and dramatic mezzos, which categories are not tied directly to range (and parallel the lyric and dramatic soprano). Further, coloratura mezzosare not identified by an upper extension of the voice (as sometimes with sopranos) but rather by extraordinary agility, which may be found in mezzos of all combinations of range and timbre. Lucy Arbell, the inspiration of Massenet's last years, first sang in one of his works at the Opéra in 1906 (as Persephone in Ariane). Massenet then wrote Thérèse (1907) for her, the title role of which was perfectly suited to her strong, vibrant mezzo-contralto and vivacious personality. She created Queen Amahelli in Bacchus (1909, the sequel to Ariane); then, in his last unequivocal success, Don Quichotte (1910), Massenet provided her with another tailor-made role, Dulcinée. She sang two more Massenet premières, as Postumia in Roma (1912) and, after the composer's death, as Colombe in Panurge (1913). Arbell was also renowned for her interpretation of Charlotte in Werther. Delilah, a role seized upon by mezzos and contraltos alike, figured largely in the repertory of Louise Kirkby Lunn, the English mezzo, who was equally at home in French, Italian and German opera; a notable Ortrud, Fricka and Brangäne, she sang Kundry in the first production of Parsifal in English, at Boston in 1904. She was also greatly admired as Gluck's Orpheus. Puccini's mezzo roles are generally minor, but in the early 20th century Strauss wrote several superb mezzo roles. Most are older women: Herodias in Salome and Clytemnestra in Elektra are the obvious examples (though the latter role was created by a contralto, Ernestine Schumann-Heink). Two sympathetic travesty roles in operas by Strauss, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, both written for a soprano, are now usually sung by mezzos. The finest Octavian in

the post-World War II period, mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig, was also a particularly fine interpreter of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and of lieder; Ludwig's compass was remarkable, spanning such soprano roles as Leonore (Fidelio) and the Marschallin on the one hand and Brahms's Alto Rhapsody on the other. Shirley Verrett, like Malibran a century before, had a range that allowed her to take on both soprano and mezzo-soprano roles; she was the first to perform both Dido and Cassandra in the same performance of Berlioz's Les Troyens in 1973 – Josephina Veasey (a noted Fricka) had alternated in these roles at Covent Garden in 1972–3 – and the first of the 20th century to sing both Adalgisa and Norma (as Giulia Grisi had in the 19th century). The German mezzo Brigitte Fassbaender was particularly admired in such travesty roles as Sextus (La clemenza di Tito), Cherubino, Hänsel and Nicklausse (Les contes d'Hoffmann), but especially Octavian; her other roles include Dorabella, Carmen and Eboli. Anne Sophie von Otter has also excelled in trouser roles across a wide range, from Mozart's Cherubino and Sextus to Octavian and Composer, as well as the dramatic coloratura role of Rossini's Tancredi. In the mid-1930s, the Spanish mezzo Conchita Supervia initiated a renewal of interest in the comic operas of Rossini by singing the title roles of La Cenerentola and L'italiana in Algeri at Covent Garden (Rosina in Il barbiere was still being sung in a transposed soprano version). Her successor Teresa Berganza was also especially admired as Carmen, in Rossini's comic operas and in the Spanish song repertory. After 1970, Frederica von Stade excelled in much the same coloratura mezzo repertory, as well as in the roles of Charlotte and Octavian and in 17th- and 18th-century opera. Cecilia Bartoli has risen to stardom in such roles as Cinderella and Dorabella. After the bel canto revival of the 1940s and 50s, mezzos once again began to tackle the leading male roles in Rossini's serious operas. The leader here was Marilyn Horne, who displayed amazing virtuosity and style as Arsace (Semiramide), Malcolm (La donna del lago) and Tancredi. Although Horne describes her own voice as a ‘Rossini contralto’ (Ellison, 1997), she also has the upper range for Adalgisa (Norma), and has sung 18th-century opera, notably the title roles in Handel's Rinaldo and Gluck's Orfeo. Mezzos who have followed Horne in the Rossini dramatic coloratura repertory include von Otter, Jennifer Larmore, Vesselina Kasarova and Sonia Ganassi. As with the soprano repertory, the revival of early 19th-century mezzosoprano coloratura roles encouraged an interest as well in 18th-century and earlier opera. Horne was again prominent, as was Janet Baker, who sang the title role in Handel's Giulio Cesare and recorded a particularly moving Dido (Purcell) as well as Rameau's Phaedra (Hippolyte et Aricie) and Handel's Ariodante. This earlier repertory has also attracted younger singers trained in early music vocal techniques,

calling for a reduction or elimination of vibrato and the distinctive use of head and chest voice so that higher notes are ringing but not loud or forced and lower notes are full and rich. Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson's voice was particularly suited to Handel's operas and oratorios; she sang such title roles as Xerxes, Ariodante and the soprano parts of Susanna and Theodora. Composers have continued to write new roles and to adapt old ones: Britten composed Kate in Owen Wingrave for Baker, for whose mezzo Walton altered the soprano role of Cressida. Baker also enjoyed success in Maria Stuarda and excelled as Dido in Les Troyens. Tatiana Troyanos made her debut as Hippolyta in the New York première of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and created Jeanne in Penderecki's The Devils of Loudun (1969); her other roles included Carmen, Charlotte, Adalgisa and Ariodante. Yvonne Minton, in addition to many other operatic roles, created Thea in Tippett's The Knot Garden and sang Helen in his King Priam. Jan De Gaetani specialized in avant-garde repertory, singing, among many premières, the first performance of Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children and Maxwell Davies's A Stone Litany; she also recorded Pierrot lunaire and sang and recorded much early music, including the medieval Play of Herod. The mezzo-soprano in opera has frequently been cast as nurse or confidante (Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, Magdalena in Die Meistersinger, Emilia in Otello and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly) or the mature married woman (Herodias in Strauss's Salome, Adelaide in Arabella and Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly). The same is true of operetta, where the works of Gilbert and Sullivan provide multiple examples, and musical theatre. Gertrude Lawrence, a featured soloist and actress in works by Gershwin, Noel Coward and Moss Hart, made her last stage appearance as the widowed schoolteacher Anna in the Rogers and Hammerstein musical The King and I. Other such roles in musical theatre include the title roles of Annie get your Gun (Ethel Merman, renowned for her belting style), Hello Dolly (the husky-voiced Carol Channing, also sung in revival by Merman) and Evita (Patti LuPone, but sung in the film version by pop star Madonna). Whereas the lower female voice often has been considered unromantic by operatic composers, conjuring up the dowager duchess or elderly aunt (Carmen and Dalila are striking exceptions), it has been considered especially sensual and sultry in popular music, jazz and cabaret, where the upper extension of the soprano voice has largely been avoided. Doris Day, Edith Piaf and Judy Garland are among the actresses whose voices are of mezzo-soprano pitch. Blues and jazz singers, such as Sippie Wallace and Billy Holiday, have also cultivated this range. Bibliography H. Klein: Great Women Singers of my Time (London, 1931)

R. Celletti: ‘Mezzosoprani e contralti’, Musica d'oggi, new ser., v (1962), 110–17 W.H. Mellers: Angels Time (Oxford, 1986)

of

the

Night:

Popular

Female

Singers

of

our

J. Tick and J. Bowers, ed.: Women Making Music: the Western Art Tradition, 1150– 1950 (Urbana, IL, 1986) J. Rosselli: ‘From Princely Service to the Open Market: Singers of Italian Opera and their Patrons, 1600–1850’, COJ, i (1989), 1–32 H. Matheopoulos: Diva: Art (Boston, 1991)

Great

Sopranos

and

Mezzos

discuss

their

J. Rosselli: Singers of Italian Opera: the History of a Profession (Cambridge, 1992) J.B. Steane: Voices: Singers and Critics (London, 1992) J.B. Steane: Singers of the Century (London, 1996) C. Ellison: ‘Mezzos in the Middle of a Lyric Explosion’, New York Times (7 Nov 1997), B 1, 30 Owen Jander, J.B. Steane, Elizabeth Forbes/Ellen T. Harris (with Gerald Waldman)