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From:  Leslie Jones <LJones@s...>
Leslie Jones <LJones@s...>
Date:  Mon Mar 26, 2001  11:09 pm
Subject:  Mozart for contraltos, Was Re: a tenor who is grumpy...


Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...> wrote:
Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...> wrote:
>And I'm still waiting for someone to give me an example of anything Mozart
>ever wrote - coloratura or not - for the LOW female voice.

And Isabelle Bracamonte <ibracamonte@y...> responded:
And Isabelle Bracamonte <ibracamonte@y...> responded:
>Flute's third lady is definitely a contralto.
>Marcellina has been done by contraltos, though not
>well as far as reviews will take you. Have you looked
>at Annio (Clemenza)? Or Sesto? I assume you're
>running into this difficulty in terms of auditions and
>competitions which often require a Mozart aria to be
>among the chosen 3 or 5. What about printing up a
>transposed aria (Dorabella down a couple of steps
>might do you well) and coyly slipping it to the
>accompanist?

True, Third Lady is technically a contralto, but the tessitura is
really more that of a choral alto part -- seldom gets out of the lower
middle of the voice, which can be wearing when holding one's own up against
two sopranos whose lines lie higher in their voices; plus, there's
absolutely nothing "excerptable". Marcellina is much more a mezzo (and
occasionally a dramatic soprano) than a contralto, although it's do-able
(I've sung it myself; a great character, but technically just not where my
voice likes to live). The other mezzo roles Isabelle mentions simply lie
just a bit too high, tessitura-wise, for the contralto voice, and
transposing Dorabella is not only asking to be socked by the auditors if
they figure out what you're doing, but by the accompanist -- D's arias are
not easy to play, and asking a pianist who has the correct key under
his/her fingers to sight-read a transposition has great potential for disaster.

For the true contralto voice, there is abysmally little. The
arias from "Mitridate" (originally written for a castrato, if I remember
from my research -- can't remember the character's name at the moment) are
do-able; the tessitura as written is relatively low (you can always write
cadenzas and ornaments that suit *your* voice, rather than using Horne's or
Verrett's, etc.). There are also 3 other arias published in the
International Music "Mozart: Seven Arias for Contralto" volume from the
oratorio "La Betulia Liberata" which appear to have been written for a
female contralto (role of Judith); the florid writing in these is a little
less rugged than the Mitridate's arias (written for an aggressive
character). I don't know how suitable these are for an *operatic*
audition, though. (I have the same beef with Puccini, too -- Zita from
"Gianni Schicchi" and the Principessa and the Abbess from "Suor Angelica"
are neat roles, but again, nothing excerptable....)

For the record, I join Karen in lamenting the tendency to expect
all contraltos to sing all contralto roles; our voices come in different
weights, just like everyone else's. (Do I hear an echo of Tako's similar
plea for the countertenor here? :-) ) I trained at one time as a
coloratura soprano (!), and while I can still get through Queen of the
Night (better than some sopranos I know), it certainly does not show the
qualities that make this voice special. Eaglen may be expected to sing
Norma, but she *isn't* expected to sing Lucia or the transposed-up version
of Rosina in "Il Barbiere"; it's a waste of that voice, even if she could
negotiate it.

Leslie, who's going back into semi-lurkdom (isn't this
incredibly busy semester over yet?!)

Leslie Jones, D.M.A.; contralto
Asst. Professor, Dept. of Music
Southeast Missouri State Univ.
LJones@s... - (573) 651-2339
LJones@s... - (573) 651-2339



  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
10678 "Excerptable" Puccini for mezzos Karen Mercedes   Tue  3/27/2001   2 KB

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