Lesle Jones wrote:
vtyc> For the record, I join Karen in lamenting the tendency to expect
vtyc> all contraltos to sing all contralto roles; our voices come in different
vtyc> weights, just like everyone else's. (Do I hear an echo of Tako's similar
vtyc> plea for the countertenor here? :-) ) I trained at one time as a
vtyc> coloratura soprano (!), and while I can still get through Queen of the
vtyc> Night (better than some sopranos I know), it certainly does not show the
vtyc> qualities that make this voice special. Eaglen may be expected to sing
vtyc> Norma, but she *isn't* expected to sing Lucia or the transposed-up
version
vtyc> of Rosina in "Il Barbiere"; it's a waste of that voice, even if she could
vtyc> negotiate it.
Hi, all,
I'd like to add my own lament on the other side of the coin - people
expecting mezzo-sopranos to be able to sing contralto material! A lot
of the stuff I'm most comfortable with on as a soloist was written for
soprano: Mozart concert arias, the second soprano solos in Bach's Mass
in B Minor, the Pie Jesu from Faure's Requiem, as well as Cherubino,
Dorabella, etc, which Mozart considered soprano roles.
If I call myself a mezzo-soprano (which I do), directors don't
automatically consider me for the lower soprano literature which I can
handle. But if I were to call myself a soprano, I'd be expected to
sing other pieces in a higher tessitura which would wear me out.
Fortunately, a lot of the operatic roles (like Cherubino) have somehow
made the transition to mezzo-land. But what about oratorio and
concert solos, which is mainly what I do? When will people start to
understand that mezzo-soprano, "alto", and contralto are not
synonymous?
Vicki Bryant, mezzo-soprano
Naperville, IL
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