| | From: Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...>
Date: Mon Aug 19, 2002 7:35 pm
Subject: Re: [vocalist] contralto or dark mezzo recordings?
| On Thu, 15 Aug 2002, bean2871_2000 wrote:
> Hi everyone I was wondering if anyone knew of any recordings or
> singers that have a contralto or low, dark mezzo soprano quality? I
> just finished studying with Andreas Poulimenos and he told me that is
> the voice quality I was headed towards. Also I was wondering if
> anyone knew of any opera with contralto roles? Thanks a bunch!
Welcome to the very select club, you lucky girl!
"Dark" is somewhat "in the ear of the listener". But given that most
dramatic mezzos and even some dramatic sopranos have a decided "darkness"
to their voices, there are some whose voices are exceptionally "dark" to
my ears.
Here are two really "dark" mezzos I listen to and admire most:
Olga Borodina
Nina Terentieva
Here are my most-admired contraltos:
Ewa Podles
Claramae Turner
Kathleen Ferrier
Louis Homer
Ernestine Schumann-Heink
For the "darkest" voices, you should also listen to Marian Anderson -
she's not one of my favourites, because I think her diction was
ridiculously over-mannered, and her technique when singing
higher-tessitura repertoire was nothing exceptional. On the other hand,
her singing of spirituals is still peerless.
The other "dark" voice is that of Clara Butt, the great English contralto
of the late 19th and early 20th century, whose voice was so solid in its
lower register that it could sound almost "mannish" (and rather comparable
to that of Ruby Helder, the early 20th century "female tenor").
Unfortunately, Butt's recordings were all done late in her career, and
thus don't reflect her voice at its peak.
For her timbre and art-song repertoire, you might also listen to Nathalie
Stutzmann, another current contralto, though I find she has some technical
problems that make her less than an ideal "role model" (not to mention
some intonation difficulties at times).
As for true contralto roles - vs. mezzo-soprano roles (which contraltos
also sing a lot) - or male alto/castrato roles (which are also became
contralto "bread and butter" after the practice of gelding prepubescent
boy singers feel out of fashion in the late 18th/early 19th centuries -
but which may increasingly become once again the domain of male altos,
this time in the form of countertenors) - here are some of the most famous
roles composed for contraltos - there are numerous others, and you'll find
quite a few listed on my "Operatic Roles for Contraltos" Web page at:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/Repertoire/altorole.html
Monteverdi: Arnalta in L'INCORONAZZIONE DI POPPEA
Monteverdi: Penelope in IL RITORNO D'ULISSE IN PATRIA
Handel: Cornelia in GIULIO CESARE
Handel: Armdia in RINALDO (rewritten for contralto by Handel)
Handel: Juno and Ino in SEMELE
Handel: Eduige in RODELINDA
Handel: Amastre in SERSE
Mozart: The Third Lady in DIE ZAUBERFLOETE
Rossini: Angelina in LA CENERENTOLA
Rossini: Rosina in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
Rossini: Isabella and Zulma in L'ITALIANA IN ALGERI
Berlioz: Anna in LES TROYENS
Glinka: Ratmir in RUSSLAN AND LYUDMILA
Glinka: Vanya in A LIFE FOR THE TSAR
Gounod: Martha in FAUST
Gounod: Nurse in ROMEO ET JULIETTE
Borodin: Kontchakovna in PRINCE IGOR
Verdi: Maddalena in RIGOLETTO
Verdi: Federica in LUISA MILLER
Verdi: Ulrica in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
Verdi: Dame Quickly in FALSTAFF
Boito: Marta in MEFISTOFELE
Sullivan: Little Buttercup in HMS PINAFORE
Sullivan: Ruth in PIRATES OF PENZANCE
Sullivan: Katisha in THE MIKADO
Sullivan: Dame Carruthers in YEOMEN OF THE GUARD
Sullivan: Duchess of Plaza-Toro in THE GONDOLIERS
Sullivan: Queen of the Fairies in IOLANTHE
Sullivan: Lady Jane in PATIENCE
Sullivan: Lady Blanche in PRINCESS IDA
Sullivan: Lady Sangazure in THE SORCERER
Sullivan: Dame Hannah in RUDDIGORE
Tchaikovsky: Olga and Filipyevna in EUGENE ONEGIN
Tchaikovsky: Pauline in PIKOVAYA DAMA
Tchaikovsky: Martha in IOLANTA
Rimsky-Korsakov: Shepherd Lel' in SNEGOUROTCHKA (pants role)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Amelfa in THE GOLDEN COCKEREL
Rimsky-Korsakov: Dunyasha in THE TSAR'S BRIDE
Mussorgsky: Hostess at the Inn, Nurse in BORIS GODUNOV
J. Strauss Jr.: Orlofsky in DIE FLEDERMAUS (pants role)
Wagner: Erda in The Ring Cycle (DAS RHEINGOLD and SIEGFRIED)
Wagner: Waltraute in The Ring Cycle (WALKUERE and GOETTERDAEMERUNG)
Mascagni: Mama Lucia in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
Ponchielli: La Cieca in LA GIOCONDA
Giordano: Madelon in ANDREA CHENIER
Giordano: Dmitri in FEDORA
Puccini: Zita in GIANNI SCHICCHI
Humperdinck: Rosina Daintymouth (die Hexe) in HANSEL UND GRETEL
Lalo: Margared in LE ROI D'YS
Massenet: Mme. la Haltiere in CENDRILLON
Massenet: Albine in THAIS
Massenet: Dulcinee in DON QUICHOTTE
G. Charpentier: Mother in LOUISE
Janacek: Forester's Wife in CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN
Janacek: Grandmother Beryjovka in JENUFA
Janacek: Kabanicha in KATYA KABANOVA
R. Strauss: Annina in DER ROSENKAVALIER
R. Strauss: Dryad in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS
R. Strauss: Clairon in CAPRICCIO
R. Strauss: Gaea in DAPHNE
R. Strauss: Page of Herodias in SALOME
R. Strauss: Voice from on High in DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN
Debussy: Genevieve in PELLEAS ET MELISANDE
de Falla: La Abuela in LA VIDA BREVE
Vaughan Williams: Maurya from RIDERS TO THE SEA
Kurt Weill: Frau Peachum in DIE DREIGROSCHENOPER
Kurt Weill: Leokadja Begbick in AUFSTIEG UND FALL DER STADT MAHAGONNY
Berg: Margret in WOZZECK
Zandonai: Smaragdi in FRANCESCA DA RIMINI
Stravinsky: Mother Goose in THE RAKE'S PROGRESS
Thomson: Teresa II in FOUR SAINTS IN THREE ACTS
Thomson: Anne, Indiana Elliott, and Anne Hope in THE MOTHER OF US ALL
Prokofiev: Hostess of the Inn in THE FIERY ANGEL
Prokofiev: Princess Clarissa in A LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES
Poulenc: Mme de Croissy, Mere Jean in DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES
Britten: Auntie and Mrs Sedley in PETER GRIMES
Britten: Lucretia and Bianca in THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA (the title
role written for Kathleen Ferrier)
Britten: Florence Pike in ALBERT HERRING
Britten: Hippolyta in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
Shostakovich: Sonyetka in LADY MACBETH OF MTENSK DISTRICT
Barber: The Old Baroness in VANESSA
Copland: Ma Moss in THE TENDER LAND
Menotti: Miss Todd in THE OLD MAID AND THE THIEF
Menotti: Mother, Vera Boronel in THE CONSUL
Menotti: Mme. Flora ("Baba") in THE MEDIUM
Floyd: Mrs Ott in SUSANNAH
Moore: Mama McCourt in THE BALLAD OF BABY DOE
Bernstein: The Old Lady in CANDIDE
Henze: Carolina von Kirchstetten in ELEGY FOR YOUNG LOVERS
Ward: Tituba and Rebecca Nurse in THE CRUCIBLE
Tippett: Sosostris from THE MIDSUMMER MARRIAGE
Adams: Marilyn Klinghoffer in THE DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER
Glass: Nefirtiti in AKHNATEN
Glass: Kasturbai in SATYAGRAHA
Some notworthy mezzo soprano roles whose range and tessitura makes them
quite well suited for (and frequently performed by) contraltos include:
Monteverdi: Octavia in L'INCORONAZZIONE DI POPPEA
Mozart: Marcellina (when her aria is cut, as it often is) in LE NOZZE DI
FIGARO
Donizetti: Leonore/a in LA FAVORITE/A
Meyerbeer: Fides in LE PROPHETE (one of Ernestine Schumann-Heink's
signature roles)
Thomas: Gertrude in HAMLET
Saint-Saens: Dalila in SAMSON ET DALILA
Verdi: Azucena in IL TROVATORE
Mussorgsky: Marfa in KHOVANSHCHINA
Puccini: La Principessa in SUOR ANGELICA
Massenet: Herodiade in HERODIADE
R. Strauss: Klytaemnestra in ELEKTRA
Stravinsky: Baba the Turk in THE RAKE'S PROGRESS
Karen Mercedes
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
______________________________________
I will sing with the spirit, and I
will sing with the understanding also.
1 Corinthians 14:15
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