Dear Axwell and fellow Vocalisters:
Axwell quoted me as follows
> In a message dated 9/29/2000 11:26:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> lloyd.hanson@n... writes:
>
> << Patti, for whom "Norma" was written
> was a contralto who developed the top of her voice and became famous
> for this and other Bellini soprano roles. >>
>
To which he replied
> Not true. You may be confusing her with Malabran.
My Response:
You are correct. It was not Patti, it was Pasta. Like Malibran she added
an extension to her contralto voice and Norma was written for her. This
was the age of the "soprano sfogato" or "unlimited soprano". Others to
follow, in addition to Malibran, were Cornelie Falcon and Malibran's
younger sister, Pauline Viardot. Malibran and Viardot were daughters of
the famous voice pedagoge, Manual Garcia the first. Garcia's son (the
second) in turn invented the laryngescope. Such a day of vocal
development.
Still no mention of our present catagory of "mezzo soprano", only soprano.
Thanks for the correction, Axwell.
Regards
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Vocal Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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