Colin wrote:
>Do we have lots of mezzos, or do we have lots of sopranos without tops ? ;-) > >Just playing devil's advocate here, I realise that when I used to describe >myself as a baritone it was because I was a tenor without a top.
Good question, Colin. There are certainly singers out there calling themselves mezzos who would be more accurately classified as sopranos. Some of them even do have the high notes, but would prefer to be part of a considerably smaller fach where they might be more likely to be noticed (a certain Cecilia comes to mind).
Taking into account tessitura and vocal color in addition to range, I can assure you that this mezzo is most definitely a mezzo. No one has ever suggested that I might be a soprano, and a few people along the way have called me a contralto. I didn't think I had the heft needed in the lower part of my voice (without artificially darkening and weighing down the voice) to really pull that off. So a plain vanilla mezzo I remain - a full lyric - with vocal weight, size and range pretty much smack in the middle. It actually suits me just fine; if I'm careful, I can choose repertoire from a fairly wide fach spectrum.
Ever the curious teacher, I'd like to know what you did to find your high notes?
Robin Lynne Frye Mezzo-Soprano Voice and Piano Teacher New York, New York
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