Mezzo-soprano

Thesis of the main voices

Soprano

Mezzosoprano

Contract

Tenor

Baritone

Low

Mezzosoprano or mesosoprano is the middle voice that lies below the soprano and above the contralto among human registers.

The term is also used to designate the person who sings with this voice. It is an Italian term, which means half-soprano or almost-soprano. The soprano voice is considered to be included within the mezzo-soprano voice. This super-high situation, instead of being a handicap, allows you to undertake very complicated vocal ornamentation. She is a voice with a resounding timbre and slightly deeper than that of the soprano.

Tessitura

Mezzosoprano theory.

According to the Harvard Dictionary of Music, the mezzo-soprano pitch ranges from an la₃ to an fa ₅.

Types of mezzo-sopranos

Light mezzo-soprano

The light mezzo-soprano is almost equivalent to the dramatic soprano, but with more agility. She must be able to resolve truly virtuous ornaments.

Lyric mezzo-soprano

The lyric mezzo-soprano is a voice with reinforced bass, comparable to the lyric soprano, with the capacity for fast and perfectly controlled vibrato and agility in scales and arpeggios. Lyric mezzosopranos with a specialized repertoire of Rossini's operas are also referred to as Rossinian mezzosopranos, even though they perform roles by other composers. Examples of lyrical mezzo-sopranos are: the Latvian Elīna Garanča (The Barber of Seville), the Spanish Conchita Supervía (as Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville), the also Spanish Teresa Berganza (as Sesto in La clemenza di Tito by Mozart) and Maria Elena Iglesias (as Flora Bervoix in Verdi's La Traviata), the Italian Cecilia Bartoli (as Cinderella in La Cenerentola Rossini), the American Frederica von Stade, Marilyn Horne who revived Rossini's operas.

Dramatic mezzo-soprano

The dramatic mezzo-soprano is a much more powerful voice, very close to the French soprano Falcon. Examples of dramatic mezzo-soprano are: Oralia Domínguez as Princess Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlos, Bruna Castagna, Yelena Obraztsova, Rita Gorr, Irene Minghini Cattaneo, Dolora Zajick, Olga Borodina and Stephanie Blythe.

Repertoire

The mezzo-soprano's repertoire includes the following dramatic roles: