Music Sound

Vocal ranges

Female ranges Soprano Mezzo-soprano Contralto Male ranges Sopranist Alto Tenor Baritenor Baritone Bass-baritone Bass

A mezzo-soprano (meaning "half soprano" in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3-A5, middle C = C4). Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or richer) vocal tone than sopranos, and their voice type sits between the soprano and the contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, after the names of famous singers. A castrato with a mezzo-soprano range was called a mezzo-soprano castrato.

Mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, with Bizet's Carmen and Rosina (in Rossini's Barber of Seville) as the most notable exceptions. Typical roles for mezzo-sopranos include "witches, bitches, and breeches", a common expression that summarizes their function in opera. Witches are the old hags, nurses, and wise women, such as Azucena and Ulrica (which can also be performed by contraltos); breeches are male roles sung by female singers, such as Cherubino; and bitches are villains and seducers, such as Amneris or Eboli.

Some roles designated for soubrette sopranos are also often sung by mezzo sopranos. This gives the roles a fuller and more dramatic quality, which often suits them well. Such roles include Despina in Così fan tutte and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Other roles designated for dramatic sopranos walk a fine line between soprano and mezzo territory. Mezzos quite often play Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth, and even Isolde in Tristan und Isolde. These examples are simply proof that the line between soprano and mezzo soprano is not clearly defined.

In soul music, a person will sometimes be classified mezzo-soprano, if she can sing both contralto and soprano. To earn this classification however, she must be able to reach the D and even E above Soprano C, as well as the corresponding note below Middle C, thus possessing a three-octave range.

Contents 1 Mezzo-soprano roles in operas 2 Mezzo-soprano roles in operettas and musicals 3 Famous mezzo-sopranos 3.1 Classical music 3.2 Popular and crossover music 4 See also

Mezzo-soprano roles in operas

Zweite Dame (2nd Lady) (Die Zauberflöte)
Dritte Dame (3rd Lady) (Die Zauberflöte)
Adriano (Rienzi)
Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor)
Amneris (Aida)
Annius (La clemenza di Tito)
Baba the Turk (The Rake's Progress)
Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia)
Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde)
Carmen (Carmen)
Cecilius (Lucio Silla)
Cenerentola (La Cenerentola)
Charlotte (Werther)
Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro)
Dalila (Samson et Dalila)
Dido (Dido and Aeneas)
Dorabella (Così fan tutte)
Emilia (Otello)
Erika (Vanessa)
Flora (La traviata)
Fricka (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre)
Gertrude (Hamlet)
Idamantes (Idomeneo)
Isabella (L'italiana in Algeri)
La Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica)
Laura (La Gioconda)
Leonora (La favorite)
Lola (Cavalleria rusticana)
Maddalena(Rigoletto)
Mallika (Lakmé)
Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro)
Marguerite (Le Damnation de Faust)
Meg Page (Falstaff)
Mercedes (Carmen)
Mignon (Mignon)
Nicklausse (Tales of Hoffmann)
Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier)
Olga (Eugene Onegin)
Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice)
Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus)
Ortrud (Lohengrin)
Ottavia (L'incoronazione di Poppea)
Pauline (The Queen of Spades)
Preziosilla (La forza del destino)
Princess Eboli (Don Carlos)
Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi)
Rosina (The Barber of Seville)
Serse (Serse)
Sesto (La clemenza di Tito)
Siebel (Faust)
Stephano (Romeo et Juliette)
Suzuki (Madama Butterfly)
Sonyetka (Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District)
The Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos)
The Countess (The Queen of Spades)
Tancredi (Tancredi)
Urbain (Les Huguenots)
Venus (Tannhäuser)

Mezzo-soprano roles in operettas and musicals

Adelaide (Guys and Dolls)
Anne Catherick (The Woman in White)
Cleo Wellington (Glamorous Night)
Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti)
Grizabella (Cats)
Iolanthe
Eva Peron (Evita)
Ellen Scott (Miss Saigon)
Fantine (Les Misérables)
Helena Landless (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
Kim (Miss Saigon)
Leona Samish (Do I Hear A Waltz?)
Linda (Lost in the Stars)
Lisa (Pirates: a Romeo and Juliet Story)(Pop style of singing is required)
Liza Elliot (Lady in the Dark)
Lucy (Jekyll and Hyde)
Mad Margaret (Ruddigore)
Madame Thénardier (Les Misérables)
Marian Halcombe (The Woman in White)
Marguerite (The Scarlet Pimpernel)
Madame Giry (The Phantom of the Opera)
Meg Giry (The Phantom of the Opera)
Mei Li (Flower Drum Song)
Miss Hannigan (Annie)
Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd)
Nellie Forbush (South Pacific)
Nessarose (Wicked)
Nettie Fowler (Carousel)
The Old Lady (Candide)
Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus)
Phoebe Meryll (The Yeomen of the Guard)
Red Riding Hood (Into the Woods)
Rosemary (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying)
Rose Maurrant (Street Scene)
Tessa (The Gondoliers)
The Narrator (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)(Can be played by a soprano with a decent belt capability)
Vera (King's Rhapsody)
Mother (Ragtime)
Ulla (The Producers)
The Lady of the Lake (Monty Python's Spamalot) (can also be played by an Alto)
The Witch (Into the Woods)
Maureen Johnson (Rent)
Anna Leonowens (The King And I)

Famous mezzo-sopranos

Classical music

Patricia Adkins-Chiti
Marian Anderson
Janet Baker
Agnes Baltsa
Fedora Barbieri
Cecilia Bartoli
Cathy Berberian
Teresa Berganza
Olga Borodina
Grace Bumbry
Emma Calvé
Fiorenza Cossotto
Annette Daniels
Barbara Dever
Margreta Elkins
Brigitte Fassbaender
Elina Garanca
Maria Gay
Vivica Genaux
Rita Gorr
Susan Graham
Denyce Graves
Mary Gayle Greene
Monica Groop
Marilyn Horne
Vesselina Kasarova
Magdalena Kožená
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
Marjana Lipovšek
Christa Ludwig
Carla Maffioletti
Waltraud Meier
Nan Merriman
Ann Murray
Elena Obraztsova
Ewa Podles
Nell Rankin
Regina Resnik
Gabriela Scherer
Rinat Shaham
Giulietta Simionato
Risë Stevens
Conchita Supervia
Salli Terri
Tatiana Troyanos
Jard van Nes
Shirley Verrett
Anne Sofie von Otter
Frederica von Stade
Carolyn Watkinson
Dolora Zajick

Popular and crossover music

NOTE: In most cases, it is not possible to find a reputable source for the vocal range of pop singers. It seems most names were listed here on an empirical basis. It must be noted that in the pop world, the vocal range of a singer is often artificially enhanced.

Cindy Birdsong
Mary J. Blige
Nicole Bogner
Carol Burnett
Karen Carpenter
Jeese Carpenter
Belinda Carlisle
Natalie Cole
Aretha Franklin
Judy Garland
Anneke van Giersbergen
Debbie Gravitte
Kelly Rowland
Katherine Jenkins - Semi classical
Cyndi Lauper
Lynda Laurence
Amy Lee
Patti LuPone
Sarah Maclachlan
Katie Melua
Idina Menzel
Ethel Merman
Bette Midler
Jane Olivor
Édith Piaf
Sandie Shaw
Simone Simons
Donna Summer
Teairra Mari
Tina Turner
Tsakane Valentine
Violetta Villas
Tamia Washington
Mary Wilson

See also

• music terminology
• timbre