Mezzo-soprano

Vocal ranges

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

A mezzo-soprano (meaning "half soprano" in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A flat below middle C to the A flat two octaves above. 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, britches, and bitches", a common expression that summarizes their function in opera. Witches are the old hags, nurses, and wise women that are seen in operas, such as Azucena and Ulrica. Britches are breeches roles, males roles typically played by mezzo-sopranos, such as Cherubino and Octavian. Bitches are the sultry seducers that lead men astray, such as Carmen, Venus, and Dalila.

Mezzo-Soprano roles

• Carmen (Carmen)
• Rosina (The Barber of Seville)
• Adalgisa (Norma)
• Azucena (Il Trovatore)
• Ulrica (Un Ballo in Maschera)
• Perziosilla (La Forza del Destino)
• Laura (La Gioconda)
• Venus (Tannhauser)
• Brangane (Tristan und Isolde)
• Suzuki (Madame Butterfly)
• Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana)
• Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana)
• Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro)
• Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro)
• Dorabella (Cosi Fan Tutte)
• Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier)
• Amneris (Aida)
• Princess Eboli (Don Carlo)
• Ottavia (L'Incoronazione di Poppea)
• Dalila (Samson et Dalila)
• The Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos)
• Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice)
• Sonyetka (Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District)
• Pauline (The Queen of Spades)

Famous mezzo-sopranos

• Janet Baker
• Agnes Baltsa
• Fedora Barbieri
• Cecilia Bartoli
• Teresa Berganza
• Olga Borodina
• Grace Bumbry
• Annette Daniels
• Barbara Dever
• Brigitte Fassbaender
• Maria Gay
• Denyce Graves
• Monica Groop
• Marilyn Horne
• Magdalena Kožená
• Christa Ludwig
• Carla Maffioletti
• Anne-Sofie von Otter
• Regina Resnik
• Giulietta Simionato
• Frederica von Stade
• Salli Terri
• Tatiana Troyanos
• Shirley Verrett
• Carolyn Watkinson

See also

• Category:Mezzo-sopranos
• music terminology
• timbre

See also: Mezzo-soprano, Aida, Alto (voice), Anne-Sofie von Otter, Annette Daniels, Ariadne auf Naxos, Barbara Dever, Baritone, Bass-baritone