Mezzo-soprano [mezzo]
(It.:
‘medium soprano’; Fr. mezzo-soprano, bas-dessus, second dessus;
Ger. Mezzosopran, tiefer Sopran).
A
voice, intermediate in pitch between contralto and soprano. It is usually
written for in the range a to f
'' and may be extended at either end, particularly in
solo writing. Non-vocal uses of the term derive from a similar use of range;
for example, the C-clef identified as mezzo-soprano, with c' on
the second line up, defines a staff whose range is a to b'. In
regard to voices, the term may apply historically both to women and men
(castratos or countertenors), although more commonly it refers only to women.
The distinction between soprano and mezzo-soprano (or ‘mezzo’) became common
only towards the end of the 18th century.
1. Before 1800.
2. 19th century.
3. 20th century.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
OWEN JANDER, J.B. STEANE, ELIZABETH
FORBES/ELLEN T. HARRIS (with GERALD
WALDMAN)
Mezzo-soprano
1. Before 1800.
In
the 17th century most music for ‘soprano’ had a range c' to g'',
which by later criteria would be deemed appropriate for a mezzo-soprano. During
the first half of the 18th century, however, composers of operas and cantatas
began writing soprano parts that not only extended the upper range slightly,
frequently reaching a'', but also demanded lengthy fioriture in
the range g' to g''. Along with this trend towards higher and
lighter parts for the soprano voice came an awareness of the somewhat weightier
mezzo-soprano voice, which was unsuited to the new soprano roles. J.J. Quantz,
in his autobiography in Marpurg's Historisch-kritische Beyträge zur Aufnahme
der Musik (i, 1754–5, pp. 213, 240–41), carefully distinguishes contralto,
mezzo-soprano and soprano. The castrato Senesino, ‘who was always regarded in
England as a contralto’ (Burney, History, iv, 1789, p.275), was
described by Quantz as having ‘a penetrating, clear, even, and pleasant deep
soprano voice (mezzo soprano)’ which he rarely used above f''. In
comparing the soprano Cuzzoni (whose range was c' to c''') with
Faustina Bordoni, Quantz (quoted in Burney, iv, 318ff) similarly reported that
the latter had ‘a less clear than penetrating mezzosoprano voice’ with the
range b to g''. However, Quantz's use of the term mezzo-soprano
was not generally accepted into practice until after 1800. Even then, operatic
roles, other vocal music (both solo and choral) and voices themselves can often
be identified as mezzo-soprano only by association with what is deemed
mezzo-soprano today, for, as implied in Quantz's prescient use of the term, the
mezzo-soprano partakes of both soprano and contralto qualities.
The
leading male roles in Handel's operas were generally taken by alto castratos
who sang in the range a to e''; foremost among these was Senesino
(Francesco Bernardi). Although the primo uomo part was for castrato, the
secondo uomo part was frequently written for a woman in the same range.
Handel unusually composed the primo uomo part in Radamisto for
Margherita Durastante; it was taken over by Senesino (with compositional
changes) on his arrival. Handel did not again compose a primo uomo part
for a woman until 1748 when he wrote Solomon for the mezzo-soprano Caterina
Galli.
Handel
wrote leading female roles in the soprano range, but rarely went above a''.
A somewhat lower range was used for older female roles, such as the widow
Cornelia, played by Anastasia Robinson, in Giulio Cesare, and the wives
of Hercules (Dejanira) and Jephtha (Storgè), both sung by Galli. Robinson began
her career as a soprano, but her voice deepened. That she is today referred to
as a contralto, while Galli is termed a mezzo and Bordoni a soprano,
illustrates the problem of identifying a female mezzo-soprano before 1800.
In
theatre music, women singers typically sang in the mezzo-soprano range. Susanna
Cibber, an outstanding singing actress sang the alto solos in the Messiah
première and performed a number of male roles in revivals of Handel's
oratorios: David (Saul), Micah (Samson) and Lichas (Hercules).
In Lutheran church music, alto choral parts and solos would have been sung by
boys, but in Anglican services often by countertenors. Handel reserved the
countertenor voice in his dramatic music for young men. The countertenor Daniel
Sullivan sang Athamas (Semele), Micah (Samson), David (Saul)
and the title role of Joseph, all mezzo-soprano parts by range and early
examples of the tendency to compose young men's parts in this register
(Cherubino, Oktavian). Castratos sang only rarely in oratorios, but in the
1750s the alto castrato Gaetano Guadagni performed in many Handel oratorio
revivals, singing parts originally composed for Cibber.
In
France, the importance of a higher and lower soprano voice in solo and choral
ensembles created a more consistent terminology: Dessus for the soprano voice and Bas-dessus for the mezzo-soprano.
Rousseau (Dictionnaire, 1768) commented that the solo mezzo-soprano
voice was more esteemed in Italy than in France, but referred to the acclaim
for a certain Mlle Gondré, ‘a very fine bas-dessus’. Mozart's use of the
treble voices in his serious operas remained similar to his Baroque
predecessors. He wrote young, heroic male roles for castrato (Idamantes in Idomeneo
and Sextus in La clemenza di Tito); his female roles are all for
soprano, but some fall into the mezzo range including Cherubino (a breeches
role), Dorabella and, in La clemenza di Tito, Annius (another breeches
role) and arguably Vitellia.
Mezzo-soprano
2. 19th century.
The
extension of the upper soprano range in the early 19th century caused many
singers who would previously have been simply ‘soprano’ to take the
classification of mezzo-soprano. The disappearance of the castrato, who
generally occupied a similar pitch range, gave further impetus to the
development of the place of the mezzo-soprano in opera, and indeed many of the
important mezzo parts in the first decades of the 19th century are heroic,
travesty roles (see Travesty). Benedetta Pisaroni, who began her
career as a soprano, took many male roles, creating Malcolm in Rossini's La
donna del lago (1819) and performing both Arsace in Semiramide and
the title role of Tancredi. Karoline Unger, whose range extended from a
to d''', is sometimes referred to as a contralto, but her roles and her
range seem to belie it. Maria Malibran, a fiery and exciting singer, is now
categorized as a mezzo-soprano although her greatest rival was the soprano
Henriette Sontag; they performed many of the same roles, including Norma. Her
range was allegedly g to e''', but Bellini lowered the role of
Elvira in I puritani for her (she never sang that version, which was not
heard until the 1980s). Some roles today associated specifically with the
mezzo-soprano were written for soprano, such as Adalgisa in Bellini's Norma
(written for the soprano Giulia Grisi).
It
is not always possible to be specific in establishing distinctions between
voice types in the mezzo range: there are singers who are described sometimes
as soprano and other times as mezzo, and others variously described as
contralto and mezzo. The term Mezzo-contralto has also been used, for
example for Malibran and for Rosine Stolz, for whom Donizetti wrote two
rewarding parts when he was writing for the Paris Opéra, Léonor (La favorite,
1840) and Zayda (Dom Sébastien, 1843). Stoltz also created Ascanio in Benvenuto
Cellini (1838); Halévy also wrote roles for her.
Beginning
with Azucena in Il trovatore (1853), Verdi composed a long series of
magnificent mezzo parts. Maddalena (Rigoletto) and Ulrica (Un ballo
in maschera), originally intended for contralto, have usually been sung by
mezzo-sopranos. Princess Eboli in Don Carlos, perhaps Verdi's finest
mezzo role, was first sung in Paris by Pauline Guéymard-Lauters (1867), whose
wide compass and powerful upper register also enabled her to sing soprano
roles. At the Italian première of Don Carlos, Eboli was sung by
Giuseppina Pasqua, whose strength lay more in her middle register; later she
created Mistress Quickly in Falstaff (1893). Sofia Scalchi, whose large,
imposing voice had a range of f to b'', sang Azucena, Amneris and
other Verdi mezzo roles and was Siébel at the performance of Gounod's Faust
at the opening of the New York Metropolitan Opera.
In
Germany the three categories of female voice are even more difficult to
distinguish. Eglantine, the villainess of Weber's Euryanthe, was written
for a mezzo but created by the soprano Therese Grünbaum (1823). Adriano (Rienzi,
1842) and Venus (Tannhäuser, 1845) were first sung by a soprano,
Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient. These three roles and Ortrud (Lohengrin),
Magdalene (Die Meistersinger) and Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde)
were all introduced to the Metropolitan by Marianne Brandt, a contralto whose
range allowed her to sing any part from the coloratura role of Astaroth
(Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba) to Kundry (Parsifal). The mezzo
role of Fricka (Das Rheingold) was created in Munich by a soprano,
Sophie Stehle (1869–70); it again fell to a soprano, Friederike Grün, at
Bayreuth in the first complete Ring cycle. Later the Liverpool-born
mezzo Marie Brema, who made her début as Lola in the London première of Cavalleria
rusticana, was much praised as Fricka; she also sang Ortrud and Kundry at
Bayreuth. In the first London Ring, Fricka was sung by Hedwig
Reicher-Kindermann, another mezzo with an extraordinary compass who sang Erda
in the first cycle at Bayreuth and was later a magnificent Brünnhilde.
Mezzo-soprano
3. 20th century.
The
difficulty of categorizing mezzo-sopranos did not abate in the 20th century and
if anything grew more acute with a continuing decline in the use of the term
‘contralto’ for a particularly rich female voice with an extended lower
register; there are therefore ‘high’ and ‘low’ mezzo-sopranos. In addition, a
distinction in vocal timbre can be drawn between lyric mezzos and dramatic
mezzos, which categories are not tied directly to range (and parallel the lyric
and dramatic soprano). Further, coloratura mezzos are not identified by an
upper extension of the voice (as sometimes with sopranos) but rather by
extraordinary agility, which may be found in mezzos of all combinations of range
and timbre.
Lucy
Arbell, the inspiration of Massenet's last years, first sang in one of his
works at the Opéra in 1906 (as Persephone in Ariane). Massenet then
wrote Thérèse (1907) for her, the title role of which was perfectly
suited to her strong, vibrant mezzo-contralto and vivacious personality. She
created Queen Amahelli in Bacchus (1909, the sequel to Ariane);
then, in his last unequivocal success, Don Quichotte (1910), Massenet
provided her with another tailor-made role, Dulcinée. She sang two more
Massenet premières, as Postumia in Roma (1912) and, after the composer's
death, as Colombe in Panurge (1913). Arbell was also renowned for her
interpretation of Charlotte in Werther. Delilah, a role seized upon by
mezzos and contraltos alike, figured largely in the repertory of Louise Kirkby
Lunn, the English mezzo, who was equally at home in French, Italian and German
opera; a notable Ortrud, Fricka and Brangäne, she sang Kundry in the first
production of Parsifal in English, at Boston in 1904. She was also
greatly admired as Gluck's Orpheus.
Puccini's
mezzo roles are generally minor, but in the early 20th century Strauss wrote
several superb mezzo roles. Most are older women: Herodias in Salome and
Clytemnestra in Elektra are the obvious examples (though the latter role
was created by a contralto, Ernestine Schumann-Heink). Two sympathetic travesty
roles in operas by Strauss, Oktavian in Der Rosenkavalier and the
Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, both written for a soprano, are now
usually sung by mezzos. The finest Oktavian in the post-World War II period,
mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig, was also a particularly fine interpreter of
Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and of lieder; Ludwig's compass was
remarkable, spanning such soprano roles as Leonore (Fidelio) and the
Marschallin on the one hand and Brahms's Alto Rhapsody on the other.
Shirley Verrett, like Malibran a century before, had a range that allowed her
to take on both soprano and mezzo-soprano roles; she was the first to perform
both Dido and Cassandra in the same performance of Berlioz's Les Troyens
in 1973 – Josephina Veasey (a noted Fricka) had alternated in these roles at
Covent Garden in 1972–3 – and the first of the 20th century to sing both
Adalgisa and Norma (as Giulia Grisi had in the 19th century). The German mezzo
Brigitte Fassbaender was particularly admired in such travesty roles as Sextus
(La clemenza di Tito), Cherubino, Hänsel and Nicklausse (Les contes
d'Hoffmann), but especially Oktavian; her other roles include Dorabella,
Carmen and Eboli. Anne Sophie von Otter has also excelled in trouser roles
across a wide range, from Mozart's Cherubino and Sextus to Oktavian and
Composer, as well as the dramatic coloratura role of Rossini's Tancredi.
In
the mid-1930s, the Spanish mezzo Conchita Supervia initiated a renewal of
interest in the comic operas of Rossini by singing the title roles of La
Cenerentola and L'italiana in Algeri at Covent Garden (Rosina in Il
barbiere was still being sung in a transposed soprano version). Her
successor Teresa Berganza was also especially admired as Carmen, in Rossini's
comic operas and in the Spanish song repertory. After 1970, Frederica von Stade
excelled in much the same coloratura mezzo repertory, as well as in the roles
of Charlotte and Oktavian and in 17th- and 18th-century opera. Cecilia Bartoli
has risen to stardom in such roles as Cinderella and Dorabella.
After
the bel canto revival of the 1940s and 50s, mezzos once again began to
tackle the leading male roles in Rossini's serious operas. The leader here was Marilyn
Horne, who displayed amazing virtuosity and style as Arsace (Semiramide),
Malcolm (La donna del lago) and Tancredi. Although Horne describes her
own voice as a ‘Rossini contralto’ (Ellison, 1997), she also has the upper
range for Adalgisa (Norma), and has sung 18th-century opera, notably the
title roles in Handel's Rinaldo and Gluck's Orfeo. Mezzos who
have followed Horne in the Rossini dramatic coloratura repertory include von
Otter, Jennifer Larmore, Vesselina Kasarova and Sonia Ganassi.
As
with the soprano repertory, the revival of early 19th-century mezzo-soprano
coloratura roles encouraged an interest as well in 18th-century and earlier
opera. Horne was again prominent, as was Janet Baker, who sang the title role
in Handel's Giulio Cesare and recorded a particularly moving Dido
(Purcell) as well as Rameau's Phaedra (Hippolyte et Aricie) and Handel's
Ariodante. This earlier repertory has also attracted younger singers trained in
early music vocal techniques, calling for a reduction or elimination of vibrato
and the distinctive use of head and chest voice so that higher notes are
ringing but not loud or forced and lower notes are full and rich. Lorraine Hunt
Lieberson's voice seems particularly suited to Handel's operas and oratorios;
she has sung such title roles as Xerxes, Ariodante and the soprano parts of
Susanna and Theodora.
Composers
have continued to write new roles and to adapt old ones: Britten composed Kate
in Owen Wingrave for Baker, for whose mezzo Walton altered the soprano
role of Cressida. Baker also enjoyed success in Maria Stuarda and
excelled as Dido in Les Troyens. Tatiana Troyanos made her debut as
Hippolyta in the New York première of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream
and created Jeanne in Penderecki's The Devils of Loudun (1969); her
other roles included Carmen, Charlotte, Adalgisa and Ariodante. Yvonne Minton,
in addition to many other operatic roles, created Thea in Tippett's The Knot
Garden and sang Helen in his King Priam. Jan De Gaetani specialized
in avant-garde repertory, singing, among many premières, the first performance
of Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children and Maxwell Davies's A Stone
Litany; she also recorded Pierrot lunaire and sang and recorded much
early music, including the medieval Play of Herod.
The
mezzo-soprano in opera has frequently been cast as nurse or confidante
(Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, Magdalena in Die Meistersinger,
Emilia in Otello and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly) or the mature
married woman (Herodias in Strauss's Salome, Adelaide in Arabella
and Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly). The same is true of operetta,
where the works of Gilbert and Sullivan provide multiple examples, and musical
theatre. Gertrude Lawrence, a featured soloist and actress in works by
Gershwin, Noel Coward and Moss Hart, made her last stage appearance as the
widowed schoolteacher Anna in the Rogers and Hammerstein musical The King
and I. Other such roles in musical theatre include the title roles of Annie
get your Gun (Ethel Merman, renowned for her belting style), Hello Dolly
(the husky-voiced Carol Channing, also sung in revival by Merman) and Evita
(Patti LuPone, but sung in the film version by pop star Madonna). Whereas the
lower female voice often has been considered unromantic by operatic composers,
conjuring up the dowager duchess or elderly aunt (Carmen and Dalila are
striking exceptions), it has been considered especially sensual and sultry in
popular music, jazz and cabaret, where the upper extension of the soprano voice
has largely been avoided. Doris Day, Edith Piaf and Judy Garland are among the
actresses whose voices are of mezzo-soprano pitch. Blues and jazz singers, such
as Sippie Wallace and Billy Holiday, have also cultivated this range.
Mezzo-soprano
BIBLIOGRAPHY
H. Klein: Great Women
Singers of my Time (London, 1931)
R. Celletti: ‘Mezzosoprani e contralti’, Musica d'oggi, new ser., v (1962), 110–17
W.H. Mellers: Angels of
the Night: Popular Female Singers of our Time (Oxford, 1986)
J. Tick and J. Bowers, ed.: Women Making
Music: the Western Art Tradition, 1150–1950 (Urbana,
IL, 1986)
J. Rosselli: ‘From Princely Service to the Open Market: Singers of Italian Opera and
their Patrons, 1600–1850’, COJ, i (1989), 1–32
H. Matheopoulos: Diva: Great
Sopranos and Mezzos discuss their Art (Boston, 1991)
J. Rosselli: Singers of
Italian Opera: the History of a Profession (Cambridge, 1992)
J.B. Steane: Voices:
Singers and Critics (London, 1992)
J.B. Steane: Singers of
the Century (London, 1996)
C. Ellison: ‘Mezzos in the Middle of a Lyric Explosion’, New York Times (7 Nov
1997), B 1, 30