At 02:07 PM 2/1/01 +0000, "Jeffrey Snider" <snide76258@a...> wrote:
At 02:07 PM 2/1/01 +0000, "Jeffrey Snider" <snide76258@a...> wrote:
>On the contralto/mezzo-soprano argument:
>1) Notice that there are 5 opera anthologies, not 6.
There is a good bit of cross-over; there *has* to be, if you want
to sing opera, because "'old lady' parts and oratorios" (quoted from later
in the post) are what's left. But you have to pick and choose -- I'll sing
Dalila's arias, but I won't touch Dorabella's.
>2) Get a copy of Musical America (the annual volume) and look in the
>index and see how many mezzo-sopranos there are and how many
>contraltos. (There are probably 10 times as many mezzos as
>contraltos.) There's a reason for that.
Well, we *are* rare (as are real honest-and-truly
basses). :-) Plus, I think that many of those who can live in the mezzo
tessitura choose to use that label, for fear of being stereotyped into the
"old lady" roles, again. The curiosity factor only goes so far,
unfortunately. But, in the course of a long exploration process, I was
labeled a mezzo for a while, and the rep simply sat about a step too high
for comfort. I'm sure this was partly due to a still-developing technique,
but once I had a teacher brave enough to consider that I might be a
contralto and to start me on that repertoire, there was no question in
either of our minds that I had finally found "home." So for me, there
really wasn't a choice -- once I was singing the right tessitura and
literature, there was no mistaking me for anything else, including a
mezzo. That said, my sound is not an artificially darkened, woofy sound --
I've worked hard to find that balance, that "chiaroscuro"; as we've all
said many times on this list, *every* voice needs that element.
My 2 cents worth (sorry I've been too busy to reply to this thread
sooner -- I've been enjoying it, though!)....
Leslie
Leslie Jones, D.M.A.; contralto
Asst. Professor, Dept. of Music
Southeast Missouri State Univ.
LJones@s... - (573) 651-2339
LJones@s... - (573) 651-2339
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