# What is it about the alto voice? Post some good ones.



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I find that I really don't care for the alto voice in general and that very few altos really please me. Is it something about that range that is just less interesting or what? Perhaps some can post links to video or amazon clips of good alto voices.

One alto performance I like is this track in Bernstein's Bach St. Matthew Passion. However, it may be that the combination of the alto voice with the violin makes this one for me. But the voice alone, I don't know it that would work for me.


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

I'm not a fan of anything higher than soprano. Boy sopranos are just friggin' awful no matter how hard they try (precisely because of how hard they have to try).

The alto voice (compared to alto instruments) isn't always less stressful nor 'richer' in tone. When it is mezzo-soprano (literally, in the landing between ground floor and first floor)...some of us do not know what a mezzanine is, having never lived with one, or perhaps only visited one in a library or gallery. Altos are like that; not exactly the hard-core staple of repertoire; just like the viola in the violin family is relegated (undeservedly) and its qualities neglected.

One of my favourite composers, Szymanowski scores a part for a contralto/mezzo-soprano/alto in his beautiful choral music, Stabat Mater as well as some of the secular songs like the Enchanted Forest:






I can't say I really like it, as I really don't enjoy Lieder. Although listening to alto pop/rock/folk music, I do actually prefer the alto female voice to the soprano voice which is way too thin or stressy.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Some soprano is awful for sure, but the voice in general is far easier for me to handle. By the way, the alto you posted does not do it for me and it may be the piece--an awful sounding piece (to me) on first impression.


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

I know - it's pretty hairy isn't it 

I can't say it's one of Szymanowski's most inspired.

Are you familiar with Sviridov's choral works? This cycle (Songs of Troubled Times) is one my legendary favourites:


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

....if you're a film buff and lover of Kleislowski's work, then the classic collaboration with Zbigniew Preisner who created the fictional composer, van den Budenmayer, sung with spine chilling eloquence will melt that little alto-failure-appreciation kernel in your limbic system lol:






The language carries a defamiliarising poetry which adds to its spectral phantasmagorical transformation of Towarnicka's silky vocal cords - it's sung in Greek - very unusual for lyrical music of this genre.

If you enjoy it and haven't heard of it, go see the film 'La double vie de Veronique'. The climax at 2.50 has the protagonist drop dead from a heart attack just as she finishes curving off her phrasing lol.


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

Hmmm. 

But sometimes when I listen, I keep thinking that's a soprano voice. 

Hard to tell. Maybe you're right - alto voices sux lol.

Anyway, good luck finding some. I'd be interested too since my repertoire clearly isn't that developed either in this field


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Certainly with a lot of voices on the edge of their vocal range finding one that sings it comfortably can be tough but a rich mezzo voice is one of my favorite. Betty Allen does sound like she is singing down her nose in that Bernstein recording, Try these perhaps:


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2013)

To be in front of the soprano section when they are going full belt is as good as it gets for me


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## rborganist (Jan 29, 2013)

To hear how glorious a good contralto can be, listen to anything by any or all of the following: Marian Anderson (a fairly dark sound in the lower register, but in her prime she could also soar to the soprano's high B natural), Kathleen Ferrier (a much brighter sound; look for duets with soprano Isobel Baillie; in the middle and upper range it's hard to tell them apart, as Ferrier's voice was much brighter, and she could go from tenor C to the soprano's high B flat), Ernestine Schumann-Heink (she sang everything from Donizetti to Wagner; listen to her sing the Brindisi from Lucrezia Borgia), Louise Homer (American contralto and the aunt of Samuel Barber). All these ladies possessed plenty of chiaroscuro. I don't know if Lilli Chookasian made any recordings, but my voice teacher's wife was a contralto, and when they lived in Chicago, she used to compete with Chookasian for the big contralto parts. So if you can find her recordings, add her to the list. Once you've heard some really find contraltos, you may enjoy the voice more. As for me, it's my favorite voice.


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

Oh yes, Kathleen Ferrier. Unforgettable voice. Listen to these:






All the beauty of love expressed in an unforgettable voice by a great artist.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Baker and Ferrier, that's quite a pair!

Elīna Garanča has a magnificent voice. What a talented lady! When she and Netrebko pair up... well, there are few things like it.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I was reading a review of a vocal work on Amazon and a reviewer said that the soloists were "old and broken down". I had no idea what he was talking about, because I had the recording and it was great. Turns out he was referring to a contralto.


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## BlackDahlia (Aug 12, 2013)

I think the alto range has a kind of melancholic tendancy that I love.

I have a good ear for what I like, so that may not make any sense to others of you who know what you are talking about.

I have recently registered here to get educated on classical music, so I can converse with others in my life whom listen to classical music.


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## TrevBus (Jun 6, 2013)

quack said:


> Certainly with a lot of voices on the edge of their vocal range finding one that sings it comfortably can be tough but a rich mezzo voice is one of my favorite. Betty Allen does sound like she is singing down her nose in that Bernstein recording, Try these perhaps:


OH, My goodness!!!!! Janet Baker on Brahms Alto Rhapsody. HEAVENLY!!!!! One of the greatest treasures of the cds in my household.


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## Roland (Mar 13, 2013)

One contralto I love to hear is a Swedish singer named Anna Larsson. I first became acquainted with her on a recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 3. This performance was conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Anna Larsson sang Movement IV which is a paraphrase of a poem from _Also sprach Zarathustra_ by Friedrich Nietzsche. In this recording she sounds to me like a sorrowful angel lamenting man's fallen state. She sings so beautifully that I can get quite obsessive about listening to her, hitting the replay button over and over.

Since I couldn't find a copy of this performance on Youtube, I settled for another Mahler performance of hers that I also like. This is Anna Larsson singing Movement IV from Mahler's Symphony No. 2. This is a poem from _Des Knaben Wunderhorn,_ a collection of poems that inspired several Mahler songs. Again, I hear that sorrowing angel.


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

I love the use of the alto voice for Magret in Wozzeck.






Gorgeous. It helps that she is pretty hot.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Listen to Conchita Supervia the greatest Carmen also her Rossini.
Marilyn Horne and Rise Stevens.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I find this piece very special:


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

There seems to be some confusion about what is a contralto and what a mezzo-soprano, and of course alto can also refer to a male alto (further confusion here about what is a male alto and what a countertenor).

Janet Baker, Marilyn Horne and Conchita Supervia were all mezzos, and most lower voiced female singers these days would call themselves mezzos, a notable exception being Nathalie Stutzmann. Most mezzos will be expected to have a high B, and sometimes even a C in their voices. Christa Ludwig, Giulietta Simionato, Agnes Baltsa, Shirely Verrett and Grace Bumbry are all mezzos with extended upper registers, though both Verrett and Bumbry switched to soprano roles at mid-points in their careers. Indeed certain roles, such as Santuzza and Lady Macbeth (who has to sing a Db _in alt_) are frequently sung by either a soprano or a mezzo-soprano. Certain other roles that were originally designated soprano in the score (Adalgisa, the Composer in *Ariadne auf Naxos*, Octavian) are now usually sung by mezzos.

Kathleen Ferrier was a genuine contralto, as was Maureen Forrester. Apparently, when Britten wrote the role of Lucretia for Ferrier, she worried about the high A written into the part, so Britten gave her an alternative. In the event, she managed the note perfectly in performance and Britten deleted the alternative.

It gets even more complicated when you get to the male voice. David Daniels, for instance will often be referred to as both an alto and a countertenor, and the range of a countertenor will most closely be equivalent to that of an alto or mezzo-soprano. Male sopranos, those who can sing the same range as a soprano, do exist, but are few and far between. And of course, all these voice types are falsettist.

So which alto voice is it you don't like?


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

> So which alto voice is it you don't like?


I am afraid I am too much of a novice to really be able to figure it out. But if I ever do I will further mention it here.

By the way, is a mezzo-soprano somewhere between a soprano and a mezzo (alto) or is it the same thing as a mezzo?

And the fact that I don't care for male alto (except for some reason it works in Handel's Chandos Anthems) may be that it is again that same tonal range as female alto.

I do seem to like sopranos more and on the lower side may have a slight preference for bass, though there are many fine tenors too.

As one famous statistician once said, "Life is complicated, but not uninteresting."


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

TallPaul said:


> By the way, is a mezzo-soprano somewhere between a soprano and a mezzo (alto) or is it the same thing as a mezzo?
> 
> And the fact that I don't care for male alto (except for some reason it works in Handel's Chandos Anthems) may be that it is again that same tonal range as female alto.


Mezzo- soprano does literally mean that, a voice between soprano and alto. Many mezzos can still reach the top C demanded of a soprano. It's more that the centre of the voice is lower, which is why, over the years, Dorabella, for instance, is taken by a mezzo, as she always takes the lower line in the duets with Fiordiligi. Mozart designated both roles as sopranos, but Dorabella's music all lies lower.

Incidentally, I always hated countertenors until I heard David Daniels in the flesh. A voice of real beauty, with a gift for communication that is rare indeed. He introduced me to a whole era of music I had largely ignored till then, for which I am extremely grateful.


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## Trillo (Jan 4, 2014)

Florestan said:


> Some soprano is awful for sure, but the voice in general is far easier for me to handle. By the way, the alto you posted does not do it for me and it may be the piece--an awful sounding piece (to me) on first impression.


Being a lover of low-lying female voices, I can definitely say it is an acquired taste. The androgynous quality of their timbres and thick column of sound is bizarre and can definitely be a turn-off to fresh ears.

I also believe there is a genuine difference between what is termed "alto" and "contralto". Altos generally have very short voices, with beautiful low and dark chest tones like Marian Anderson. Contraltos, however, possess the same qualities in terms of timbre and colour, but have very expansive ranges and natural agility - capable of negotiating from low to high soprano.

For me, the greatest alto of them all is Kathleen Ferrier:






The greatest contralto IMO is Ewa Podles:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

The linked alto and contralto don't do it for me either. I think it will be a long process for me, kind of like going from champaign to burgundy wine, or going from milk chocolate to extra dark chocolate.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ maybe you should ease in with Podles' youthful voice from the '70s. Try this Cenerentola, I say she sounds exquisite and a lot more mezzo-ish than these days:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

deggial said:


> ^ maybe you should ease in with Podles' youthful voice from the '70s. Try this Cenerentola, I say she sounds exquisite and a lot more mezzo-ish than these days:


That was wonderful. It helps that she is (coloratura?) and that here range is fairly high on that piece.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Trillo said:


> Being a lover of low-lying female voices, I can definitely say it is an acquired taste. The androgynous quality of their timbres and thick column of sound is bizarre and can definitely be a turn-off to fresh ears.
> 
> I also believe there is a genuine difference between what is termed "alto" and "contralto". Altos generally have very short voices, with beautiful low and dark chest tones like Marian Anderson. Contraltos, however, possess the same qualities in terms of timbre and colour, but have very expansive ranges and natural agility - capable of negotiating from low to high soprano.
> 
> ...


No,no,no, Kathleen Ferrier was a contralto--how you could designate her as an alto beats me. Your description of a contralto is in fact that for a mezzo-soprano.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

moody said:


> No,no,no, Kathleen Ferrier was a contralto--how you could designate her as an alto beats me. Your description of a contralto is in fact that for a mezzo-soprano.


To further confuse the novices  Almost every singer has highs and lows in their range you will never hear in performance, and are almost never called for in the roles written for the various voice ranges -- because those additional notes in the range virtually guarantee that notes from top to bottom in those written roles will always be readily available, and never sound strained.
From at least true alto to soprano (true contralto being a rare occurance), their practical working ranges are near the same (while never fully displayed in written roles), and of course each will have a more 'natural' sound and strength within the defined ranges.

I think some listeners problems with the 'middle' voices, vox or instrumental, are they are acoustically more 'disperse,' the sound waves of lower timbre literally wider. Those higher voices are easier to hear, having a more clarion quality, and to a degree, are more 'obvious.'

One other interesting factoid: the natural range of a listener's speaking voice is usually the same range wherein their hearing is most acute! 
If you have a higher male voice, you will more predominantly hear the tenor range, even in instrumental works, than a female whose natural speaking voice is a high soprano: she will hear more of 'the top' most readily. If male, and your speaking voice is true low bass, you will tend to most readily and acutely pick up on the part of any music within that range.
This has proven out many times over with music students in solfege classes


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## Trillo (Jan 4, 2014)

moody said:


> No,no,no, Kathleen Ferrier was a contralto--how you could designate her as an alto beats me. Your description of a contralto is in fact that for a mezzo-soprano.


Go listen to Ewa Podles' lecture at the University of Toronto on Youtube of the characteristics of the contralto vs. alto voice. I'll take her opinion over yours.






Mezzo-sopranos do have expansive ranges and developed agility, but the nature of their timbres, especially in the middle to middle-low registers, is unmistakably different. Contraltos have an eerie, androgynous quality (almost resembling a counter-tenor) while mezzo sopranos do not.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Florestan said:


> That was wonderful. It helps that she is (coloratura?) and that here range is fairly high on that piece.


she is a coloratura singer, yes. Glad you liked it


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Trillo said:


> Go listen to Ewa Podles' lecture at the University of Toronto on Youtube of the characteristics of the contralto vs. alto voice. I'll take her opinion over yours.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm not interested in Ewa Podles opinion and still less yours...Kathleen Ferrier was a contralto .Everyone including the record companies,the critics and all the books I have on singing (a lot) have been aware of this for the 64 years that I've been listening to her voice.
So does Wikipedia ,The Kathleen Ferrier Society (they'll look rather stupid if you are right). Sir Malcolm Sargent, Bruno Walter,
Sir Adrian Boult, Sir John Barbirolli, Benjamin Britten,the Telegraph obituary, J.B. Steane in "The Grand Tradition", the BBC's obituary,plus thousands of people throughout the world. Personally I think I'll take these opinions .


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Trillo said:


> Go listen to Ewa Podles' lecture at the University of Toronto on Youtube of the characteristics of the contralto vs. alto voice. I'll take her opinion over yours.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If she said outright that Kathleen Ferrier was not a contralto, she is just flat out wrong.

From Dolmetsch online dictionary ~ a source all with any interest in music should bookmark.
"Contralto:
(English, Italian m., Spanish m/.f., from the Italian contra alto, literally 'against the alto') the term contralto is applied to the highest voice of a male adult, or *the lowest of a woman or boy*. Similar {{I.E. NOT IDENTICAL TO}} voices may be called 'alto' or 'counter-tenor'. *The contralto female voice usually has a range from one octave above to one octave below low E in the treble clef*
the contralto voice *may be subdivided according to the tessitura and timbre and its suitability for various operatic roles*

Alto:
The adult alto voice range lies approximately between G3 and D5"

*-- i.e. a full third above the bottom of the contralto's range. This is a similar, and as distinct, difference in both range and quality as say, between an Oboe and an English Horn.*

Naturally, the lower range is accompanied by a darker timbre. Timbre alone does not define tessitura: of the many varied tessiturae of voice category, there are further declensions _which are not exclusive to any particular range_; 
_Lyric_ being a certain agility and readily available ease of extension into the (atypical) upward range. 
_Coloratura_ can be applied to a Basso Profundo if that singer has the (unusual and rare for that range) agility and lightness associated with coloratura. 
_Spinto_, likewise, denotes a particular darker or 'smokey' timbrel color, another sub-type, again possible in any range.

A true female contralto, the lowest tessitura of the female voice, is a rarity and will of course conjure up notions of "androgyne" by the blatant factoid they are a female singing in what is now a range in which most are accustomed to -- and associate with -- a (male) tenor. The Alto female is the next rung up in the tessitura ladder, quite different and not so easy to confuse with the highly distinctive lower range and accompanying timbre of the Contralto.

Marion Anderson, Kathleen Ferrier, Maureen Forrester, Lili Chookasian, Ewa Podleś, the remarkable Nathalie Stutzmann -- True Contraltos, all.


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