# Cecilia Bartoli - What vocal range is she?



## soundoftritones

I've recently taken an interest in Cecilia Bartoli. She sounds like a (mezzo) soprano to me, but I've read elsewhere that she is a contralto, and in some other forums, that she is a soprano. What vocal range is she classified under?

Thank you for your help!





 <-- here she is, for a little reference if needed


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## SixFootScowl

My guess is mezzo-soprano with a very wide range. I like a lot of her singing and it is a trip watching her sing because of her expansive facial expressions--moreso than any other singer I have watched.


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## Ingélou

This is one of my favourite Cecilia Bartoli clips; good acting too. (Mezzo-soprano?)


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## soundoftritones

Ahh, thank you for the lovely link! I just can't get enough of her voice and her performances *^^*


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## Admiral

She is a mezzo. Her voice is not large but she has a good range.

She has excellent pitch: I have one recording somewhere in which she sings a run that is doubled on the piano. Her pitch is so perfectly in tune with the piano that one doesn't hear a separate piano note, just her voice and the felt hammers hitting the strings.

Edit: I think it was the standard Gial Sole dal Gange from one of her first recordings


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## MoonlightSonata

There's a jolly good YouTube video of her singing a Vivaldi aria, the name constantly escapes me. I believe it was something about the agitation of two waters.


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## hpowders

^^^Ah! My favorite topic!


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## Giordano

MoonlightSonata said:


> There's a jolly good YouTube video of her singing a Vivaldi aria, the name constantly escapes me. I believe it was something about the agitation of two waters.


_Agitata da due venti_

Cecilia Bartoli





"Kimchilia Bartoli" :lol:


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## SixFootScowl

Giordano said:


> "Kimchilia Bartoli" :lol:


That is absolutely hilarious! :lol:


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## Albert7

Mezzo but quite versatile. Just like Didonato.


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## Cypress

OH! She is the entire reason I became excited about opera. I was trying to figure out how to start enjoying opera and learn what is what. I picked her and am having a fabulous time listening to her recordings. So far, I've seen her in Cosi Fan Tutti only. 

The CD that knocked me out was her Mozart Arias. Find the You Tube of this recording. I cannot believe how beautiful she plays the part of Cecilio in Lucio Silla. WOWWWWWW. 

There is a book out called Cinderella & Company By MANUELA HOELTERHOFF. Excellent behind the scenes world of opera and focused on Cecilia Bartoli. 

She is a mezzosoprano.


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## SixFootScowl

I read Cinderella and Company--great book--but frankly I don't care for Bartoli's Cinderella in La Cenerentola. 

Until I recently discovered Maria Callas, I have not found a female vocalist that really worked for me. Some were great in one or another work, but everything I hear from Maria Callas just bowls me over--it is absolutely wonderful.


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## Cypress

Here it is! Go Cecilia. I love this aria. I have spent many glorious moments with this bit of heaven.






No 2 Aria from Lucio Silla
Il tenero momento

Enjoy


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## BalalaikaBoy

she is a mezzo-soprano with a soprano upper extension (she has several notes above high C)
however, her timber, imo, is more that of a contralto. not just dark, but SMOKEY. 







Florestan said:


> I read Cinderella and Company--great book--but frankly I don't care for Bartoli's Cinderella in La Cenerentola.
> 
> Until I recently discovered Maria Callas, I have not found a female vocalist that really worked for me. Some were great in one or another work, but everything I hear from Maria Callas just bowls me over--it is absolutely wonderful.


if you like Maria Callas, Marisa Galvany is another soprano with a dark, fiery timbre, gutsy temperament and wide range (she can convincingly sing dramatic mezzo and then lighten the voice enough to sing a respectable Lucia with easy singing in the highest tessitura)


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## Woodduck

Mezzo with high notes.


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## Tsaraslondon

Florestan said:


> Until I recently discovered Maria Callas, I have not found a female vocalist that really worked for me. Some were great in one or another work, but everything I hear from Maria Callas just bowls me over--it is absolutely wonderful.


I congratulate you on your discovery. Once you really _get_ Callas, then there really is no one to compare. Sure, other singers may have more beautiful, secure voices, and can often afford more purely aural pleasure, and there are lots of other singers I enjoy for the beauty of their voices, but Callas has this uncanny ability of revealing the truth behind the notes. It's as if she feels the music from within. The great conductor Victor De Sabata once said to Walter Legge,

_If the public could understand, as we do, how deeply and utterly musical she is, they would be stunned._

Clearly not everyone understands. I, on the other hand, am constantly stunned.


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## SixFootScowl

I never could stomach Cecilia Bartoli's singing, but recently watched her Rosina in Barber of Seville and am very impressed. If only she could get rid of that warble in her voice, she would be an excellent singer. This one has a great Figaro too. Here is a 15 minute compilation of varioius Barber of Seville scenes with Bartoli:


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## russetvelvet

Her »Come scoglio« showcases her wide range as well as her mezzo timbre, especially in the 13th jump down


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## Pugg

I do suppose you are a big fan then?


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## BalalaikaBoy

I've referred to her as a bit of a "vocal duck billed platypus" in the past. her tessitura is more mezzo, but her range is more extends well into soprano on a regular basis. however, that by itself isn't all that unusual for baroque mezzos (who to my ears sound like light lyric sopranos with some extra cream poured into the voice). the weirdest thing to me is that she has the vocal weight akin to the lightest French coloratura soprano, but the timbre of a deep, smokey contralto.

this is my favorite piece sung by her (a duet with June Anderson from Stabat Mater)


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## pcnog11

soundoftritones said:


> I've recently taken an interest in Cecilia Bartoli. She sounds like a (mezzo) soprano to me, but I've read elsewhere that she is a contralto, and in some other forums, that she is a soprano. What vocal range is she classified under?
> 
> Thank you for your help!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> <-- here she is, for a little reference if needed


She is a crossover if you will. Definitely she is a mezzo, but in a lot of cases she stretch to become a soprano. However, in some cases eg. Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate - Alleluia, she sounds weird when she reach the highest notes. Many other soprano can do better than that. Have anyone heard she sing the Queen of the Night arias in the Magic Flute? Those could be the acid test of a true soprano.


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## Pugg

pcnog11 said:


> She is a crossover if you will. Definitely she is a mezzo, but in a lot of cases she stretch to become a soprano. However, in some cases eg. Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate - Alleluia, she sounds weird when she reach the highest notes. Many other soprano can do better than that. Have anyone heard she sing the Queen of the Night arias in the Magic Flute? Those could be the acid test of a true soprano.






My all time favourite.


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## pcnog11

Pugg said:


> My all time favourite.


High C is high enough, the F higher than that is unbelievable. Unfortunately, it is only a 16th. Can anyone sustain longer?


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## Pugg

pcnog11 said:


> High C is high enough, the F higher than that is unbelievable. Unfortunately, it is only a 16th. Can anyone sustain longer?


I doubt that very much, perhaps Sills could have done it.


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## BalalaikaBoy

Pugg said:


> My all time favourite.


she has such a beautiful voice, but that bizarre, turkey clucking coloratura....I can never get used to it XD


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## BaritoneAssoluto

Not understanding the question really. Do you want to know what her vocal range is? She can sing down to Eb3 to an F6 (3.1 octaves). She's a "Dugazon", below a soubrette but higher than a regular coloratura mezzo-soprano.

I don't like her coloratura much, though. It's too aspirated and gargled (something she shares in abundance with Marilyn Horne) and due to the single fact she wasn't classically trained with an actual teacher (her mother isn't a teacher and doesn't count,) also dims her overall technique. There's an interesting video where someone compares Callas fiorituri and coloraturi in Barberie and Il Turco in Italia to Bartoli's fioritura and coloraturi and there's a yards worth of difference.


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## Pugg

Thank goodness we do not all have the same taste.
I say that Deutekom is one of the biggest singer we had in our small county, sung in all the important houses with all great conductors.
What's good enough for the maestros is good enough for me.


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## SixFootScowl

soundoftritones said:


> I've recently taken an interest in Cecilia Bartoli. She sounds like a (mezzo) soprano to me, but I've read elsewhere that she is a contralto, and in some other forums, that she is a soprano. What vocal range is she classified under?
> 
> Thank you for your help!


Seems she comes close to this: Soprano sfogato (a.k.a. as soprano assoluta)


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## hpowders

I'll gladly trade you two Bartoli CDs for one Jennifer Larmore CD.


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## SixFootScowl

hpowders said:


> I'll gladly trade you two Bartoli CDs for one Jennifer Larmore CD.


I have a Bartoli Rossini Arias CD that I never listen to. I do have some Larmore CDs. Have you tried Anna Bonitatibus?


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## hpowders

Florestan said:


> I have a Bartoli Rossini Arias CD that I never listen to. I do have some Larmore CDs. Have you tried Anna *Bonitatibus*?


Sounds like a disease I hope I never contract. :lol:


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## Pugg

Florestan said:


> I have a Bartoli Rossini Arias CD that I never listen to. I do have some Larmore CDs. Have you tried Anna Bonitatibus?


 I suggest you should try:_ Lucia Valentini Terrani_


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## SixFootScowl

hpowders said:


> Sounds like a disease I hope I never contract. :lol:


You would do well to contract a disease like this:


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