# Soprano roles for divas with short tops



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

We have been talking lately in another thread about Tebaldi, who early on started having problems hitting high notes. I thought it would be interesting to come up with soprano roles for singers like Tebaldi, Ponselle, later Jessye Norman, older Callas,later Eileen Farrell etc who later in their careers aren't secure above A# but who don't want to sing mezzo. I will lead off with the lead in Cav. Rusticana, Ariadne, possibly Elsa in Lohengren ( maybe one B) and Sieglinde ( which is mezzo in range but needs a youthful sound). I know arias better than full roles.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Kundry, Gertrude in Hansel und Gertrude, this depends in part on what you consider mezzo and what are soprano roles. There are a few 'old women' roles that have been taken by sopranos in late career. (Kostelnicka and the Countess in Queen of Spades come to mind.)

N.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

_Adriana Lecouvreur_ was a part Ponselle wanted to sing at the Met around the time she decided to retire, Tebaldi sang it in the 1960s around the time she was having vocal problems and I think it was Joan Sutherland's last studio recording of a complete opera. Olivero recorded excerpts in her eighties...

_Fedora_ was a role Freni sang during the last decade of her career, Olivero recorded it in '69.

_Francesca da Rimini_ was recorded in excerpts by Olivero at the same time as that complete Fedora (c. age 60?), Tebaldi sang parts with Corelli in a very late studio recital (1973?) and it seems to attract mature sopranos: Maria Caniglia in '52, Renata Scotto in '84.

I notice that _Tosca_ crops up late in the careers of Olivero, Caniglia, Scotto, Callas and others. I'm not sure that this necessarily means it is a good fit for a mature voice or, rather, if it is hoped that what vocal limitations there are will be obscured/excused as verismo excess.

_Carmen_ has been sung by Ponselle, Callas, Crespin, de los Angeles and others when the top of the voice is less reliable.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

The Conte said:


> Kundry, Gertrude in Hansel und Gertrude, this depends in part on what you consider mezzo and what are soprano roles. There are a few 'old women' roles that have been taken by sopranos in late career. (Kostelnicka and the Countess in Queen of Spades come to mind.)
> 
> N.


Kundry.... I think it has a penultimate B with a two octave jump. Have you heard it fudged successfully? I guess one half note off could sound intentional. Norman did it fine when she was fat but when she was leaner the top was teeny tiny. My Kundry story: I saw G. Jones at her peak in 75 when I was 15 backstage at Bayreuth. I was too close to get the full impact of her sound and too smitten with Nilsson to give Jones a chance. I would give anything to be able to hear it again with my mature point of view.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Revitalized Classics said:


> _Adriana Lecouvreur_ was a part Ponselle wanted to sing at the Met around the time she decided to retire, Tebaldi sang it in the 1960s around the time she was having vocal problems and I think it was Joan Sutherland's last studio recording of a complete opera. Olivero recorded excerpts in her eighties...
> 
> _Fedora_ was a role Freni sang during the last decade of her career, Olivero recorded it in '69.
> 
> ...


Excellent stuff. I really like Adriana for Sutherland as she gets to show off the rich lower and middle register she has developed by that time in her career. I didn't know it lacked significant top notes. By the way, did you know Nilsson sang The Habenera in concert in her 60's?


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I'm not sure *Tosca* belongs amongst the short top roles, as it has a couple of high Cs in the second Act, and a very exposed one in the third Act: "_Io quella laaaaama gli piantai nel cuor!_.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Kundry.... I think it has a penultimate B with a two octave jump. Have you heard it fudged successfully? I guess one half note off could sound intentional. Norman did it fine when she was fat but when she was leaner the top was teeny tiny. My Kundry story: I saw G. Jones at her peak in 75 when I was 15 backstage at Bayreuth. I was too close to get the full impact of her sound and too smitten with Nilsson to give Jones a chance. I would give anything to be able to hear it again with my mature point of view.


The first Figaro I saw in Nozze was Bryn Terfel. I wish I could remember just a moment from that performance. With Kundry I think you can get away with the odd squally note due to the character (see the comment above from someone else about Tosca).

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Verdi's Desdemona doesn't go very high. I'm not sure, but I don't think there are any top Cs and her big Act IV scena goes no higher than an A. The demands of Amelia in *Simon Boccanegra* are also relatively slight.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Verdi's Desdemona doesn't go very high. I'm not sure, but I don't think there are any top Cs and her big Act IV scena goes no higher than an A. The demands of Amelia in *Simon Boccanegra* are also relatively slight.


Milanov sang Desdemona well into the 1960s and she sang Amelia too around that time. I wonder if Maddalena in _Andrea Chenier_, another part she sang a lot into late career, has a low tessitura or if it is the length of role which made it congenial...

As an aside, I think one of Sutherland's best later recordings is the live _Otello_ from c.1981: I wish she had recorded the part complete in the studio. Callas' excerpts - from 1964ish? - were probably the best part of that recital disc too.

I wonder if _Gioconda_ would count here? Some of the sopranos were well into their careers when they sang the part like Milanov, Tebaldi, Caballe, Scotto, Bumbry. In terms of late-Callas, she was far more successful by 1959 in the studio Gioconda than the contemporary Lucia with Serafin.

Speaking of Callas, I'm reminded of _Medea_: I don't know if it is a particularly high part. Thinking of the ladies we have on record, a number of them were mezzoish to start with or sang it nearer the end of their stage careers: Callas, Farrell, Gorr, Rysanek, Olivero, Gencer, Verrett, Bumbry, Caballe as late as 1989.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Revitalized Classics said:


> I wonder if _Gioconda_ would count here? Some of the sopranos were well into their careers when they sang the part like Milanov, Tebaldi, Caballe, Scotto, Bumbry. In terms of late-Callas, she was far more successful by 1959 in the studio _Gioconda_ than the contemporary _Lucia_ with Serafin.


There is at least one top C in *La Gioconda*, in the trio in the last act, which Callas manages surprisingly well in the 1959 recording. She also mangages the pitfalls of _Enzo, ah come t'amo_ better in 1959 than she did in 1953, weirdly enough.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Tsaraslondon said:


> There is at least one top C in *La Gioconda*, in the trio in the last act, which Callas manages surprisingly well in the 1959 recording. She also mangages the pitfalls of _Enzo, ah come t'amo_ better in 1959 than she did in 1953, weirdly enough.


I'll need to give that recording another listen. For the most part, I don't enjoy her colleagues on the set but she is having one of those inspired turns when she was under greatest stress. We can read about the Anna Bolena at La Scala in '58, and thankfully we can hear the Dallas Medea when 'fired' by Bing: this set right in the throws of her divorce and massive publicity is special...

Some of her best parts _nearly_ qualify here like Lady Macbeth (mezzos spying anxiously that high note in the Sleepwalking scene) and Abigaille - Cossotto included the scene from _Nabucco_ when she recorded some soprano arias - but I anticipate there are a number of times in reality where a strong-voiced soprano copes with the extraordinary demands and an actual mezzo-soprano would fall in a heap.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I knew I could count on the wisdom of this group. I had NO idea Sutherland sang Desdemona, much less later on. I am sure high C's were never an issue with her. It was probably more tessitura near the end of her career. The Willow Song could be sung by a mezzo. I think the C in Gioconda could be hit at I think. Milanov sang better than most late in her career, but I suspect the very top was no longer secure. Price never had to worry about all that singing a glorious C# at 64 on TV. I heard Urmana in Gioconda, but she began as a mezzo.
I heard Medea years ago and it is one of those roles like Alceste that lay high but don't have B's an C's. I think the same thing could be said for many Mozart roles for soprano.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I heard Medea years ago and it is one of those roles like Alceste that lay high but don't have B's an C's. I think the same thing could be said for many Mozart roles for soprano.


Callas used to add a high C at the end of Act II, though not on the studio recording. Maybe Serafin didn't like it. Mind you, it's not just about high notes, the tessitura is very high, which is why mezzos tend to avoid it.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Kundry.... I think it has a penultimate B with a two octave jump. Have you heard it fudged successfully? I guess one half note off could sound intentional. Norman did it fine when she was fat but when she was leaner the top was teeny tiny. My Kundry story: I saw G. Jones at her peak in 75 when I was 15 backstage at Bayreuth. I was too close to get the full impact of her sound and too smitten with Nilsson to give Jones a chance. I would give anything to be able to hear it again with my mature point of view.


Kundry is designated a soprano role but is often taken by mezzos; it lies generally low, and I think it benefits from a darker timbre (Irene Dalis and Christa Ludwig both handled it beautifully). Kundry has treacherous moments for a singer with a short top, not only the famous top B on "lachte" but the mounting, hysterical phrases toward the end of the scene. Even sopranos can get messy here. Lucky for them, they only have two words to sing in Act 3.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I agree that *Medea*'s challenge is the high tessitura rather than high Cs, whereas *Gioconda*'s is the ups and downs of the role. I always thought that Ponchielli was "badly" written for the voice - it challenges all the voices and, to my mind the vocal line doesn't flow.


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