# Mezzo/ Contralto's who don't sound like sopranos on high notes



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Lots of mezzos, like Jennifer Larmore, Joyce de Donato or Anna Sofie von Mutter sound like sopranos when they sing up high All the lushness and rich coloring to the voice gets blanched away into a soprano sound. Three exceptions I can think of are Jessye Norman, when she sings loud up high, Marilyn Horne and Ewa Podles. Can you think of any.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Perhaps Sonia Ganassi





Thought for sure Bartoli, but maybe not





Thought for sure Kasarova, but maybe not either


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Two of the best mezzos, Stignani and Zagic, are fabulously wonderful, but sound like dramatic sopranos up high. Stignani was called the " Italian Flagstad". Zagic, by the way, can sing The Queen of the Night arias on good days. Both had very bright, trumpet like high voices. Bumbry and Verrett had succcessful carreers as sopranos and sounded like sopranos up high. I don't fault any of these singers for this, but I love those rare singers who carry that more mezzo/ contralto richness up high.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Jaime Barton comes to mind as a contralto/dramatic mezzo who fits this bill.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Jaime Barton comes to mind as a contralto/dramatic mezzo who fits this bill.


Why didn't I think of her. I heard her live in a 300 seat theater. OMG! Her voice is huge, but she sounded ENORMOUS in there. She rattled the rafters like Flagstad of old. One of the greatest recitals ever and yes, she sounds like a mezzo up to B. Her C is all head so sounds soprano. It is still wonderful. She is also a great communicator.


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## Triple A (Jul 15, 2018)

PERHAPS Nathalie Villoing






https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-o...ve-classical-music-poetry-tickets-46492942643


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

So no thoughts on Perhaps Sonia Ganassi from my earlier post? Guess she does not have it. Ok, I'll move on.


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## Triple A (Jul 15, 2018)

One of my favourite mezzo and aria for mezzo (Elina Garanca) I like also Janet Baker in Berlioz songs a delight for ears!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Fritz Kobus said:


> So no thoughts on Perhaps Sonia Ganassi from my earlier post? Guess she does not have it. Ok, I'll move on.


She is new to me but, yes, it sounds mezzo all the way up. Very good singer sounds like.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Seattleoperafan said:


> She is new to me but, yes, it sounds mezzo all the way up. Very good singer sounds like.


Thanks for confirming. I just don't have the ear to really sort these out but of the three I posted Sonia seemed the most mezzo in the upper ranges. G reat thread idea by the way.

Now I'll have to whip out my Ganassi Barber of Seville and give it a listen.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Triple A said:


> One of my favourite mezzo and aria for mezzo (Elina Garanca) I like also Janet Baker in Berlioz songs a delight for ears!


Both are great. Janet had a wonderful placement to her sound and stood out in her generation. She would have been a bigger star but she never performed outside of England. Garanca is made for the video generation. Gorgeous and sounds great as well.
Janet is possibly the best Orfeo on DVD.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Dramatic Mezzos (Stignani, Simionato, Cossotto, Barbieri, Castagna...) will always sound like Dramatic Sopranos up high and light mezzos (Didonato, Larmore, Bartoli) will sound like lyric sopranos. If they didn't, it would be unhealthy. Carrying the so-called "chest voice" up there for the sake of richness can be dangerous. The only difference is that Sopranos will always have more squillo.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Both are great. Janet had a wonderful placement to her sound and stood out in her generation. She would have been a bigger star but she never performed outside of England. Garanca is made for the video generation. Gorgeous and sounds great as well.
> Janet is possibly the best Orfeo on DVD.


Not strictly true. True, she only ever performed _in opera_ in the UK (Scotland as well as England) aside from a few performances in the role of Vitellia at La Scala, when the Royal Opera took their production of *La Clemenza di Tito* there.

She did sing internationally in concert though, having made her debut in the US at the Carnegie Hall as Smeton in a concert performance of *Anna Bolena* with Souliotis as Anna. Thereafter she regularly performed solo recitals at Carnegie Hall.

Though she started life out as a contralto, and was considered the successor to Kathleen Ferrier, her voice lay much higher with an upper range Ferrier never had. Her operatic roles included Gluck's Alceste, Octavian, The Composer in *Ariadne auf Naxos*, Maria Stuarda, Dorabella, the Didos of both Purcell and Berlioz (as well as Cassandre) Penelope in *Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria*, Poppea, Giulio Cesare and many other Handel roles. She sang often for Benjamin Britten, creating the role of Kate in *Owen Wingrave*. One of his last compositions was the dramatic cantata _Phaedra_, which was written specifically for her. She also, and maybe surprisingly, sang the mezzo part in Solti's second recording of the Verdi Requiem (with Price in her second recording of the soprano part), and was a superb Waldtaube in Schoenberg's _Gurrelieder_ Her repertoire was actually quite wide ranging.

I heard her live in concert many times, though, regrettably, never in opera. It was not a big voice, but there was never any problem hearing her even in the largest of venues. She had a _pianissimo_ that would just float out to the furthest recesses of any hall. One of the greatest singers (maybe even _the_ greatest) I've ever heard live.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

I can think of just as many dramatic _sopranos_ who didn't sound like sopranos on top
1) Jessye Norman
2) Maria Callas
3) Astrid Varnay
4) Leonie Rysanik 
5) Martha Modl

as for more to add to your list, 
- Sonia Prina
- Lucia Valentini Terrani


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> Not strictly true. True, she only ever performed _in opera_ in the UK (Scotland as well as England) aside from a few performances in the role of Vitellia at La Scala, when the Royal Opera took their production of *La Clemenza di Tito* there.
> 
> She did sing internationally in concert though, having made her debut in the US at the Carnegie Hall as Smeton in a concert performance of *Anna Bolena* with Souliotis as Anna. Thereafter she regularly performed solo recitals at Carnegie Hall.
> 
> ...


I am glad to be wrong when I can be corrected like that. I went through a serious Janet Baker phase years ago. I'm jealous you heard her live!!!!! She had a very distinctive sound throughout her range. Great in Mahler.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I am glad to be wrong when I can be corrected like that. I went through a serious Janet Baker phase years ago. I'm jealous you heard her live!!!!! She had a very distinctive sound throughout her range. Great in Mahler.


My first ever hearing of *Das Lied von der Erde* was a concert at the Royal Festival Hall with Dame Janet singing the alto songs. Rudolf Kempe was the conductor. How lucky was I. I have a live recording of her singing it under Kubelik and it's quite my favourite version of the piece. Nobody, not Ferrier, not Ludwig, not Forrester quite matches her quiet intensity in the final song.
I would also hate to be without the Mahler Song Cycles she recorded with Barbirolli.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Think we have one here:


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