Mezzos & Contraltos sing high C (C6) and HIGHER!!

[skitzo429]

The little introductory blurb to this video isn't really very pertinent to opera, those are textbook choral ranges for those voice types, in reality any professional mezzosoprano or contralto (in practice, theres barely a difference between the two anyway besides subjective opinions on varying vocal darkness) can sing a soprano high C, if not higher, its a high note for a mezzosoprano, yes, but its certainly not exceptional by any means.

[primohomme]

@skitzo429

In theory a great mezzo or contralto should be able to at least touch a high C, in the same way a great baritone (using the right technique) should be able to sing up to B4 or C5, but how often does it actually happen? Most contraltos complain about G5's, most mezzos complain about Bb5...and most sopranos cannot project below F4.

[orlandzeo]

What is the name and composer of the duet that is continuously shows up in the video? Lol Thanks

[primohomme]

@orlandzeo

The composer is Bellini, and the opera is called "Norma".

[narayanmimi]

@primohomme, sorry, i couldn't access the video, there seems to be a prob with the link, pls help :(

[narayanmimi]

@primohomme, I'm not that interested in Opera, but i've always been trying to sing higher. The lowest I can sing is F2 while the highest in modal register is C5. The voices of coloratura sopranos, especially have of the stratospheric category, have always fascinated me. Do you think it's possible for me to access my whistle register?By the way, I'm 16 and i'm learning speech level singing.

[primohomme]

@narayanmimi

I think it's entirely possible...when I was 16 I didn't have much range at all, but now I can sing up to F7...I've even touched C8 a couple of times, and down to C2 sometimes too...Here's a live acapella of me singing "Emotions" by Mariah Carey, just so you hear my range...

/watch?v=DcrzArwaf0c

[narayanmimi]

@primohomme, vocal range is actually not as important as timbre when it comes to voice classification because proper training and vocal coaching can sporadically augment one's range. This is especially true in the case of speech level singing which aims at disengaging the involvement of the swallowing muscles, so that, even in the modal register, one can sustain unusually high notes. Vocal timbre, on the other hand, is a reliable criterion for knowing a singer's voice type as it doesn't change.

[primohomme]

@narayanmimi

Vocal timbre can change or be manipulated though...take for example Maria Callas or Leyla Gencer, they both were able to lighten their voices or darken them at will.

And sometimes timbre changes across the range, for example Maria Callas or Edda Moser or Ewa Podles.

[TheMythcrusher]

Basically nature didn't create voices in categories. These categories were created by people and are usually limiting.

Christa Ludwig has sung soprano roles (Beethoven Leonore...)... Ghena Dimitrova has sung Mezzo roles (Amneris)... And really versatile female singers have tended to take excursions in roles that are high or low.... Violetta Urmana started out with dramatic roles as a mezzo and is now a dramatic soprano. Range is a question of nature AND technical ability.

[primohomme]

@TheMythcrusher

The general difference in range between a mezzo and a dramatic soprano is just a semitone, the real difference is timbre. But unusually talented voices can sing across the fachs, such as Callas who could sing anything from dramatic mezzo to high lyric coloratura soprano.

[BassoCantante19]

DiDonato and Garanca are sopranos. Always been.

[primohomme]

@BassoCantante19

They are not sopranos, they are mezzos

A great mezzo doesn't have to struggle for the high notes

A great mezzo should potentially be able to sing F3 to C6.

Some like Larmore can sing almost 3 octaves (Eb3-D6 in her case).

[BassoCantante19]

@primohomme Your own description betrays you: "the BIG difference is the color of the voice". In fact, when I listen to DiDonato and Garanca, I hear two sopranos. Shirley Verrett was more of a very dramatic soprano rather than a mezzo, yet DiDonato and Garanca are lighter-sounding than Verrett. What about Ghena Dimitrova then?

[primohomme]

@BassoCantante19

And you conveniently forget to quote the exact line, in which I say TESSITURA also

DiDonato's tessitura is mezzo soprano, and her middle-low register is all mezzo

How many sopranos do you know that can project a low F full bodied?

[BassoCantante19]

@primohomme Range is (almost) irrelevant. Especially for you girls. You girls have extraordinary ranges compared to us men confined to 2 scarse octaves. My fiancèe is a lyric soprano and goes all the way down to D3. As you said a mezzosoprano can C6. That's true, no problem about that. DiDonato and Garanca have the vocal weight and color of a very common soprano, sorry, compare them with Verrett and Dimitrova who were dramatic sopranos.

[primohomme]

@BassoCantante19

I'm a man and I have a wide range, range is only limited by technique

Singing pop I can cover more than 5 octaves and singing opera I can sing 3 octaves with ease and equal support at both ends.

Dimitrova (when singing soprano roles) did not project her low chest tones the way she did when she took on more mezzo roles like Amneris.

[BassoCantante19]

@primohomme Woops, sorry for the mix-up. My compliments for your range. A male that can sing more than two and a half octaves operatically is a true rarity. 90% are limited to two octaves and a couple of half-steps.

DiDonato and Garanca don't sound like mezzos to me. Maybe it's my personal limit: I'm used to Elena Obraztsova and Fedora Barbieri.

[primohomme]

@BassoCantante19

Obraztsova and Barbieri are both dramatic mezzos while Garanca and DiDonato are coloratura mezzos. Different voice categories within a fach.

Saying DiDonato is less of a mezzo than Barbieri is like saying Nilsson is less soprano than Sumi Jo

[Tsunade3Sannin]

@BassoCantante19 dunno bout garanca don't listen to her enough, but i totally agree that donato is a soprano. she is wonderful but def a soprano in my opinion. kozena too

[primohomme]

@Tsunade3Sannin

Kozena is not a soprano, she has a high D but anyone who has her enough of her singing knows she is a mezzo. There's not just one type of mezzo as there is not just one type of soprano

[BassoCantante19]

@Tsunade3Sannin We agree. I could buy Garanca as a very light mezzo, just like I buy Cecilia Bartoli as one (she's darker than Garanca).

[LacrimaLunaMortua]

All these ladies are WONDROUS!

Bartoli's incredible and Podles is like the contralto Callas

[direfranchement]

Some of these were very unpleasant. Giuletta Simionato sounded rather like an ambulance siren. Huguette Tourangeau made my eyes cross.

[Adinacapricciosa]

Esistono i soprani Falcon cmq! :-)

[tris648]

long live bartoli lol



[Yodaandtheforce3000]

My favourite are La Podles & Huguette Tourangeau ! ! ! ;-)

[Snutih]

Podles is my favourite !! You should do the same with low notes heheh :)

[ilNuovoArchaeOpteryx]

Larmore and Podles are my favourites... absolutely outstanding! Could you tell me what Antonacci is singing? Is that Ermione?

[primohomme]

@ilNuovoArchaeOpteryx

Rossini's Otello :) but recently I found her Ermione, in which she sings a high C#

I uploaded it to my channel, check it out :)

[OperaMystery80]

Also what is that part " wizzing away along the tracks off to Chicago ?" the heck is that ? Sounded like....is that from that Carmen Jones movie??

[primohomme]

@OperaMystery80

Yes, indeed, it's from "Carmen Jones"

[19operajon]

WHat is the aria that Elina Garanca is singing @1:04 and Jennifer Larmore @7:20?

[OperaMystery80]

@19operajon Yes primo I'd also like to know what Elina Garaca is singing; I'm not familiar with that one. It sounds like it could be one of the bel canto guys Donizetti, Bellini or Rossini

[19operajon]

@OperaMystery80 Hey! Just found out it was from Donzetti's Maria Stuarda, Elisabetta's Act 1 aria "Ah dal ciel discenda un raggio"!

[primohomme]

@19operajon

I will be adding a list of the clips I used

I haven't had much free time lately, but I will the next few days :P

[19operajon]

@primohomme Thanks! That would be great! But no rush I found out the names of the two arias that I was inquiring about! :)

[olympicfreak678]

I always thought Anna Caterina Antonacci was a soprano. hmmm, but I know she does a lot of lower roles in both the soprano and mezzo rep. Troyanos, Berganza, von Stade, and Bumbry (during her mezzo and soprano stages) have some pretty solid notes too if u want to make another list hint hint haha.

[primohomme]

@locoluuk

Are they OPERATIC MEZZOS? no, they sing gothic rock.

Singing opera requires that the singer DOES NOT USE A MICROPHONE

so the notes must be fully supported and full bodied, that means no falsetto, no whistle register

Understand the difference? As I said, the vocal range one can sign with a microphone in front of you (low whispers like a bull and high squeak like a dolphin) are worthless in OPERA, as the sound must be FULLY SUPPORTED and that usually means 3 octaves at the most.

[primohomme]

@locoluuk

1- Nobody is interested in your range, if you wanna show your range...recording a song and showcase it, don't go on random comments trying to get attention, it's childish and stupid.

2- In OPERA singers must sing IN ALL VOWELS AND AT ALL DYNAMICS WITH EQUAL SUPPORT AT BOTH ENDS OF THEIR REGISTER AND WITHOUT A MICROPHONE, so very low notes that sound like the whispering of a bull are out of the question, same for very high notes that sound like a tiny dolphin's squeak.

[Stefano94x]

Podles slayed. 

[crazylords]

What operas are these clips from?

[primohomme]

@crazylords

I will post in a bit :P been busy lately

[raigekimaru]

the description is wrong.

most mezzos have a much large range than A3-A5, more like F3-C6 (or higher) for contraltos it's more like D#2-B5

[primohomme]

@raigekimaru

Well, that's FIRST CLASS mezzos and FIRST CLASS contraltos

99% of the mezzos I know of have a hard time hitting even Bb5, much less C6...and most of the real contraltos I know can barely sing F#5, much less B5.

[Tosycyzkiewicy]

@primohomme

If a mezzosoprano doesn't have these high notes, like Bartoli or Malena Ernman do, the fault is in her technique or in her anatomical conditions of vocal chords?

[primohomme]

@Tosycyzkiewicy

It's not common for a mezzo to have an F6 at all, usually most mezzos top out at

C6 or C#6 at the most. Anything above C6 for a mezzo is extraordinary, as a C6 for a mezzo is like Eb6 for a soprano.

[LenarLontoc328]

@primohomme Cher sung an F6! :)

[olympicfreak678]

I know this is probably dreaded, but could you post what the pieces these ladies are singing so wonderfully?

[laupernaranjolabelle]

Thank you for posting this amazing video, one can never stop learning about texture, color, and range and tessitura. Not to mention resonance, projection and tones, as well as control, comfort zones and styles!

[primohomme]

@laupernaranjolabelle

Indeed! and there's some more I forgot to include, but these are the main ones I wanted to show, full voiced high C's and above by dark velvety voices, and some of them such as Ewa Podles' and Shirley Verrett's...are even better than the high C of many spinto and dramatic sopranos.

[asdfopera]

Love Joyce DiDonato. You can hear Marilyn Horne laugh as Joyce sings the C6 staccati

[Tosycyzkiewicy]

The voice range of Ewa Podles is unique. I appreciate mostly the dark, dramatic color of her voice. Can we call her voice "contralto sfogato"?

[LohengrinT]

@Tosycyzkiewicy

Unlimited/sfogato contralto would be a singer able to interchange between lyrical, coloratura and dramatic roles and with a huge range and agility. Podles has a phenomenal range, she excelled in coloratura and lyrical roles but also has greatly sung dramatic roles (Ulrica, Erda, Cieca, Klytemnestra). Klytemnestra was not sung in her main vocal prime -cause she still has an immense voice- so is it included in her repertoire?...

I think Podles is a Contralto Assoluto/Sfogato

[callastoujours]

This is fabulous!!!! Thank u!!!!

[aussiechickdiana]

Fabulous, primohomme...what a great idea...many thanks...diana

[bodiloto]

ahahahahahahahah- ma dove sentite le voci delle contralti ?...

Quasi tutte hanno le voci dei soprani...

[JazzLoverKhurram]

Thank you for this veritable encyclopedia of classical singers thoroughly enlightening to enter your world :-)

[CaptFitzbattleaxe]

Wonderful! So many lovely voices in one place. *sigh*

Oh, and there's a brief but solid high E in the last aria of Tourangeau's recital album.

[LohengrinT]

Garanca truly sings a full bodied C6 here no? I hadnt noticed how good that was although she reaches it though scale which makes it far easier to reach (the Sutherland trick!)

[primohomme]

@LohengrinT

Yes, I actually like Garanca's high notes very much, I think she had a very beautiful color to her voice as well, specially in the bel canto repertoire

[MusicVocalism]

Love Joyce DiDonato! =D

[Ariadne7710]

Great selection. Congratulations. But I have to agree with kgarmaker123 on Bartoli. Her voice is thin and better suited to baroque, and she is a better recitalist because she can rise above a small orchestra. Her agility is amazing and her coloratura pieces and fantastic fioriture spectacular, but the tone she produces on her high notes sounds somewhat artificial and unnatural. I love Marilyn Horne but for me Simionato, Ludwig and Podles are the greatest mezzos.

[primohomme]

@Ariadne7710

Well, Ewa is a true contralto ;) there are a few of these ladies here who could be called contralto...Ewa, Kasarova sometimes and Jennifer Larmore sometimes, though they can all sing lyric mezzo, but their low registers are richer than that of a normal mezzo, also Marilyn Horne later in her career, specially singing Vivaldi and Handel could be called a contralto.

[Ariadne7710]

@primohomme Sure, Podles is stricktly speaking a contralto but since you included her in your video I included her in my favourites. It was just laziness on my part to say mezzos only. If we are speaking of contraltos I would also add Kathleen Ferrier and Nathalie Stutzmann. Wonderfully rich voices.

[Rosannasfriend]

just incredible singing Primhomme!

[MimiDahhling30]

awesome :) these singers are EPIC XD

[primohomme]

@coloraturatenor

I love Vivica but I don't know any recording of her singing a high C. In her castrati/baroque stuff that have high C she sings in baroque pitch which makes the high C's into B's

[calvin9999999999]

8:51 - 9:00 is fucking insane!

[prince2000ful]

Thank you Primohomme for sharing this .That confirms the ideea that it is not the high notes which is the mark for a Soprano or Mezzo but the colour of the voice.

Marilyn Horne and -Teresa Berganza are good Examples. Mille grazie.

Cecilia Bartoli is another phenomenon. Educated by her mother. 

[kgarmaker123]

@prince2000ful I do not agree. Range matters..Listen To Shirley Verrett's Un Ballo from 1977(Scala) .She sounds like a mezzo trying to sing a soprano role. The tessitura, is a soprano tessitura. Verrett was one of the best of these. The other thing I have noticed, is that most of these mezzos when sing high C or higher, had a small, tight, vibrato, that is quite different from the rest of their voice. NOt Verrett.. she has the slower , more relaxed vibrato of a higher voice.

[LohengrinT]

@kgarmaker123

I think too that Verret produces the most solid C6 of them all followed by Simionato imo. And Verret goes up there full voice the sound does not get at all thin. Bartoli gets the thinnest of them all - so thin one thinks that someone forced her to sing those notes Her mother perhaps?

[kgarmaker123]

@LohengrinT Bartoli's voice is thin. She is a small voiced woman.. She is a soprano ... cleverly marketed as a mezzo. How many Mezzo's do you know who can sing high E Flats sustained that sound exactly like a coloratur or a soubretter soprano? .. Bartoli is mostly a recording and recital artist, where the esize of her voice doesn;t matter... Can you see her singing Eboli? or Azucena? or Amneris? NOT.. she is fine in Mozart( small orchestration.. and no need to have a large voice .

[LohengrinT]

@kgarmaker123

her top notes never sounded natural to me plus much thinner than the rest of the voice which isnt that thin. If a mezzo decides to thin her voice that much - which is againt the entire mezzo way of voice projection- I think many of them could hit the top notes.

[flowersings]

@kgarmaker123 I don't think Bartoli's voice is thin by any means, but it is a good bit lighter than most mezzos, so indeed one does wonder if she is a soprano. I love her voice though!

[flowersings]

@kgarmaker123 Oh, and agreed about the sustained E flats!

[primohomme]

@kgarmaker123

Well, Cecilia doesn't need to be singing Eboli or Azucena or Amneris, she is excellent in the baroque repertoire and that's where her voice best fits, the same way most Ebolis and Azucenas and Amnerises could never handle the coloratura and wide range of the baroque repertoire written for the castrati.

[kgarmaker123]

@primohomme WEll, Marilyn Horne's voice fit the baroque, rep.. and I have heard her live doing Amneris, and she had a big voice.. So flexibility does not always follow voice size. Horne could sing both. Bartoli cannot. According to the revues she could barely be heard as Despina.. ( and thats mozart)....... and mostly performed by sopranos.. btw.

[primohomme]

@kgarmaker123

But Horne's voice really had a different tessitura than Bartoli's

Horne was best fit to sing the alto castrati roles while Bartoli is best fit to sing the soprano castrati roles

Horne did not have a very easy high C after she went into the mezzo-repertoire and completely abandoned the soprano repertoire she had started with, while Bartoli still has a good high E.

Just different voices.

[kgarmaker123]

@primohomme I am glad we agree.. Notice you said, Bartoli's voice fit the baroque soprano roles.. My point exactly.. She is a soprano. 

[primohomme]

@kgarmaker123

I said soprano castrati roles, not just soprano roles

The castrati soprano roles have a higher tessitura than the alto roles but they do use a great deal of middle voice and their tessitura does not sit so much in the passagio as those written for female sopranos.

For example, though soprano castrati and female sopranos usually don't go higher than A5 or Bb5 (written) in baroque, the tessitura for female soprano is G4-G5 while for soprano castrati it is more like F4-F5.

[primohomme]

@kgarmaker123

And actually very few baroque soprano roles at all go to high C, it wasn't till the times of Haydn when composers started writting sustained high C's, the high C's written for castrati like Farinelli were gingerly touched instead of held, touched as part of a coloratura line usually, not held. Composers in general didn't write much higher than Bb5 so the singer would always have some reserve of high notes they could use to ornament (Farinelli could ornament up to D6 or even F6).

[prince2000ful]

@kgarmaker123 Ok you don´t have to agree with me! We have perhaps different experiences. reg. Vibrato, that has to do with the air you use. The compression of the air and the right technique to have the note ready in your head and first comes the note before the air. Then you have the next step, to use as much air you need for a certain range of notes and of course the higher notes need more air and also compression from your support and ribs

[kgarmaker123]

@prince2000ful vibrato,( a healthy vibrato that is even, and regular, ( even though that varies from voice to voice) is the hallmark of a healthy technique and voice. When the vibrato becomes too fast, or too slow.. it show underlying health or vocal health issues.

[prince2000ful]

Thank you Primohomme for sharing this .That confirms the ideea that it is not the high notes which is the mark for a Soprano or Mezzo but the colour of the voice.

Marilyn Horne and -Teresa Berganza are good Examples. Mille grazie.

[kgarmaker123]

@prince2000ful And frankly, it is the high notes.. If not.. every mezzo in the world would be singing soprano roles.. ( all soprano roles) including Lucia.. But they don't... because most of them cannot. I have heard people tell me, that it is the color, bs there are many sopranos with the dark quality of a mezzo.. with a high high voice.. ..Delora Zajick for instance says she vocalizes to high F.. but she cannot hang with the sopranos.. ( sustain the tessitura.).

[FRANCISCO43122]

ES GRANDIOSO EL VIDEO¡¡FELICITACIONES¡¡ PERO CREO NO HAN INCLUIDO A UNA DE LAS GRANDES ENTRE TODAS LAS GRANDES¡¡DOÑA TERESA BERGANZA..PARA LA PROXIMA ALGUNA DE SUS INTERPRETACIONES POR FAVOR.

[primohomme]

@FRANCISCO43122

Recomiendame alguna grabacion de ella con un Do agudo sostenido, no he encontrado ninguna.

[Breniznit]

My comment didn't go through properly :( Stupid pc ruined my chance at being the first comment. I liked Cecilia's agility also, she is very violin like.. I like Ewa's 3 octave descent also. Incredible.

[suman2135]

maria callas is an angel sent from god.the woman can sing anything!

[LohengrinT]

fabulous video

Queens of mezzo coloratura: Bartoli and Podles

Queens of Dramatic mezzo C6: Simionato and Verret

Incredibly fascinating singing

[OperaMystery80]

What a fabulous collection of mezzos you have here, Primo. Thanks for sharing. I'm not a fan of Garanca, but definitely love today's Di Donato, Larmore & Graham. Of the earlier period mezzos I love Cossotto & Simionato & Christa Ludwig.. also love Verrett & Bumbry(who were also great sopranos), love Horne and Meier. I'm such a female operatic voice lover that I don't play favorites. Both the soprano and mezzo voice excite me and are magnificent, when sung right of course.

[OperaMystery80]

@OperaMystery80 To my list I'd also add Regina Resnik, Tatiana Troyanos, Federica Van Stade and Cecilia Bartoli, And as I'm sure you've heard Bartoli singing her incredible vocal pyrotechnics, you have to admit Bartoli's fabulous.

[primohomme]

@OperaMystery80

Well, that would be an Assoluta, a soprano sfogato...the biggest divas of the early 19th century (Isabella Colbran, Giuditta Pasta, Maria Malibran, Pauline Viardot, Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis) were mezzos or contraltos who also managed to sing in soprano tessitura with ease. And the biggest diva of the 20th century was just that too, Maria Callas :)

[OperaMystery80]

@primohomme Callas could sing everything. I read she sang Wagner's Isolde and Brunnhilde but in Italian very early in her career before she became famous. There's a lot of music she sang before she lost weight and became famous that we probably haven't heard it all, she was the last soprano sfogato because nature doesn't make any more of them. I haven't heard one. When you hear one, let me know who she is!!!

[Chimier]

8:51-9:00- WTF....inHUMAN!

[primohomme]

@Chimier

Indeed, Cecilia's agility is incredible, she truly is a virtuoso with incredible control over her voice

[suman2135]

@primohomme is any of the singers show in the video using their falsetto/head voice?

[primohomme]

@suman2135

I am pretty sure all of them are using head voice

[suman2135]

@primohomme ok.thankyou!

[FloridianWolf]

@suman2135 Many mezzo-sopranos especially coloratura mezzo-sopranos can sing high C's. A3-A5 is the normal range for them but I'm really impressed by contraltos that can sing high C's which is very hard for them to do.Coloratura singers tend be able to handle singer higher than normal for a singer of their voice type.

[suman2135]

@FloridianWolf okies

[primohomme]

@FloridianWolf

It's because for coloratura a singer has to strain the agility of the voice and not let it get too heavy, and therefore the upper register can be accessed with more ease than if the singer were to sing only dramatic parts.

[WestVoice]

@Chimier I second that!

[Chimier]

I love this!