Talk:Mezzo-soprano/Archive 2

Rossini and Baroque
I've been told the the composer Rossini, who gave most of his leading female roles to mezzos, effectively discovered this voice (perhaps along with the baritone voice), both of which were not known before his time, in the Baroque period and before. In the baroque, mezzo singer apparently sang alto parts in choral, secular or operaic works. Baritones worked as basses. This article should definitely mention this. This deserves a section.


 * Did Rossini really mentioned "mezzo-soprano" in his scores? As far as I know he described Rosina and Angelina as altos. Moreover, it should be mentioned in the article that Verdi hasn't distinguished altos from mezzos in his solo parts - only mezzo appears as a solo part. AdamChapman 13:24, 6 June 2007 (UTC)


 * The use of more specific terms for voice types was just beginning to emerge during the time of Rossini and the other earlier bel canto composers. It really wasn't until the mid nineteenth century that more defined descriptions of voice types began to emerge. Although Rossini may have used the terms mezzo-soprano and baritone he didn't use them consistantly and may not have meant the same thing that we mean today by those terms today. Also, classical composers did make use of women with mezzo ranges. Several of the soubrette roles in Mozart's operas for example, may have been sung by mezzos. And the role of Dorabella from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, was definitely written for a mezzo. Nrswanson (talk) 07:46, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Are Dugazon and Galli-Marié Really Mezzo-Sopranos?
It is my understanding that these are rare tyes of voices that are intermediate voices between the mezzo-soprano and soprano voices. Check out the section on intermediate voices on the soprano page. I know for sure that dark-colored soprano leggero are often refered to as having Dugazon voices. Also what about the Falcon voice.Nrswanson (talk) 21:53, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I've corrected the link in the heading - and yes, the books all call them mezzos. -- Kleinzach (talk) 04:31, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Galli-Marie's most famous role is Carmen, which is definitely a mezzo role AdamChapman (talk) 11:01, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

The difference in the passaggio of a soprano and a mezzo soprano is half a step, and the rest is based on timbre. As with any given general voice type, the lower extremes of the higher fach and the upper extremes of the lower fach can sound quite similar, and one can choose the fach that most suits them. Vocal pedagogy is not an exact science. There is no specific type of rare voice that is between soprano and mezzo, there are just voices that could sing both sets of repertoire. However, eventually, one will choose a repertoire that best suits them, and that is their fach...

Including a list of musical roles
I invite everyone to join this discussion on the voice type talk page. Past consensus has been to not include a list of such roles but perhaps this topic should be re-adressed. This topic involves all voice types as there has been a strong attempt to try and make each voice type page similar in content and formatNrswanson (talk) 22:34, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I commend the person who added the list of musical mezzo-soprano roles! I think it is very pertinenet to Wiki's mission in that it puts the term in a more "real life" scenario. Not that opera is not real life, but I would think more people would know about West Side Story characters and songs than Le Nozze di Figaro's. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.103.94.196 (talk) 01:12, 3 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Ok, who just got rid of that whole list?Chrisfa678 (talk) 07:44, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I removed the list because it was unsourced, original research, and had errors. As I have stated before, I have no problems with such a list if it is done properly. See talk:voice type for more details.Nrswanson (talk) 16:11, 4 January 20


 * It should be clear that Giulio Cesare is NOT a trouser role, it is a castrati role. A trouser role is a male part WRITTEN for a female singer. Giulio Cesare was written for a male singer. Serse, in the same opera, is however a trouser role since it is a man part written for a woman voice. Yiwa 13:53, 18 March 2011 (UTC)~

Karen England
Is also a mezzo, paired with soprano Rebecca Knight in the cd Opera babes Jimmyreno (talk) 20:02, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Giulietta Simionatto
Giulietta Simionatto is listed as both a coloratura mezzo and a dramatic mezzo. How is this possible? I have heard her referred to as close to a soprano; however, I have also heard her sound quite dramatic, and she has a low speaking voice (in her later years at least). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.172.129.176 (talk) 05:30, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

Angela Gossow - mezzo-soprano?
That must be a joke o_O —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.251.107.30 (talk) 17:19, 18 March 2010 (UTC)