#coloratura mezzo soprano

[opera-ghosts]

Rare footage of Conchita Supervía singing a Spanish song

This wonderful excerpt is taken from the 1934 film "Evensong'. Supervía sings "Los ojos negros" (Dark eyes) composed by Luis Barta.

[widevibratobitch]

nothing sad but i need to bitch and im tired and need to frow up

[asmuchasidliketo]

#ennio motherfucking morricone babyyy!!! #also listen to the ukulele orchestra of great britain's cover sometime tags by @thestuffedalligator

[joansutherlandfan]

Celebrating the heavenly birthday of Mezzo Soprano Grace Bumbry (4 January 1937 - 7 May 2023).

Grace was an extremely admirable person and artist. Alongside Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price, break down the color barrier in opera. Conquered international acclaim in 1961 after performed at the Bayreuth as - how the press noticed - "Black Venus" in Wagner's Tannhauser. Withi Joan, she recorded the mezzo part in Händel's Messiah (1961) and with Birgit, her canonical role, Amneris in Aida (1967).

📷 Grace poses with Joan and Richard in the occasion of Bing's Met Farewell, 1972.

[whenthewindhasblown]

dropping my les amis voice part headcanons because no one can stop me (gonna call this les amis de l'SATB)

enjolras is a pure tenor because of course he is

courfeyrac is a baritenor who can sing kind of high and kind of low but neither all that impressively

combeferre is a BASS like a patrick page in hadestown kind of bass and no one can take bass!ferre away from me ever

feuilly is also a bass meaning he can't sing high to save his life, but he also can't sing as low as ferre can and he's perpetually a little bit salty about it

jehan is either a pure countertenor (when AMAB) or a pure lyric coloratura soprano (when AFAB). doesn't matter what gender they are they just sing really high ok

joly is a baritone, decent high range and decent low range, but the lower he sings, the more his scottish accent slips out (will make a full post about scottish!joly later cos i have feelings about this man)

bossuet is a tenor :)

musichetta is one of those really low altos who sings tenor half the time she has such a rich and warm voice quality, like the kind of alto that would make me (a soprano with a horseshit low range) go weak in the knees like aaaaahhhhhhh (her voice also blends really well with those of joly and bossuet so whenever they sing together it basically makes everyone around them want to melt (myself included))

eponine is also an alto but on a really good day she can belt into A4-E5 range (she can't sing as low as musichetta can though)

cosette is one of those classic musical theatre high-belt mezzos who can't sing as high as well as they should be able to, kinda like christy altomare in anastasia

azelma is a soprano but doesn't really care that she's a soprano and typically sings mezzo parts

maruis is a tenor with a vocal range very similar to his in the musical like tell me this man doesn't perfectly fit the dorky tenor stereotype

i think that's all of them let me know if i missed anyone

edit because i forgot bahorel: bahorel is a bass, similar voice quality to feuilly, but can sing both ever so slightly higher and ever so slightly lower than him. poor feuilly

edit again because turns out i also forgot grantaire: he's a low tenor, not much else to say about this, but he can belt to the high heavens (and mostly chooses not to)

[kaitcreates]

What vocal types I think the TMI cast would have in TMI musical:

Clary: Coloratura Mezzo-Soprano

Jace: Lyric Tenor

Simon: Leggaro Tenor

Isabelle: Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano

Alec: Spinto Tenor

Magnus: Verdi Baritone

Maia: Lyric Mezzo-Soprano

Raphael: Baryton-Martin Baritone

Sebastian: Dramatic Tenor

Camille: Dramatic Soprano

Lily: Dramatic Contralto

Bat: Dramatic Baritone

Max: Treble

Meliorn: Countertenor

Aline: Lyric Contralto

Seelie Queen: Spinto Soprano

Jordan: Lyric Tenor

Maureen: Treble

Catarina: Coloratura Mezzo-Soprano

Ragnor: Verdi Baritone

[gch1995]

I used to find her voice annoying when I was little, but after enjoying nearly 15 years of being professionally trained to sing mostly classical-style music theater and opera as a light lyric coloratura soprano, my singing voice definitely is most similar to Adriana Caselotti’s (Snow White) and Mary Costa’s (Aurora’s). I’ve also grown to hear the beauty in Snow White’s as I’ve gotten older, and I also realize Adriana Caselotti deliberately played up that babyish quality to her voice as Snow White to make it sound more childlike and innocent for the sake of the role. She definitely is still up there as the animated Disney Princess with the most legit classical-soprano vocal range and technique. I think she goes up to a D6 vocal trill in the dwarves Silly Song. Her highest full note is the B5 in Whistle While You Work, though.

Mary Costa (Aurora) has a bit more of a mature full lyric soprano voice than Adriana Caselotti as Snow White, nor does she use as much coloratura vocal technique in her runs and trills. However, she still has a bright and warm tone and technique that is most definitely legit classical lyric soprano. I think she goes up to an A5, and goes down to a D4.

Cinderella (Ilene Woods) is closer to a true contralto with a range of A3-Bb4. She has a darker, dreamier, and warmer quality to her voice that fits her longing nature

Jodie Benson(Ariel) technically has a light lyric soprano timbre, but she only goes between a C4-D5 as Ariel. That’s totally a doable sweet spot for a mezzo. Plus, she doesn’t really use any legit classical soprano technique. Ariel’s a light soprano belter.

In the second movie, she shows off more of her classical soprano chops in “Down To The Sea” and “For a Moment.” She goes up to at least an F5.

Paige O’Hara (Belle) goes between a low G3-to an Eb5 in the animated Disney movie, and she definitely has the solid middle timbre of a mezzo-soprano belter. It’s clear, full, and warm in the middle. Whereas Ariel can technically be sung by a mezzo-soprano quite easily, the actress who voiced her definitely has the bright, silvery, and youthful timbre of a lyric soprano. She only goes up to a D5 in the 1989 animated film, but you can tell that Jodie’s voice starts to naturally soar once she gets past the middle. Paige is definitely a natural mezzo-soprano, though.

Jasmine (Lea Salonga) is definitely a mezzo-soprano. You can tell this because she had to sing “Think of Me” from Phantom of the Opera in a lower key. However, she definitely is a lighter mezzo soprano with a slightly higher timbre.

Pocahontas (Judy Kuhn) is very much a mezzo-soprano with a range of G3-Bb4 in Colors of the Wind.

Megara (Susan Egan) from Hercules sings between a G3-C5, which is very much a mezzo soprano’s sweet spot. I also love how she added this cynical and sarcastic edge to Meg’s voice that goes away the more she falls in love with Hercules.

Mulan (Lea Salonga) is also a lighter mezzo, much like Jasmine, which makes sense since they share the same singing voice. I really do love how Lea got to show off her voice more in Mulan than she did in Aladdin because it is lovely. It makes me want to cry with her when she sings the chorus so sadly. I think she also goes up to an E5 in this song.

Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) is a soprano with a vocal range of G3-G5, and a more bright and youthful timbre. However, like most modern day Disney sopranos post the Golden age, she is a soprano-belter, so she is doable for a mezzo with a more developed upper register.

The Ranges of Disney Princesses.  AKA, the case for the mezzo princess.

We all hear that the Disney princesses are all sopranos, and that this sucks.  “When will we get an alto princess?!” is a phrase I constantly hear.  Well, I wanted to set down the facts for all to see.  Let’s look at the ranges.  Note that all are based on the movie songs, not the musical versions when applicable.  Let me know if I missed something, or want me to check a song again.  I cross-checked sheet music to videos, but I could have missed something.

Snow White: D4-Bb5

Anna: Gb3-G5

Rapunzel: G3-G5

Aurora: D4-F5

Pocahontas: G#3-F5

Jasmine: C#4-E5

Elsa: F3-Eb5

Mulan: G#3-D5

Tiana: G#3-C#5

Ariel: C4-C5

Belle: G#3-B4

Cinderella: A3-Bb4

So we see some sopranos here–Snow White and her little operatic runs are, undoubtedly, soprano territory.  But from there, we pretty quickly drop off from true soprano territory and fall smack-dab in the middle of mezzo-land.  Anna and Rapunzel, sure, may be tough for some mezzos who don’t have a developed upper range.  But as you move down that list, we’re suddenly getting down to notes that I know many sopranos cannot sing.  I have lots and lots of students who cannot consistently sing a G#3, so it’s tough to argue that these ranges are unreasonably soprano-esque.  In fact, we get to Ariel who has a downright tiny range.  Crazy, right!  Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel would really be considered more of altos if we just look at their ranges!  

But many people hear these songs and immediately think, but they’re so high!  And this is where timbre comes into play.  Some of these women have very light timbres, and it makes their voices sound higher than they actually are.  It’s shocking to really take a look at how low some of these songs actually are, right?  

I actually feel like amongst all these characters, there’s a pretty great representation across many ranges and types.  We’ve got belters, legit singers, more operatic, more mixed, more pop…  Ranging all the way from an F3-Bb5 altogether!  Represent, female voices.  

[sopranoentravesti]

All right, DS9 fans who are opera freaks

For the 3 of you on tumblr, @currymuttonpizza and myself got chatting and one thing led to another and Badda-bing, Badda bang, we came up with the Fächer of the characters for the Opera version of DS9. Here goes

Captain Sisko: Bass Baritone. This seems self explanatory

Jake Sisko: countertenor

Major Kira: Coloratura mezzo. I may have been biased for this one bc that is the closest thing to my fach, but think Rossini‘s heroines, or some of Vivaldi‘s work (like Armatae Face et Anguibus from Juditha Triumphans)

Gul Dukat: also Bass-baritone, but of the villainous variety. Think Samuel Ramey as Reverend Olin Blitch in Susannah, or the titular role in Don Giovanni

Julian Bashir: Tenor leggiero. This also seems self explanatory

Kai Winn: originally I thought of a mezzo a la Ježibaba, but I think actually this may be a place for a villainous contralto

Jadzia Dax: mezzo, but of the type that delves down in contralto territory periodically (a la Avery Amereau ❤️)

Odo: dramatic baritone— to use @currymuttonpizza‘s inimitable phrasing “He's like if Scarpia were a good person idk.”

Worf: Bass, nuff said

Miles: baritone. Mostly an Everyman lyric kind but can venture in dramatic territory when he’s Suffering (he’s basically Wozzeck, if you think about it)

Keiko: sweet, loving, badass, sassy when needed? A soubrette, of the Mozart variety, a la Susanna and Zerlina

Garak: Britten tenor

Quark: dramatic baritone. Basically Alberich in space

Rom: Basso buffo

Nog: the guy you think is a tenor buffo, but is actually a Helden tenor

Kasidy Yates: full lyric soprano

Weyoun: tenor buffo. Complete Don Basilio type

Brunt: also tenor buffo. Both played by combs who brings buffo energy to both

Ezri: soubrette

Leeta: high poppy squeaky coloratura soprano (I’m thinking Olympia in the doll aria)

Damar: baritone, maybe slightly romantic but pretty run of the mill

Ziyal: light lyric soprano, ala Gilda from Rigoletto

Joseph Sisko: Dramatic Bass

Female Changeling: contralto, think Erda

Moogie: mezzo a la Marcelina from Nozze, but also some Despina vibes

Grand Nagus Zek: gonna trust @currymuttonpizza on this one, heldentenor like the drum major, but make it funny

Vedek Bareil: speaking role

[jeyne-stark]

eternally thinking about the opera adaptation that lives in my head and thinking about vocal roles. have some Stark-and-Stark-adjacent thoughts. if you disagree please tell me your thoughts.

Brandon: dramatic baritone, maybe specifically a Verdi baritone. probably would not actually have a role because he's dead.

Ned: spinto tenor, or maybe a dramatic tenor. big male lead energy right up until he gets killed. hey, it's opera.

Cat: dramatic soprano. I need that woman singing an aria during the Red Wedding, and I need her to sing "No, not my hair, Ned loves my hair" and make me cry real tears.

Lyanna: lyric soprano. she definitely gets to appear as a ghost and sing an aria at Ned.

Benjen: uhhhhh idk. light baritone. I really have very few Benjen-related thoughts.

Robb: tenor. probably a lyric tenor, possibly tenore di grazia. absolutely must be hitting that high C. like his father, big male lead energy ~and then he dies!~

Jeyne: lyric soprano. probably light rather than full, she's pretty young. duets with Robb, but maybe doesn't have an aria of her own.

Sansa: soprano. obviously. there is no other voice appropriate for an ingenue. probably a lyric coloratura, maybe a spinto, but she gets some dramatic passages in her arias so she'll need a strong voice.

Arya: dramatic mezzo. when she disguises herself as a boy she'll have some passages in a lower register, so she has to be able to handle those as well as some higher passages.

Bran: I contemplated this one for a while; I could justify making this a trousers role, but I think ultimately spinto tenor is a good choice. he'll have some dramatic passages while he's with Bloodraven having his greenseer training so he needs a strong voice.

Rickon: soprano because he's a baby.

Jon: dramatic tenor. I went back and forth between tenor and baritone, heroic tenor/noble baritone/lyric baritone were all ranges I considered, but really I think a dramatic tenor will suit him. does not hit that high C that Robb does.

+ bonus Jeyne Poole: also a soprano, this time a soubrette. She gets an aria while in Ramsay's clutches.

+ bonus Theon Greyjoy: heroic tenor. there is no doubt in my mind, he gets the Wagner-main-character voice.

+ + bonus Reek: castrato

[birlwrites]

coloratura is a type of vocal technique - i'm sure the technique exists in various forms in multiple other types of music (a 'melisma' in western classical music is the same thing as a 'run' in western pop music, for example), but i'll just speak to bel canto technique as that's what i'm familiar with (the standard technique for singing western opera and art music)

coloratura singing means 'colorful' (roughly), and it's called that because it is very heavily ornamented - lots of trills, lots of notes, lots of fast movement. because it moves fast, it's normally associated with lighter, more agile voices - the heavier/darker/more dramatic a voice, the harder it's going to be to move it fast, because the heavier/darker sound comes from thicker vocal cords, and the thicker your vocal cords are, the harder it's going to be to move between notes quickly. that's a surface explanation but it gets the point across

thinner vocal cords also tend to be able to vibrate at faster rates which means they tend to have a higher tessitura (comfortable vocal range). that's why you'll see a lot of coloratura in music for sopranos, because sopranos have the highest tessitura of all the basic voice types (bass, baritone, tenor, contralto, mezzo-soprano, soprano, from lowest to highest). it's not the only reason that coloratura tends to go to soprano arias, but it's a big one - the other reasons have a lot to do with western ideas of femininity and insanity

that being said, coloratura isn't exclusively the provenance of sopranos - you see a lot of it in baroque music (händel, for example). now, i'm actually not a big fan of baroque opera, because it's super repetitive, but fortunately for me, as a soprano, i have LOTS of potential coloratura repertoire in later styles

one of the most famous examples of a coloratura aria is der hölle rache from the magic flute by mozart, aka the queen of the night's aria (she has multiple but that's the famous one). lots of fast little notes very high up. (accidentals are also common.) other good examples are les oiseaux dans le charmille (the doll song) from les contes d'hoffman (offenbach) and il dolce suono (lucia's mad scene) from lucia di lammermoor (donizetti). you can also hear some coloratura in more modern work like andrew lloyd webber's the phantom of the opera - christine and carlotta in particular, although that score isn't super coloratura-heavy. glitter and be gay is also a coloratura aria

sometimes people will refer to 'coloratura soprano' as a voice type - they generally mean 'lyric coloratura soprano,' which is just a lyric soprano with an agile voice. like i said, there is a biological component to how easy coloratura is for someone to learn (although it is a learnable skill, it's not an innate one), and sometimes people will use 'coloratura' as a label for a voice type to mean that voice is agile/well suited to coloratura singing

my wips as arias i've sung

i'm procrastinating on a project so here we go! this is all specifically arias, not art songs, because i had to narrow it down lol. also, many of these wips are Not in a position to be posted but they're vibes

dark lord wip: regnava nel silenzio from lucia di lammermoor. as i've said in the tags of posts about this series, let's get some donizetti up in this bitch!! long, somewhat macabre, and features the star of the show doing Way Too Fucking Much. also, set in scotland lmao

icarus wip: song to the moon from rusalka. it's about the yearning. also the retelling of a folk tale or myth. the lonely sense of appealing to the heavens

bitter roses wip: ach, ich fühl's from the magic flute. magical and driving towards death (even though that's not what happens in the opera). ends not with a bang but with a grim prediction

silver lace wip: glitter and be gay from candide. flashy and fun, but the meter changes around on you and you might get hit with phrases you don't expect. also, JEWELRY AND GLITTER

[opera-ghosts]

This is another 140 years old original castlist from the Royal Opera Covent Garden 1884. Meyerbeers Opera „Les Huguenots“ Look this great cast! 

[herstoriies]

Despite Diva!Priscilla’s vocal range during her prime in the opera Fach system is Lyric Soprano (Mimi, Countess Almaviva, Pamina) & Dramatic Coloratura (Queen of the Night, Violetta, Lucia)…

I like to imagine our darling operatic songbird had some fun & unexpected roles along the way as well.

While re-listening to Le Nozze Di Figaro again… and given Priscilla’s penchant for donning pants …

I think she would have made a great Cherubino. A “pants role” where a woman plays the role of a teenage boy in an opera xD Cherubino is such a funny role in the opera and is always at the wrong place at the wrong time! (sound familiar?)

Maybe early in her career while she was still Soubrette and she was an understudy for Susanna (Figaro’s fiancée in the same opera)… the show must go on happened and she stepped in for a very unexpected cover for a mezzo-soprano playing Cherubino and without an understudy.

[mariacallous]

A Sword & a Caress. Few rate the Callas voice as opera's sweetest or most beautiful. It has its ravishing moments. In quiet passages, it warms and caresses the air. In ensembles, it cuts through the other voices like a Damascus blade, clean and strong. But after the first hour of a performance, it tends to become strident, and late in a hard evening, begins to take on a reverberating quality, as if her mouth were full of saliva. But the special quality of the Callas voice is not tone. It is the extraordinary ability to carry, as can no other, the inflections and nuances of emotion, from mordant intensity to hushed delicacy. Callas' singing always seems to have a surprise in reserve. With the apparently infinite variety of her vocal inflections, she can keep the listener's ear constantly on edge for a twist of an emotional phrase, constantly delighted by a new and unexpected flick of vocal excitement. Quite apart from the quality of her voice, her technique is phenomenal. The product of the relentless discipline that characterizes everything she does, it enables her to ignore the conventional boundaries of soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto as if they had never been created. She can negotiate the trills and arabesques of coloraturas as easily as she trumpets out a stinging dramatic climax. Like her operatic sisters of a century ago, La Callas can sing anything written for the female voice. Because of her, La Scala has revived some operas (Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, Verdi's Sicilian Vespers, Cherubini's Medea) that it had not staged for years because no modern diva could carry them off. Blood & Tears. As actress. Callas is more exciting than any singer has a right to be. Her acting takes the form of a flashing eye that petrifies an emotion, a sudden rigidity that shouts of a breaking heart, a homicidal wish or a smoldering passion ("It takes nerve to stand still"). Callas' style of movement on stage strangely resembles the striding and lurching of the hamhearted operatic actress, but she moves so gracefully, so alluringly, with such authority, that even opera's baroque gestures take on breathtaking conviction. In her first Aida at La Scala in 1950, she startled the crowd by stalking about like a hungry leopard instead of taking the usual stately stance for her Act III duet. In the death scene of Fedora, in which sopranos tend to expire stiffly on a divan, Callas staggers from it, sags to her knees, drags herself up, crawls towards her lover's room, collapses again before she finally rolls down and dies. In Norma she has cried real tears. Operagoers, long reconciled to the classic, three-gesture range of other prima donnas, are astounded and delighted.

Music: The Prima Donna, Monday, Oct. 29, 1956 issue of Time Magazine

[joansutherlandfan]

#tbt Back to 1977, after a concert with mezzo Huguette in Netherlands, Joan was received by the Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and her husband Pieter Van Vollenhoven.

[kerfluffel]

As a fellow opera enjoyer, I've been wondering: do you have opera voice type "headcanons" for your ocs? And do you want an excuse to share them?

YES! i do actually! sorry, this took a little longer to answer because i wanted to draw little headshots of the others because they Lack Proper Refs at the moment— and it’s just nice to put a face to a name!

yap warning ‼️ starting with cecilia, she’s a soprano. obviously. one look at her story and it just YELLS tragic soprano lead. maybe a coloratura soprano? i could also see her having some pretty cool rage arias.

just look at her. the face of a girl capable of rage arias.

next i have the three girls from “letters to maya”!!! i see maya as being a mezzosoprano honestly, nothing specific pointing toward it, just just vibes based. vera actually has a canon voice type, she’s a contralto, and she actually wanted to take up the operatic path at one point— but ended up continuing with ballet because of her parents’ choices earlier in her life. i’m actually not sure about lilou. maybe a mezzo as well?

from left to right, maya, vera and lilou :)

as for the sisters of „final cries to a tainted heart”, i see circe as a mezzo and amalia as a soubrette!

unfortunately i’m currently redesigning their color palettes but here they are!

this is such a fun ask…. i do have more ocs but they’re not in a story (avery, affy) or they are merely a concept right now (duchess prone to conniptions who STILL remains nameless at the moment.)

[princesssarisa]

Fancasts for "An Eternal Crown: The Opera"

I'm being silly now and imagining what it would be like if my gender-bent Magic Flute retelling, An Eternal Crown, were adapted as an opera itself. It could be a "jukebox opera," consisting partly of music from The Magic Flute transposed, and partly of other music – for example, some of Handel's florid bass arias to take the place of the Queen of the Night's arias for King Vorteyo.

Sarisa and Zeran's voices I imagine as essentially Pamina's and Tamino's, since they are those two in reverse: a lyric soprano and a light lyric tenor. Lorikeet I can't help but imagine as a lyric coloratura. Vorteyo would be a bass, Alesta and Imara both motherly mezzos, Kimzi one of those roles like Zerlina that can be sung either by a soprano or a light mezzo, and Robin a lyric baritone. The Three Warriors I picture as a "heroic" Italian-style spinto tenor, and a baritone and bass in more of a Mozartean vein.

These are some of the singers I think might have been good in the roles in different eras:

An Eternal Crown: The Opera, circa 1960-1965

Sarisa: Irmgard Seefried or Gundula Janowitz

Zeran: Fritz Wunderlich or Nicolai Gedda

Lorikeet: Lucia Popp

King Vorteyo: Cesare Siepi

Alesta: Maureen Forrester

Kimzi: Teresa Berganza or Graziella Sciutti

Robin: Hermann Prey or Theodor Uppman

Imara: Marga Höffgen

Three Warriors: Giuseppe di Stefano, Eberhard Wächter, Fernando Corena

An Eternal Crown: The Opera, circa 1980-1985

Sarisa: Ileana Cotrubas

Zeran: Francisco Araiza or Peter Schreier

Lorikeet: Kathleen Battle

King Vorteyo: James Morris

Alesta: Marilyn Horne

Kimzi: Teresa Stratas

Robin: Håkan Hagegård, or a young Alessandro Corbelli

Imara: Janet Baker

Three Warriors: José Carreras, Thomas Allen, Samuel Ramey

An Eternal Crown: The Opera, circa 2000-2005

Sarisa: Ana María Martínez or Dorothea Röschmann

Zeran: Charles Castronovo

Lorikeet: Diana Damrau

King Vorteyo: Samuel Ramey

Alesta: Denyce Graves

Kimzi: Cecilia Bartoli

Robin: Rolando Villazón (it could have been an early light baritone foray for him)

Imara: Stephanie Blythe

Three Warriors: José Cura, Simon Keenlyside, Ildebrando d’Arcangelo

I'll think of more in the future.