A mezzo-soprano (/ˈmɛtsoʊ/; [ˈmɛddzo]; meaning "medium" or "middle" "soprano" in Italian) is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A₃-A₅ in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C₄). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the G below middle C (G₃) and as high as "high C" (C₆).^[1]

While mezzo-sopranos generally have a heavier, darker tone than sopranos, the mezzo-soprano voice resonates in a higher range than that of a contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, after the names of famous singers. A castrato with a vocal range equivalent to a mezzo-soprano's range is referred to as a mezzo-soprano castrato or mezzista. Today, however, only women should be referred to as mezzo-sopranos; men singing within the female range are called countertenors.^[2] In current operatic practice, female singers with very low tessituras are often included among mezzo-sopranos, because singers in both ranges are able to cover the other, and true operatic contraltos are very rare.^[1] For information regarding non-classical mezzo-sopranos see Voice classification in non-classical music.

Mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas; notable exceptions include the title role in Bizet's Carmen, Angelina (Cinderella) in Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Rosina in Rossini's Barber of Seville (all of which are also sung by sopranos). Typical roles for mezzo-sopranos include the stereotypical triad associated with contraltos of "witches, bitches, and britches":^[3] witches, nurses, and wise women, such as Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore; villains and seductresses such as Amneris in Verdi's Aida; and "trouser" characters (male characters played by female singers) such as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Mezzo-sopranos are also well represented in baroque music, early music and baroque opera.^[1] However, there is a significant tradition in French-language operas of the 19th Century to give the leading female role to mezzos, as for example in Béatrice et Bénédict, La Damnation de Faust, Don Quichotte, La Favorite, Mignon, Samson et Dalila, Les Troyens, and Werther as well as Carmen.

Some roles designated for lighter soubrette sopranos are sung by mezzo sopranos, who often provide a fuller, more dramatic quality. Such roles include Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte and Zerlina in his Don Giovanni.^[4] Mezzos also sometimes play dramatic soprano roles such as Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth, and Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal.^[5]

In general mezzos are broken down into three categories: Coloratura mezzo-sopranos, Lyric mezzo-soprano, and Dramatic mezzo-sopranos.

Coloratura mezzo-soprano[link]

A coloratura mezzo-soprano has a warm lower register and an agile high register. The roles they sing often demand not only the use of the lower register but also leaps into the upper tessitura with highly ornamented, rapid passages. They have a range from approximately the G below middle C (G3) to the B two octaves above middle C (B5). Some coloratura mezzo-sopranos can sing up to high C (C6) or high D (D6), but this is very rare.^[1] What distinguishes these voices from being called sopranos is their extension into the lower register and warmer vocal quality. Although coloratura mezzo-sopranos have impressive and at times thrilling high notes, they are most comfortable singing in the middle of their range, rather than the top.^[5]

Many of the hero roles in the operas of Handel and Monteverdi, originally sung by male castrati, can be successfully sung today by coloratura mezzo-sopranos. Rossini demanded similar qualities for his comic heroines, and Vivaldi wrote roles frequently for this voice as well. Coloratura mezzo-sopranos also often sing lyric-mezzo soprano roles or soubrette roles.^[4]

[edit] Coloratura mezzo-soprano roles in opera and operettas^[5]

Denyce Graves in concert

Denyce Graves (born March 7, 1964 in Washington, D.C.) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer.

Early life[link]

Graves was born on March 7, 1964, to Charles Graves and Dorothy (Middleton) Graves-Kenner. She is the middle of three children and was raised by her mother on Galveston Street, S.W., in the Bellevue section of Washington.^[1] She graduated from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in 1981. Graves studied voice at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory.^[2] She worked at the Wolf Trap Opera Company, which provides further training and experience for young singers who are between their academic training and full-time professional careers. Soon after, she was invited by David Gockley to participate in the Houston Opera Studio from 1988-90 where she studied with Elena Nikolaidi.

Career[link]

She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1995^[1] and has appeared at many opera houses. Though her repertoire is extensive, her signature parts are the title roles in Carmen and Samson et Dalila. On January 20, 2005, she sang the patriotic song "American Anthem" during the 55th Presidential Inauguration, between the swearing-in ceremonies of Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush for their second terms in office.^[3]

Graves sang "America the Beautiful" and "The Lord's Prayer" at the Washington National Cathedral during a memorial service for the victims of 9/11 on September 14, 2001, attended by President Bush, members of Congress, other politicians and representatives of foreign governments.^[4]

In 2003, Graves performed in front of a live audience at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia for a television special, Denyce Graves: Breaking the Rules. In 2005, she hosted the radio show Voce di Donna (Voice of a Lady) on Vox!, the vocal classical music channel of XM Satellite Radio, on which she interviewed various opera singers. Graves often was heard on The Tony Kornheiser Show radio program with her rendition of the "Mailbag Theme".

She performed the opera Werther with Andrea Bocelli for the Michigan Opera Theatre, the first opera broadcast on the Internet in its entirety in 1999. She is currently an industry panelist on American Idol Underground.

On January 2, 2007, Graves performed "The Lord's Prayer" at the state funeral for Gerald Ford at the Washington National Cathedral.

Graves sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" as part of the pre-game ceremonies inaugurating Nationals Park.

On April 12, 2009, Graves performed a tribute concert to Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, organized by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. In May 2010, Graves performed a concert with tenor Lawrence Brownlee in the United States Supreme Court Building for the Supreme Court justices.^[5]

On the evening of September 11, 2011, Graves performed at the "Concert for Hope" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. That same year, she appeared as a Pennington Great Performers series artist with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.

Personal life[link]

In the late 1980's she was involved with tenor, Fernando del Valle, later, Graves married guitarist David Perry in 1990 and divorced in the early 2000s. She then had a relationship with French composer and clarinetist Vincent Thomas. After breaking up Graves discovered she was pregnant, something she thought was impossible because she had been told that fibroids and other conditions prevented her from getting pregnant and Thomas told her he had a vasectomy. In June 2004, she gave birth to Ella (named after Ella Fitzgerald) via emergency C-section in Paris.^[6] In June 2006, she met Robert Montgomery, a Johns Hopkins doctor, on an airplane from Dulles Airport to Paris.^[4] They were married on June 29, 2009, in a family-only affair. In August the couple travelled to Kenya for a tradition Maasai blessing and had a five-day wedding celebration in September that featured a kick-off party in a private airplane hangar, a rehearsal dinner at their home, a reception at the Anderson House in Dupont Circle, and a day-after picnic on the grounds of Duke Ellington High School.^[7] Montgomery is now the Chief of Transplant Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. The couple resides in Bethesda, Maryland.

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Denyce Graves
• allmusic.com biography

Joyce DiDonato (born February 13, 1969) is an award-winning American operatic mezzo-soprano particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of Handel, Mozart, and Rossini. DiDonato has performed with many of the world's leading opera companies and orchestras. In 2012 she won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo.

Early life and education[link]

Joyce DiDonato was born Joyce Flaherty in Prairie Village, Kansas in 1969, the sixth of seven children in a close-knit Irish-American family. She sang in choir and musicals in high school and dreamed of becoming a Broadway star or pop singer.^[1] DiDonato entered Wichita State University (WSU) in the autumn of 1988 where she studied vocal music education. She was initially more interested in teaching high school vocal music and musical theatre and did not become interested in opera until her junior year, when she was cast in a school production of Die Fledermaus.^[2] After graduating from WSU in the spring of 1992, DiDonato decided to pursue graduate studies in vocal performance at the Academy of Vocal Arts.^[3] Following her studies in Philadelphia, she was accepted in Santa Fe Opera's young artist program in 1995. While there she appeared in several minor roles and understudied for larger parts in such operas as Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Richard Strauss' Salome, Kálmán's Gräfin Mariza and the 1994 world premiere of David Lang's Modern Painters. DiDonato was honored as the Outstanding Apprentice Artist by the Santa Fe Opera that year. In 1996 she became a part of Houston Grand Opera's young artist program where she sang from the autumn of 1996 to the spring of 1998. During the summer of 1997, DiDonato participated in San Francisco Opera's Merola Program.^[4]

During her apprentice years, DiDonato competed in several notable vocal competitions. In 1996 she won second prize in the Eleanor McCollum Competition and was a district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 1997 she won a William Matheus Sullivan Award. In 1998 she won second prize in the Operalia Competition, first place in the Stewart Awards, won the George London Competition, and a received a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation.^[5]

Career[link]

DiDonato began her professional career in the 1998/1999 season singing with several regional opera companies in the United States. She most notably appeared as the main heroine, Maslova, in the world premiere of Tod Machover's Resurrection with the Houston Grand Opera.^[6] She gave a recital in San Francisco that year as part of the Schwabacher recital series.

In the 1999/2000 season, DiDonato performed the role of Meg in the world premiere of Mark Adamo's Little Women at Houston Grand Opera with Stephanie Novacek as Jo and Chad Shelton as Laurie. She performed the role of Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Santa Fe Opera and the role of Isabella in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri with the New Israeli Opera. In addition, DiDonato gave a recital at New York's Morgan Library under the auspices of the George London Foundation and sang the mezzo-soprano solos in the Seattle Symphony's production of Handel's Messiah.^[7]

In the 2000/2001 season, DiDonato made her debut at La Scala as Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola, returned to Houston Grand Opera as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte, and sang the mezzo-soprano solos in Bach's Mass in B minor with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and conductor John Nelson.^[7] In 2000, DiDonato received the ARIA (Awards Recognizing Individual Artistry) award, which annually recognized American "vocal artists of exceptional ability and undeniable promise".^[5]

In the 2001/2002 season DiDonato made her debut with Washington National Opera as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte, her debut with De Nederlandse Opera as Sesto in Handel's Giulio Cesare, her debut with Opéra National de Paris as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, her debut with Bavarian State Opera as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro under the baton of Zubin Mehta, and returned to Santa Fe Opera to perform the role of Annio in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito. She made several concert appearances including performances of Vivaldi's Gloria with Riccardo Muti and the La Scala Orchestra and Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. In 2002, DiDonato was given the Richard Tucker Award.^[5]

In the 2002/2003 season, DiDonato made her debut with the New York City Opera as Sister Helen in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, her debut with Théâtre du Châtelet in the title role of Rossini's La cenerentola, her debut at Covent Garden as Zlatohrbitek the fox in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen under the baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and her debut with the New National Theatre Tokyo as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. She performed the title role in Rossini's Adina at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and the role of Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Opéra Bastille. In concert, DiDonato performed Mozart's Requiem with the Seattle Symphony, Berlioz's Les nuits d'été with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, and made her Carnegie Hall debut in a production of Bach's Mass in B Minor with the Orchestra of St. Luke's under the baton of Peter Schreier. She toured Europe with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre in performances of Les nuits d'été.^[8] In 2003 DiDonato was the recipient of New York City Opera's Richard Gold Debut Award

In the 2003/2004 season, DiDonato made her debut with the San Francisco Opera as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and reprised the role with Houston Grand Opera. She performed Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo with De Nederlandse Opera and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. She sang the role of Ascanio in a concert performance of Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini with the Orchestre National de France and appeared in solo recitals at the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Kansas City's Folly Theater, and Wigmore Hall among others. She sang at the Hollywood Bowl in a production of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.^[8]

In the 2004/2005 season, DiDonato made her debut with the Grand Théâtre de Genève as Elisabetta in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda. She returned to La Scala in the role of Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola and once again played Rosina in a new production of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia by Luca Ronconi at the Pesaro Festival and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.^[7]

In the 2005/2006 season, DiDonato made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and played Stéphano in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Met. She returned to the Royal Opera House as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, sang her first Sesto in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito with Grand Théâtre de Genève, and sang the role of Dejanira in Handel's Hercules at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and at the Barbican Centre in London with William Christie (musician). In addition, DiDonato appeared in several concerts with the New York Philharmonic and gave a recital at Wigmore Hall in London. She closed the Santa Fe Opera's 50th anniversary season in the title role of Massenet's Cendrillon.^[7] In 2006, DiDonato was given the Royal Philharmonic Society Singer Award.

In the 2006/2007 season, DiDonato debuted at the Teatro Real as the Composer in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, returned to the Opéra National de Paris as Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo, and returned to Houston Grand Opera as Angelina in La Cenerentola. She sang Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Metropolitan Opera and sang her first Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier with the San Francisco Opera. She toured the U.S. and Europe on an extensive recital tour with accompianist Julius Drake.^[9] DiDonato won the Metropolitan Opera's Beverly Sills Award in 2007.^[10]

In the 2007/2008 season, DiDonato debuted at the Liceu as Angelina in La Cenerentola and at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. She sang the title role in Handel's Alcina with Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco and the title role in Handel's Ariodante at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. She sang Roméo in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Opéra Bastille and returned to Madrid's Teatro Real as Idamante in Idomeneo in July 2008. DiDonato also gave recitals at La Scala, Lincoln Center, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and performed a special concert of Handel arias which was recorded in Brussels.^[9][11]

In the 2008/2009 season, DiDonato returned to Covent Garden as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni and as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. In a performance of that opera on July 7, DiDonato slipped onstage and broke her right fibula; she finished the first act hobbling and the rest of the performance on crutches. She then performed the five remaining scheduled performances from a wheelchair.^[12] She will be performing the roles of Beatrice in Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict with Houston Grand Opera, Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo with Opéra National de Paris, and Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia in her debut with Vienna State Opera. DiDonato also appeared in concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the latter of which under the baton of James Levine. She also toured Europe and the United States with Les Talens Lyriques giving concerts of Handel arias; including performances at Wigmore Hall and the Rossini Opera Festival.^[13]

In October 2010, DiDonato won the Klassik Echo Award as Singer of the Year.^[14]

DiDonato sang the role of Isolier in Rossini's Le comte Ory with the Metropolitan Opera in April 2011.

At the 54th Grammy Awards on February 12th, 2012, the Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Solo was awarded to DiDonato for her solo recording Diva Divo.^[15]

In 2012, DiDonato was voted into Gramophone Magazine's Hall of Fame.^[16]

In April 2012, DiDonato sang the role of Mary Stuart in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda with the Houston Grand Opera.^[17]

Personal life[link]

DiDonato is married to Italian conductor Leonardo Vordoni with whom she lives in Kansas City, Missouri. She was married once previously and continues to use her first husband's surname professionally.^[3]

Opera roles[link]