- published: 11 Jan 2016
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Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C (F3 in scientific pitch notation) to the second G above middle C (G5), although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C (E3) or the second B♭ above middle C (B♭5).
"Contralto" is meaningful only in reference to classical and operatic singing, as other genres lack a system of vocal categorization comparable to that generally accepted in the classical context. Even within current operatic practice, contraltos are often classed as mezzo-sopranos, because singers in each range can cover for those in the other. When appearing separately, the term "contralto" applies only to female singers; men whose voices fall in the same range or higher are known as "countertenors." The Italian terms "contralto" and "alto" are not synonymous, the latter technically denoting a specific vocal range in choral singing without regard to factors like tessitura, vocal timbre, vocal facility, and vocal weight.
Eula Beal (January 25, 1919 – July 29, 2008) was an American contralto. During her relatively short touring career, she performed with distinguished collaborators not only in concert on the US West Coast but also in Concert Magic, a 1947 film billed as "the first motion picture concert."
Beal was born in Riverside, California. Touring the United States as a concert contralto in the 1940s, she appeared with orchestras including the Phoenix Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. With the latter ensemble, she performed in two works by Gustav Mahler: his Eighth Symphony, under Eugene Ormandy at the Hollywood Bowl, and Kindertotenlieder. Beal's operatic appearances included impersonations of Erda in Wagner's Siegfried and the innkeeper in Boris Godunov with the San Francisco Opera during the 1948 season. She also sang at Radio City Music Hall and the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Pops.
Beal's present fame rests on her participation in Concert Magic, an unscripted film presenting, as the title would suggest, a classical concert. Beal was the sole vocalist; instrumentalists included pianists Adolph Baller, Jakob Gimpel, and Marguerite Campbell; violinist Yehudi Menuhin; and an orchestra billed as "Symphony Orchestra of Hollywood" under the baton of Antal Dorati. Interspersed with purely instrumental selections, Beal performed the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria"; Franz Schubert's "Erlkönig" and "Ave Maria"; Tchaikovsky's "None but the lonely heart"; and "Lord, Have Mercy on Me" from the St. Matthew Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Actors: Giorgio Ferrero (writer), Giorgio Ferrero (director), Giorgio Ferrero (composer), Giorgio Ferrero (producer), Giorgio Ferrero (actor), Rodolfo Mongitore (composer), Rodolfo Mongitore (writer), Federico Biasin (director), Rodolfo Mongitore (actor), Federico Biasin (producer), Federico Biasin (writer), Federico Biasin (editor), Tommaso Bertani (writer), Tommaso Bertani (producer), Benedetta Ravicchio (actor),
Plot: The reverberation chamber, this tremendous, unfamiliar space, moves those who walk over its threshold into an overflow of mystical awe.Yet it is but a measuring tool for those who explore the boundaries of the physics of sound. Unbeknownst to us, the reverberation chamber is an obligatory rite of passage for most of the objects we use in our daily lives. The film is based on the interaction between the almost-holy, aesthetic elevation of a once-off musical performance that can only be played within the chamber, and the sheer mathematical aloofness of its 'priest'.
Genres: Documentary, Music, Short,Actors: Francisco Araiza (actor), James Galway (actor), Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz (actress), Michala Petri (actress), Nathalie Stutzmann (actress), Ruth Käch (director), Hanne Petri (actress), Enoch zu Guttenberg (actor), Dietrich Lehmstedt (director), Maria Graf (actress), Hubert Huber (actor),
Genres: Documentary, Music,Actors: Steve Eveleigh (editor), Colin Wilson (producer), Rodney Greenberg (director), Lucia Popp (actress), Yehuda Fickler (producer), Mischa Maisky (actor), Eva Randová (actress), Josef Protschka (actor), Jirí Belohlávek (actor), Peter Mikulas (actor), Marie-Luise Maintz (miscellaneous crew), Ivan Zenatý (actor), Igor Ardasev (actor), Libor Pesek (actor), Petr Altrichter (actor),
Plot: A series of six concerts by the quintessential Czech composer Antonin Dvorák. The Prague Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of The Prague Philharmonic Choir are led by three international Czech conductors and a cast of guest solists. Concert Five features Dvorák's Cello Concerto Op.104, one of his finest works and the perennial favorite Synphony No.9 Op.95 "From The New World".
Genres: Drama, Music, Romance,Actors: Agatha Christie (writer), Roy Boulting (director), Richard Pearson (actor), Joan Hickson (actress), Victor Maddern (actor), Gerald Sim (actor), John Arnatt (actor), Michael Culver (actor), Gordon Rollings (actor), Patsy Smart (actress), Hilary Mason (actress), Andrew Bicknell (actor), Graham Walker (editor), George Gallaccio (miscellaneous crew), Ken Howard (composer),
Plot: Her old friend Maude Calthrop, wife of the village vicar, summons Miss Marple when several of the local residents receive a poison pen letter. All of the recipients thus far are men and all are accused of some act of moral turpitude. When the local solicitor's wife, Angela Symington, is found dead with a poison pen letter at her side, the coroner rules that she took her own life. Not surprisingly, Jane Marple disagrees and is convinced it was murder. When a second villager is killed, it appears Miss Marple is correct. She also deduces the real purpose of the letters.
Keywords: agatha-christie, alcoholic-drink, amateur-detective, based-on-novel, bicycle, blackmail, book, brother, cane, churchActors: Charles Jennens (writer), Emma Kirkby (actress), Christopher Hogwood (actor), Christopher Hogwood (actor), David Thomas (actor), Roy Tipping (director), Carolyn Watkinson (actress), Peter Francis (editor), Judith Nelson (actress), John Hearne (costume designer), Paul Elliott (actor),
Genres: Documentary, Music,Actors: Walter Berry (actor), Peter Schreier (actor), Julia Hamari (actress), Siegmund Nimsgern (actor), Siegmund Nimsgern (actor), Siegmund Nimsgern (actor), Siegmund Nimsgern (actor), Horst Laubenthal (actor), Helen Donath (actress), Münchener Bach-Chor (actor), Karl Richter (actor), Münchener Bach-Orchester (actor), Ernst Gerold Schramm (actor),
Genres: Music,Actors: Peter Jones (producer), David Bairstow (director), Rex Tasker (editor), Maureen Forrester (actress), Calvin Sieb (actor), Elizabeth Benson Guy (actress), Glenn Schnittke (actor), James Ranti (actor), Jan Simons (actress),
Genres: Short,