The mezzo soprano voice is the female voice type that fits between soprano and contralto. Less often to be found in a leading operatic role than a soprano, the mezzo is known more for character roles. Within the operatic world, this is summed up in the whimsical phrase that mezzos mostly play ‘witches, bitches and boys’.
What is a Mezzo Soprano Voice
The mezzo voice is a mid-pitched voice in the female range. It is said to have a characteristically warm, rich sound, although there are those voices that also have a bright, more brilliant quality.
There is a frequently held misconception that a mezzo is a singer who has failed to extend her range to either the higher or lower extremes. This is fueled to some extent by the number of singers who have begun their careers singing mezzo repertoire and then ‘gone up’ and moved into soprano role. In recent times, two well-known singers who have done this are New Zealand’s Kiri te Kanawa and Italy’s Cecilia Bartoli.
Frequently, when young women start to have classical vocal training, they learn mezzo repertoire, as the tessitura – or average pitch – of mezzo arias and songs lie in the middle of a young voice. As voice and technique mature, the voice will settle into its true place and the singer will have her vocal identity.
Top Mezzo Soprano Roles
Only rarely cast in the lead role, the mezzo is more often to be found in a supporting role. A friend of the heroine, the villainess or sometimes one of the younger male characters.
Perhaps one of the best known mezzo roles is Bizet’s Carmen in the opera of the same name. She is a classic mezzo female character – dramatic, emotional, infinitely complex and full of fire. Her show stopping aria, T he Habanera , is a piece that is well known, even by non opera goers, as it has been used so frequently in television and movie soundtracks and advertising as to become ubiquitous.
Among other mezzo women are Delilah, in the Saint Saens opera, Samson et Dalila. Again, she is a complex woman of many layers, who is a major player in the drama of the story. In the coloratura style, the much loved character of Rosina in The Barber of Seville dazzles with her bubbly personality and accompanying ornamented and challenging vocal line.
In supporting roles, Ameris, in Verdi’s Aida is another strong character. As the daughter of the King of Egypt, she is not a slight figure, although she does not carry a leading role. Suzuki, in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, does not, sadly, have a solo aria. However, her quiet strength of character does much to provide the heroine, Cio Cio San, with consistent support in a world that has little stability.
Pants or Travesty Roles
One of the quirkiest, and challenging opportunities open to the mezzo singer is that of the pants roles, where young men and boys are played by women in drag. In two very different operatic styles, we see a mezzo in drag play a leading role: Count Orlovsky in Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus and Richard Strauss’s Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier.
Interestingly, Orlovsky, contrary to tradition, is a mature man, rather than the usual adolescent or very young man usually portrayed by women. So he poses particular challenges for the singer and requires a mezzo with a big, solid voice to carry the sense of the male character.
More typically, we see characters such as Mozart’s Cherubino from The Marriage of Figaro and Sextus and Annius, both from La Clemenza di Tito. These three characters are all very young – Cherubino being around fifteen years of age. It is less of a stretch for a woman, usually a younger singer, to portray a boy in this in between stage of maturity.
The mezzo soprano is not a voice of lesser quality or importance. A mezzo is not a failed soprano. This is a voice type in its own right that lends warmth and depth to a vocal ensemble and colour to many roles in the operatic repertoire.
Readers may also enjoy Travesty or Trouser Roles in Opera, Operatic Voice Types - The Soprano and Operatic Voice Types - The Contralto
Karen Finch - Karen is a Sydney based freelance writer, artist and musician. To learn more, click on her name to read her profile.
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