A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; Italian:[ˌmɛddzosoˈpraːno]; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4; 220–880 Hz). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) and as high as "high C" (C6, 1047 Hz). The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic.
Dido and Aeneas is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was composed no later than July 1688, and had been performed at Josias Priest's girls' school in London by the end of 1689. Some scholars argue for a date of composition as early as 1683. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid. It recounts the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. A monumental work in Baroque opera, Dido and Aeneas is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works. It was also Purcell's only true opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work. One of the earliest known English operas, it owes much to John Blow's Venus and Adonis, both in structure and in overall effect.
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson was an American mezzo-soprano. She was noted for her performances of both Baroque era and contemporary works. Her career path to becoming a singer was unconventional – formerly a professional violist, Lieberson did not shift her full-time focus to singing until she was in her thirties.
A soubrette is a female minor stock character in opera and theatre, often a pert lady's maid. By extension, the term can refer generally to any saucy or flirtatious young woman. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy".
Maria Louise Ewing was an American opera singer. In the early part of her career she performed solely as a lyric mezzo-soprano; she later assumed full soprano parts as well. Her signature roles were Blanche, Carmen, Dorabella, Rosina and Salome. Some critics regarded her as one of the most compelling singing actresses of her generation.
Buddug Verona James is a Welsh mezzo-soprano opera singer who studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the National Opera Studio and in Rome. She was born in Cardigan, Wales.
Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her baroque and classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by Wagner as well as various 20th-century composers. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to music.
LindaHayes Bennett is an American opera and classical singer, recording artist, neuroscientist and researcher in sensory therapies.
Margaret Harshaw was an American opera singer and voice teacher who sang for 22 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera from November 1942 to March 1964. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano in the early 1930s but then began performing roles from the soprano repertoire in 1950. She sang a total of 39 roles in 25 works at the Met and was heard in 40 of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. She was also active as a guest artist with major opera houses in Europe and North and South America.
Peter Anthony Togni is a freelance Canadian composer and broadcaster based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. "Togni's music is deeply felt, simply put, well-crafted and irradiated by a personal sense of the divine."
Tapestry Opera is a Canadian opera company located in Toronto, Ontario. According to its website, it is "the only Canadian company solely dedicated to the creation and performance of original Canadian opera". To date, the company has produced 18 full-length world premieres and 160 world premieres of opera shorts. It has been nominated for 61 Dora Mavor Moore Awards and won 20. It is Canada's largest producer of contemporary opera.
Barbara Smith Conrad was an American opera singer. A mezzo-soprano, she performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Nacional in Venezuela, and many others. She was also an educator, co-directing the Wagner Theater Program, which she co-founded, and maintaining a private studio as well as taking up multiple artist residencies.
The Elmer Iseler Singers is a professional chamber choir based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Pamela Dellal is an American mezzo-soprano in opera and concert, a musicologist and academic teacher. She has performed classical music from the medieval Hildegard von Bingen to contemporary. She is on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory, Brandeis University, and the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She is known for having translated all texts that Johann Sebastian Bach set to music.
Wallis Giunta is a Canadian mezzo-soprano opera singer and actress performing at leading theatres and opera companies around the world.
Catherine Robbin OC is a Canadian mezzo-soprano. She was elected an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011.
Patricia Johnson is an English operatic mezzo-soprano. She made an international career and is known for her dramatic voice and her stage presence. She appeared in leading roles of the repertory, such as Carmen and Eboli, and created new roles, such as the Baronin Grünwiesel in Henze's Der junge Lord, and the Princess in Nicolas Nabokov's Love's Labour's Lost.
Peter McGillivray is a Canadian operatic baritone and winner of the 2003 CBC/Radio-Canada Young Performers Competition. Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was raised in Newmarket, Ontario and attended the University of Toronto.
Isabelle Druet is a French operatic coloratura mezzo-soprano who has performed internationally. She began her career as an actress and co-founded a theatre company, La Carotte. She has performed in concert and recorded with the ensemble Le Poème Harmonique. On stage, she has performed at opera houses in Paris, Nancy, Lyon and Düsseldorf, among others.
Vasilisa Berzhanskaya is a Russian operatic mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses roles of the Italian bel canto of Rossini and Bellini, Mozart, Baroque music such as Vivaldi and Purcell, and roles from Russian opera, by composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky. Though Berzhanskaya is a mezzo-soprano, in the past she has sung roles ranging from dramatic coloratura soprano to contralto. As such, she has been described as possessing "a huge vocal range in which she display[s] impeccable coloratura."
