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Contralto
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In music, a contralto is a type of classical female singing voice with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. The term is used to refer to the deepest female singing voice. The typical contralto range lies between the F below middle C (F3) to two Fs above middle C (F5). In the lower and upper extremes, some contralto voices can sing from the E below middle C (E3) to two Bs above middle C (B5). The contralto voice has the lowest tessitura of the female voices and is noted for its rich and deep vocal timbre.
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Encyclopedia
In music, a contralto is a type of classical female singing voice with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. The term is used to refer to the deepest female singing voice. The typical contralto range lies between the F below middle C (F3) to two Fs above middle C (F5). In the lower and upper extremes, some contralto voices can sing from the E below middle C (E3) to two Bs above middle C (B5). The contralto voice has the lowest tessitura of the female voices and is noted for its rich and deep vocal timbre. 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.
The term contralto is not synonymous with the term alto which designates a specific part within choral music and is not a voice type. Technically, "alto" is only a separate category in choral music where it refers simply to the vocal range and does not consider factors like vocal tessitura, vocal timbre, vocal facility, and vocal weight. For information regarding non-classical singers see Voice classification in non-classical music.
Although both men and women may have voices in the contralto vocal range, the word is always used in the context of a female singer. Men singing in the contralto, mezzo-soprano, or soprano range are called countertenors.
Contraltos are fairly rare in opera, since there is very little work that was written specifically for them. Most of the time, contralto roles are limited to maids, mothers and grandmothers, but they do occasionally get notable roles, often playing female villains such as witches or playing male figures that were originally intended to be performed by castrato singers. "A common saying among contraltos is that they're only allowed to play 'witches', 'bitches', or 'britches'."
To hear an example of a contralto (Ewa Podles in the role of La Cieca from La Gioconda) click on .
Contralto roles in operas
The following is a list of examples of contralto roles in the standard operatic repertoire.
- Art Banker, Facing Goya (Michael Nyman)
- Auntie, landlady of The Boar, Peter Grimes (Britten)*
- Azucena, Il Trovatore (Verdi)*
- The Baroness, Vanessa (Barber)
- La Cieca, La Gioconda (Ponchielli)
- Erda, Das Rheingold, Siegfried (Wagner)
- Madame Flora, The Medium (Gian-Carlo Menotti)
- Katisha, The Mikado (Gilbert and Sullivan)
- Klytemnestra, Elektra (Strauss)*
- Maddalena, Rigoletto (Verdi)*
- Mama Lucia, Cavalleria Rusticana (Pietro Mascagni)
- Malcolm, La donna del lago (Rossini)*
- Mary, Der fliegende Holländer (Wagner)
- Olga, Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky)*
- Orfeo, Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck) — trouser role
- Lel, The Snow Maiden (Rimsky-Korsakov)
- Didone, Egisto (Cavalli)
- Pauline, The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky)
- La Principessa, Suor Angelica (Puccini)
- Ruth The Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert and Sullivan)
- Ulrica, Un ballo in maschera (Verdi)
- Widow Begbick, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Kurt Weill)
* : Indicates a role that may also be sung by a mezzo-soprano.
Notable contraltos
Classical and operatic contraltos are singers who have regularly performed unamplified classical or operatic music in concert halls and/or opera houses. Some of the most notable of all historic and contemporary contraltos include:
See also
Further reading
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