List of operatic contraltos
Encyclopedia
Contralto
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 to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
voice in opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and classical music has a range which typically 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
Tessitura
In music, the term tessitura generally describes the most musically acceptable and comfortable range for a given singer or, less frequently, musical instrument; the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding texture or timbre...
of the female voices and is noted for its rich and deep vocal timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
. True operatic contraltos are very rare. The following is a list of contralto singers who have regularly performed unamplified classical or operatic music in concert halls and/or opera houses.
A-L
- Eunice AlbertsEunice AlbertsEunice Alberts is an American contralto who had an active career as a concert soloist and opera singer during the 1950s through the 1980s. She began her career as a concert soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the young age of 19 and quickly became a lauded oratorio singer during the late...
(1927-) - Marietta AlboniMarietta AlboniMarietta Alboni was a renowned Italian contralto opera singer. Together with the charismatic Maria Malibran, she was considered the greatest deeper-voiced female singer of the nineteenth century.-Biography:...
(1826–1894) - Marian AndersonMarian AndersonMarian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
(1897–1993) - Fanny AnitùaFanny AnitùaFanny Anitúa was a renowned Mexican contralto opera singer.-History:Anitùa initially studied singing in her native city, moving afterward to Mexico City, and later to Rome. She debuted at Teatro Nazionale in Rome in 1910, singing the role of Orfeo from the eponymous Christoph Willibald Gluck opera...
(1887–1969) - Eula BealEula BealEula Beal 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...
(1919–2008) - Marianne BrandtMarianne Brandt (contralto)Marianne Brandt was an Austrian operatic singer with an international reputation.She was born as Marie Bischof in Vienna and was educated at the music conservatory in that city. She first attracted attention on stage in 1867 as Recha in La Juive and soon afterward accepted an engagement at the...
(1842–1921) - Karin BranzellKarin BranzellKarin Branzell was a Swedish operatic contralto , who had a prominent career at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and in Europe. Her very wide range enabled her to sing both contralto roles and the occasional soprano role...
(1891-1974) - Muriel BrunskillMuriel BrunskillMuriel Brunskill was an English contralto of the mid-twentieth century. Her career included concert, operatic and recital performance from the early 1920s until the 1950s...
(1899–1980) - Clara ButtClara ButtDame Clara Ellen Butt DBE , sometimes called Clara Butt-Rumford after her marriage, was an English contralto with a remarkably imposing voice and a surprisingly agile singing technique. Her main career was as a recitalist and concert singer.-Early life and career:Clara Butt was born in Southwick,...
(1872–1936) - Lili ChookasianLili ChookasianLili Chookasian is an American contralto who has appeared with many of the world's major symphony orchestras and opera houses. She began her career in the 1940s as a concert singer but did not draw wider acclaim until she began singing opera in her late thirties...
(1921–) - Belle ColeBelle ColeBelle Cole was a well-known American contralto.She first achieved success while on a transcontinental tour of the United States with Theodore Thomas in 1883. She later sang in England, performing at The Crystal Palace and many other venues. In 1901, she toured Australia. It is said that musical...
(1845–1905) - Kate CondonKate CondonKate Condon was an American contralto who sang in light and grand operas over the early decades of the twentieth century.-Early Life:...
(1877-1941) - Clorinda CorradiClorinda CorradiClorinda Corradi was an Italian opera singer and one of the most famous contraltos in history.-Life:...
(1804-1877) - Kathleen FerrierKathleen FerrierKathleen Mary Ferrier CBE was an English contralto who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the classical works of Bach, Brahms, Mahler and Elgar...
(1912–1953) - Maureen ForresterMaureen ForresterMaureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, was a Canadian operatic contralto.-Life and career:Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in a poor section of Montreal, Quebec. She was one of four children to Thomas Forrester, a Scottish cabinetmaker, and his Irish-born wife, the former May Arnold. She...
(1930–2010) - Louise HomerLouise HomerLouise Homer was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. After a brief stint as a vaudeville entertainer in New England, she made her professional opera debut in France in 1898...
(1871–1947) - Alexandra Kroutikova (1851—1919)
- Gisela LitzGisela LitzGisela Litz was a German contralto. She sang frequently at the Bayreuth Festival. A recording is available of her singing as one of the Rhinemaidens in Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by Clemens Krauss in 1953....
(1922–) - Louise Kirkby LunnLouise Kirkby LunnLouise Kirkby Lunn was an English contralto. Sometimes classified as a mezzo-soprano, she was a leading English-born singer of the first two decades of the 20th century, earning praise for her performances in concert, oratorio and opera.-Training:Kirkby Lunn had her early vocal training in her...
(1873–1930) - Marie-Nicole LemieuxMarie-Nicole LemieuxMarie-Nicole Lemieux is a Canadian contralto. She first came to the world's attention in 2000 when she became the first Canadian to win first prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Belgium...
(1975-) - Anna LarssonAnna LarssonAnna Larsson is a Swedish contralto. Her international debut was made with the Berlin Philharmonic and the conductor Claudio Abbado in a performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in 1997...
M-Z
- Adelaide MalanotteAdelaide MalanotteAdelaide Malanotte was an Italian operatic contralto who performed in major opera houses in Italy from 1806–1821. She is best known for creating the title role in the world premiere of Gioachino Rossini's Tancredi in 1813. After her marriage, she performed under the name Adelaide Montresor...
(1785–1832) - Bernadette Manca di NissaBernadette Manca di NissaBernadette Manca di Nissa is an Italian operatic contralto who has sung leading roles in the principal opera houses of Italy as well as internationally...
(1954-) - Marietta MarcoliniMarietta MarcoliniMarietta Marcolini was an Italian operatic contralto.Marcolini was born in Florence. The date of her stage debut is unknown but she was appearing in Venice in 1800...
(c. 1780 - date of death unknown) - Margaret Matzenauer (1881-1963)
- Antonia MerighiAntonia MerighiAntonia Margherita Merighi was an Italian contralto active between 1711 and 1744 and particularly known today for her performances in operas by George Frideric Handel.-Biography:...
(died 1764) - Sara MingardoSara MingardoSara Mingardo is an Italian classical contralto who has had an active international career in concerts and operas since the 1980s. Her complete recording of Anna in Hector Berlioz's Les Troyens won a Gramophone Award and both the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording and the Grammy Award for Best...
(1961-) - Sigrid OnéginSigrid OnéginSigrid Onégin was a Franco-German operatic contralto who enjoyed a major international career prior to World War II . She was born in Stockholm, Sweden to a German father and a French mother....
(1889–1943) - Rosmunda PisaroniBenedetta Rosmunda PisaroniBenedetta Rosmunda Pisaroni was an Italian soprano who later became a contralto.Active on the operatic stage from 1811 to 1831, she suffered of smallpox in the early years of her career which caused a change in her extended vocal range.Appearing in Bergamo, Padua, Bologna, Venice, Milan, Rome and...
(1793-1872) - Ewa PodleśEwa PodlesEwa Podleś is an internationally celebrated Polish coloratura contralto with a very wide vocal range and great vocal agility....
(1952–) - Marie PowersMarie PowersMarie Powers was an American contralto who was best known for her performance as Madame Flora in Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium, a role that she played on stage, screen and television....
(1902–1973) - Sonia PrinaSonia PrinaSonia Prina is an Italian operatic contralto who has had an active career in concerts and operas since the mid 1990s. She is particularly known for her appearances in Baroque operas and for her performances of the Baroque concert repertoire...
- Geltrude RighettiGeltrude RighettiGeltrude Righetti was an Italian contralto closely associated with the operas of Gioachino Rossini....
(1793-1862) - Anastasia RobinsonAnastasia RobinsonAnastasia Robinson was an English soprano, later contralto, of the Baroque era. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas she sang.-Early life and initial career:...
(c. 1692–1755) - Sofia ScalchiSofia ScalchiSofia Scalchi was an Italian operatic contralto who could also sing in the mezzo-soprano range. Her career was international, and she appeared at leading theatres in both Europe and America.-Singing career:...
(1850-1922) - Ernestine Schumann-HeinkErnestine Schumann-HeinkErnestine Schumann-Heink was a celebrated Austrian, later American, operatic contralto, noted for the size, beauty, tonal richness, flexibility and wide range of her voice.- Early life:...
(1861–1936) - Annice SidwellsAnnice SidwellsAnnice Sidwells was a star of early wireless radio in the UK as a contralto singer. Her talent betrayed the meager settings of an amateur operatic society in a remote Yorkshire market town, and Sidwells became a star of the early radio broadcasts of the BBC.Sidwells married Matt Haygarth—a...
(1902–2001) - Monica SinclairMonica SinclairMonica Sinclair was a British operatic contralto, who sang many roles with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden during the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared on stage and in recordings with Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Malcolm Sargent, and many others...
(1925-2002) - Nathalie StutzmannNathalie StutzmannNathalie Stutzmann is a contemporary opera singer, renowned for her contralto voice.Born in Suresnes, France, 1965, she first studied with her mother , then at Nantes Conservatoire and later, at the Ecole d’Art Lyrique de l’Opéra de Paris, focusing on lied, under Hans Hotter's tutelage...
(1965–) - Hilary SummersHilary SummersHilary Summers is a Welsh contralto. She was trained at Reading University, the Royal Academy of Music, and the National Opera Studio in London. She has performed on soundtracks such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Libertine, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
- Vittoria TesiVittoria TesiVittoria Tesi was an Italian opera singer and music teacher of the 18th century. Her vocal range was that of a contralto....
(1700–1775) - Kerstin ThorborgKerstin ThorborgKerstin Thorborg Born in Venjan, Sweden, the contralto Kerstin Thorborg was one of the best dramatic Wagnerian singers in the two decades between 1930 and 1950. She made her debut in 1924 singing the difficult role of Ortrud. Eight years later, the famed conductor Bruno Walter engaged her for the...
(1896-1970) - Claramae TurnerClaramae TurnerClaramae Turner is an American opera singer. She is perhaps best known for singing You'll Never Walk Alone and some of June Is Bustin' Out all Over in the musical film Carousel, adapted from the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical of the same name.Born in Dinuba, California, she was a contralto...
(1920-) - Francesca Vanini-BoschiFrancesca Vanini-BoschiFrancesca Vanini-Boschi was an Italian contralto singer of the 18th century. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, whom she sung for at both Italy and London, though she also sang in operas by Alessandro Scarlatti and Giovanni Bononcini. She...
(date of birth unknown -1744) - Lucia Elizabeth VestrisLucia Elizabeth VestrisLucia Elizabeth Vestris was an English actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in Mozart and Rossini works. While popular in her time, she was more notable as a theatre producer and manager...
(1797–1856) - Helen WattsHelen WattsHelen Watts CBE was a Welsh contralto. She was born at Wales in Milford Haven and educated at the School of S. Mary and S. Anne, Abbots Bromley and the Royal Academy of Music. She began her career with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, and was a regular broadcaster on the Welsh Home Service...
(1927-2009)
See also
- SingingSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Voice typeVoice typeA voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types...
- Vocal rangeVocal rangeVocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
- List of contraltos in non-classical music
Sources
Celletti, R.Rodolfo Celletti
Rodolfo Celletti was an Italian musicologist, critic, voice teacher, and novelist. Considered one of the leading scholars of the operatic voice and the history of operatic performance, he published many books and articles on the subject as well as several novels.-Biography:Rodolfo Celletti was...
(2000). La grana della voce. Opere, direttori e cantanti (2nd edition). Roma, Baldini & Castoldi. ISBN 88-80-89-781-0
- Hall, Charles, J., Chronology of Western Classical Music: 1751-1900, Taylor & Francis, 2002. ISBN 0-415-94216-0
- Jander, Owen; Steane, J. B.; Forbes, Elizabeth; Harris, Ellen T., "Contralto", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy. Accessed 4 November 2009 via subscription)
- Myers, Eric, "Sweet and Low: the Case of the Vanishing Contralto", Opera NewsOpera NewsOpera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
, Vol. LXI, December 1996, pp. 18–21 - Rutherford, Susan, The prima donna and opera, 1815-1930, Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-521-85167-X