Reviews: Mozart's Opera's: A Companion by Mary Hunter

[rosemaryinwheat]

Mozart's Opera's: A Companion by Mary Hunter

Published in 2008
ISBN: 978-0-300-11833-9

Rating: Liked it (4/5)
A reporter for the Vienna Realzeitung noted that the first performance [of Le nozze di Figaro] was not as good as it could have been due to the unusual difficulty of the music, that the less-musically-educated majority of the audience was

Comments

[17catherines]

Well, I'm allegedly a mezzo soprano and I've been singing low alto for years (though not operatically, of course). I'm told the distinction tends to be age-related more than anything else - nobody will admit to being a contralto until they hit 40, because the parts are less flattering (I kind of like them, though

[rosemaryinwheat]

Very helpful, thank you!

It's interesting to hear about the way contraltos were cast, since Rosina seems a suitably appealing role, but perhaps a soprano would sound odd among all the male characters.

I'm annoyed to find that Paisiello is not in my Ginormous Book on Opera, nor are there any recordings on file at the library, but I've found a production of Barbiere that I can buy on DVD. (yay!)

Edit: I should have known I could count on the university library. They have recordings and even a score. (Might still get that DVD, though. I love to watch opera rather than just listen to it; I'm the same about reading vs. watching Shakespeare's plays.)

[17catherines]

OK, checked with shadow (who actually studied opera / voice, and thus knows what she is talking about, unlike me), and she confirmed what I've written above, as well as my suspicion that Rosina is in fact a mezzo role, not a contralto one, so Geneviève would have no trouble whatsoever with it...

[rosemaryinwheat]

Kept meaning to get back and thank you for this.

Thank you.

I'm now thinking Rosina might be a regular role for Geneviève, though one she doesn't like and avoids whenever she can manipulate things that way. (Genny's far more fond of her breeches parts than of female roles).

I'm still playing around with exactly what voices are in the company proper and which minor roles they farm out to local singers when they are available. Once I have Genny's (and Anna's) roles in mind in a general way, I can "cast" the rest of the company and the repertoire.

[fellmama]

Totally possible (and indeed even usual) for a mezzo to do that. As 17catherines says, nobody will admit to being a contralto for as long as possible. It's not necessarily age-related, either; contralto parts are often fat or ugly women--as well as spinsters--so there's some natural reluctance not to typecast oneself that way.

Most contralto arias (at least by the 18th century when women were actually singing the contralto parts) don't go low enough that your average mezzo would have a problem with the notes. For reference, I'd say anything under middle C is where a true mezzo would start having trouble. (Basing that on anecdata, because I'm a very low contralto and don't get into trouble for, like, another octave down there.)

[rosemaryinwheat]

Thanks!

Good to have the reference of middle C as a general marker. Also fits with my experience as I think I'm a mezzo myself and I hit problems around there.