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The Maligned Mezzo

Throughout the ages, the artists of the alto persuasion have suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous negligence. From the first time that women were allowed on the stage, mezzo-sopranos were relegated to roles of the marginalized. Once the alto began to wrestle the middle-voice roles away from the male practitioner, they have been tossed such scraps as the roles of sister, maid, ugly step sister, boy, harridan, burner of sons, and the whore necessary to fill out the quartet.

What is the rationale for this mistreatment? Is it merely because their soprano sisters chirp so prettily in the sky? Is it because the music industrys long term, male-dominated world hear the mezzo voice as less feminine, and therefore less desirable?

Any mezzo can tell you that they are expected to stretch and strengthen their voices to match the range of many soprano roles, with the added expectation that they mix their registers at will, creating different timbres in order to qualify for the few roles available to them, while sopranos are cautioned to stay within their fach in order to enjoy a long-lived career.

Any mezzo can tell you that they are seldom given an aria (when they are, it is usually cut) (unless theyre playing the role of a boy), expected to match the vocal color of the leading soprano while singing a third below her for the occasional duet, and then show up for the concerted number, beefing up the chorus, singing the same note again and again, focusing their entire characterization on the dramatic arc the soprano is enjoying, and hollering the same high note as the soprano at the end.

You can make any mezzo-soprano bite the dickens out of her tongue if you raise the argument that Barber of Sevilles Rosina and Carmen were written for the lower- and middle-voice. Do you know why? It wasnt long before the keys were raised so those meaty roles could be essayed by sopranos.

Is this changing? Are composers finally writing parts for the mezzo-soprano that allow for fully-fleshed characterization? Can a mezzo now be young and pretty, stop scrubbing the chimney, and elope with the tenor?

Transgressive Theatre-Opera,( both because we enjoy the question, and because we have been told in a loud and low voice that we owe it to our alto sisters to give them more Transgressive stage time), intend to dig for an answer to this question.

Showcasing some of Chicagos finest altos, with hearty, heartfelt, guffaw-producing narration by Artistic Director Aaron Hunt, Transgressive Theatre-Opera offers up a night of colorful voices, trilling and thrilling in all their chocolate-voiced splendor.

Wont you join us as we search for answers?

Location

Ebenezer Lutheran Church (View)
1650 W. Foster Avenue
Chicago, IL 60640
United States

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Name Withheld

Oct 29, 2016 5:22 PM

Name Withheld

Oct 29, 2016 5:22 PM

Lauren A.

Chicago, IL United States

Oct 29, 2016 4:02 PM

Greg T.

Chicago, IL United States

Oct 28, 2016 10:04 AM

Jennifer C.

Chicago, IL United States

Oct 27, 2016 7:00 AM

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