Mezzo-Soprano

Lower in pitch than the soprano, but higher than the contralto, the mezzo-soprano might be the most interesting of all high voices. Today, it’s overwhelmingly the domain of female singers. But that wasn’t always the case, and from the 16th to the early 19th century, mezzo-soprano castrati (surgically-altered men) were opera’s most dazzling stars. Many of the great castrato roles (such as the hero of Handel’s Giulio Cesare) are now sung by women, but their enduring cultural legacy means that some of most fascinating characters in all opera have been written for mezzos. Neither as pure and bright-sounding as a high-soprano nor as dark-toned as a contralto, mezzo-sopranos typically get to play passionate, self-possessed heroines (like Bizet’s Carmen), complex anti-heroines (such as Azucena in Verdi’s Il trovatore) and even young men: the so-called “trouser roles” (like Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro). But this warm, multifaceted and often brilliant voice doesn’t just belong on the stage, and in the concert hall, mezzo-sopranos are among the most compelling interpreters of classical song.