The Mezzo-Soprano Voice

The Mezzo-Soprano Voice

Apple Music Classical

With a darker, more velvety tone and timbre than the soprano voice, the mezzo-soprano is beloved by operatic composers seeking to evoke complex personalities. Mezzo roles often include women harbouring dark secrets or seeking revenge, as well as passionate young men, in what are known as “trouser” (or travesti) roles. In oratorio and concert works, the mezzo voice adds warmth and texture to the traditional quartet, sitting below the soprano and above the tenor, baritone and bass.

Séguedille et Duo. Près des remparts de Séville

Freddie De Tommaso, Aigul Akhmetshina, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniele Rustioni

4:27

"Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix"

Elīna Garanča, Yves Abel, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna

6:15

Einsam wachend in der Nacht

Carlos Kleiber, Brigitte Fassbaender, Staatskapelle Dresden

2:46

Caro Mio Ben

Cecilia Bartoli, György Fischer

2:43

"Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto" (Easter Hymn)

Herbert von Karajan, Maria Gracia Allegri, Fiorenza Cossotto, Coro del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano

5:01

Lascia ch'io pianga (Almirena)

Joyce DiDonato, Maxim Emelyanychev, Il Pomo d'Oro

5:32

"L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"

The Manhattan Opera Chorus, Marilyn Horne, John Mauceri, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein

4:50

Ombra mai fu

Il Giardino Armonico, Cecilia Bartoli, Giovanni Antonini

3:23

No. 47 Aria (Alto): "Erbarme dich, mein Gott"

Concerto Copenhagen, Fredrik From, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Anne Sofie von Otter

6:16

4. Ständchen

Aribert Reimann, Brigitte Fassbaender

3:29

I. Duo: Stabat mater dolorosa

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernarda Fink, Anna Prohaska

3:49

"Thy Hand, Belinda.When I Am Laid in Earth"

Trevor Pinnock, The English Concert, Anne Sofie von Otter

4:21

2d. Liber Scriptus (Live In Milan / 2012)

Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Coro del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Daniel Barenboim, Elīna Garanča

5:07

"Erwach, Frohlocke" (After Handel's Messiah, HWV 56)

NDR Radiophilharmonie, Riccardo Minasi, Wolfgang Zerer, Diana Damrau

4:23

II: Ich atmet' einen linden Duft!

John Barbirolli, Philharmonia Orchestra, Dame Janet Baker

2:42

No. 19, "Où suis-je ? … Ô ma lyre immortelle" (Sapho)

Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques, Marina Viotti

7:59

Barcarolle

Elīna Garanča, Prague Philharmonic Choir, Emmanuel Villaume, Anna Netrebko, Prague Philharmonia

3:46

Viens, Mallika, . Dôme épais (Flower Duet)

Jane Berbié, Orchestre National de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Joan Sutherland, Richard Bonynge

5:11

Una voce poco fa

Teresa Berganza, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado

5:38

"O Don Fatale"

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Grace Bumbry, Georg Solti

4:55

"Dell 'aura al sussurrar"

Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini, Cecilia Bartoli, Arnold Schoenberg Choir

2:05

"Con L'ali Di Costanza"

Musiciens du Louvre, Anne Sofie von Otter, Marc Minkowski

6:15

IX. O thou that tellest good tiding to Zion

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Marjana Lipovšek, Concentus Musicus Wien

6:18

Vado, ma dove? oh Dei!, K. 583

Magdalena Kožená, Sir Simon Rattle, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

4:28

Vedrai, carino

Vesselina Kasarova, Colin Davis, Staatskapelle Dresden

3:48

Laudamus Te

Gabrieli Consort & Players, Dame Sarah Connolly, Paul McCreesh

4:41

"Ah, Perfido!"

Cecilia Bartoli, Kammerorchester Basel, Muhai Tang

3:03

Wiegenlied "Guten Abend, gut Nacht", Op. 49, No. 4

Helmut Deutsch, Angelika Kirchschlager

1:41

IV. Sehr Feierlich, Aber Schlicht - "O Röslein Rot"

Christa Ludwig, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic

6:18

In Diesem Wetter

Lorin Maazel, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Waltraud Meier

6:23

"With Darkness Deep, as Is My Woe" (Theodora)

Jupiter Ensemble, Thomas Dunford, Lea Desandre

3:41

"Non So Più Cosa Son, Cosa Faccio"

Frederica von Stade, Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan

3:29

Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 118 (Orch. Reger) [Live]

Claudio Abbado, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Anne Sofie von Otter

3:26

Or tutti sorgete (Lady Macbeth)

Fiorenza Cossotto, Philharmonia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti

3:18

Va, crudele, al Dio spietato

London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, John Alexander, Marilyn Horne

8:57

"Sì, vuol di Francia il Rege" - "Ah, quando all'ara" - "In tal giorno di contento"

Simone Alaimo, Francesco Ellero d'Artegna, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Agnes Baltsa, Munich Radio Orchestra, Giuseppe Patanè

8:17

Tu Non Sai Qual Colpo Atroce

Arthur Fagen, Udo Mehrpohl, Vesselina Kasarova, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra

8:35

Introduction - Afternoon - Dance of the Miller's Wife (Fandango) - The Corregidor - The Miller's Wife - The Grapes

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Jesús López-Cobos, Florence Quivar, May Festival Chorus

14:05

No. 2, In Haven (Capri)

John Barbirolli, London Symphony Orchestra, Dame Janet Baker

2:06

Von der Schönheit

Brigitte Fassbaender, Berlin Philharmonic, Carlo Maria Giulini

7:32

I. No. 1, Gute Nacht

Joyce DiDonato, Yannick Nézet-Séguin

5:46

"O del Mio Dolce Ardor"

Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort & Players, Magdalena Kožená

3:09

Aria. "Cara sposa, amato bene" (Radamisto)

Joyce DiDonato, Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis

4:35

"Dall'amor Più Sventurato"

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs, Vivica Genaux

4:18

Voglio a terra

Concerto de' Cavalieri, Marcello di Lisa, Daniela Barcellona

2:47

Se non piange un'infelice

Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Bernard Labadie, Les Violons du Roy

5:18

Scena Die Berenice, Scène Dramatique Hob.XXIVa:10. "Berenice, Che Fai"

Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs, Bernarda Fink

11:52

Della cità all'occaso (Remastered 2017)

Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Luciano Pavarotti, Regina Resnik, Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Bruno Bartoletti, Renata Tebaldi

3:37

Arioso, Op. 3

Anne Sofie von Otter, Bengt Forsberg

4:14

III. Music, when soft voices die

Hélène Clément, Dame Sarah Connolly, Alasdair Beatson

2:25

Rhapsody For Alto, Chorus, And Orchestra, Op. 53

Wiener Singverein, Vienna Philharmonic, Karl Böhm, Christa Ludwig

16:11

Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer, Op. 105, No. 2 (2018 Remastered Version)

Christa Ludwig, Leonard Bernstein

3:12

Frauenliebe Und -leben, Op. 42/Du Ring an Meinem Finger

Gerhard Oppitz, Waltraud Meier

3:01

"Ich will nichts hören!"

Regina Resnik, Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti

4:48

Licht über'm See

Hans Hotter, Bavarian State Orchestra, Joseph Keilberth, Martha Mödl

6:17

Geliebter, Komm! Sieh dort die Grotte!

Christa Ludwig, Georg Solti, Chorus of the Vienna State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic

4:47

Parsifal, Act 2 "Ich sah das Kind an seiner Mutter Brust"

Armin Jordan, Yvonne Minton, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo

5:16

Acerba voluttà, dolce tortura

Giulietta Simionato, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Franco Capuana

4:13

Doves of Gurre

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, Tatiana Troyanos

12:05