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by Wim Thomas on March 7th, 2005

Wim Thomas

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I am studying to be a opera singer. I am a coloratura, yet I can sing bass and tenor quite easily. My range is from Bflat-3 to Eflat-6. Most people think I am an alto when I speak. So would I still be considered a coloratura?

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  • by canadianmezzo on May 6th, 2005

    canadianmezzo

    First of all, it's perfectly possible to be a coloratura mezzo or contralto -- coloratura simply refers to ones ability to sing the kind of florid vocal passages typically found in the works of Rossini and Mozart (as well as other bel canto composers). Rossini wrote a lot of stuff for coloratura contralto (Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri, to give one example) and for coloratura mezzo (Rosina in Il Barbiere). Singers who manage coloratura are also in demand for the works of Handel and other Baroque composers.

    Beyond range and flexibility, there's the further question of weight of voice. What repertoire do you sing with ease and facility? Where can you best be marketed -- opera, like most other performing arts, requires one to be type cast, to a certain extent.

    For example: in the soprano realm ....

    A lyric coloratura soprano, as a "fach", or vocal category, typically sings the roles of Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, Olympia in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman, Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Zerbinetta in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos.

    A dramatic coloratura has more heft to the voice, and is the voice type able to sing a number of heavier, florid roles in Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini and Verdi: for example Fiordiligi in Cosi and Constanze in Seraglio. Mozart's Queen of the Night is a special sub-category of the dramatic coloratura, because of the excessively high upper extension. Other typical roles would be Violetta from Verdi's Traviata and Norma from Bellini's opera..

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You're reading I am studying to be a opera singer. I am a coloratura, yet I can sing bass and tenor quite easily. My range is from Bflat-3 to Eflat-6. Most people think I am an alto when I speak. So would I still be considered a coloratura?

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