Top 10 contralto/mezzo-soprano singers

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  • Honoured Guest

    #16
    Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
    Are they the new Breakfast presenters?
    No, they're the first ladies of English folk and Stackton Tressel.

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    • Barbirollians
      Full Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 11680

      #18
      Most of my favourites already mentioned but Gladys Ripley was a splendid singer.
      .

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      • Hornspieler
        Late Member
        • Sep 2012
        • 1847

        #19
        Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
        Most of my favourites already mentioned but Gladys Ripley was a splendid singer.
        .
        Hear hear! Her Angel in "Gerontius" was terrific.

        Surely another to be mentioned (before my time) Dame Clara Butt. My parents had a record of her singing "God shall wipe away all tears"
        Tremendous power and depth in her voice.

        Oh, and also Clara Serena.

        Hs

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        • cloughie
          Full Member
          • Dec 2011
          • 22119

          #20
          Originally posted by DracoM View Post
          I see BBC Singers aren't being nominated?
          Assuming they've all passed a stringent voice test they would be safe nominations for their appropriate sections. More interestingly how many soloists would be able to pipe down and follow the chorus director in a choir? I remember hearing an interview with Stevie Winwood and it was revealed that he sings tenor in the church choir when he's home!

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          • doversoul1
            Ex Member
            • Dec 2010
            • 7132

            #21
            Sarah Connolly anyone?

            Stéphanie d'Oustrac (French Baroque opera’s great enchantress: Atys, Amide, Médée)

            A few more from the world of Handel and Vivaldi currently active:
            Sonia Prina
            Marie-Nichole Lemieux
            Romina Basso

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            • Mary Chambers
              Full Member
              • Nov 2010
              • 1963

              #22
              Originally posted by doversoul View Post
              Sarah Connolly anyone?
              Yes!

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              • Barbirollians
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 11680

                #23
                Another vote for Norma Proctor here - just been listening to her sing the mezzo/contralto part in Mahler 3 - beautifully sung reminders of Ferrier's voice appearing out of the murky sound of that live Boult recording.

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                • pastoralguy
                  Full Member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 7758

                  #24
                  I do love it when these old threads are given a new lease of life.

                  Well, how about

                  Cecilia Bartoli? (Mentioned already but not nearly as much as she deserves, imvho)

                  And...

                  Catriona Morison. Most recent winner of The Cardiff Singer of the World Competition!

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                  • Richard Tarleton

                    #25
                    Originally posted by pastoralguy View Post
                    Well, how about

                    Cecilia Bartoli? (Mentioned already but not nearly as much as she deserves, imvho)
                    Definitely not - after she'd cancelled on me twice, I decided she'd had her chance and blown it, and that I couldn't stand her breathy staccato delivery which has become more pronounced as she's got older. She is a disctinctly niche product at best (imvho, of course )

                    Norma Procter (Barbs) sang in my first live Mahler 3 (my first live Mahler anything) with Haitink/LPO in'72. Shirley Verett (see my first post in this thread) makes it largely on the strength of her rendition of O don fatale in Don Carlo (Giulini etc.) - in fact 4 of those 5 are Verdian "witches and bitches" .

                    But yes, my top 1 is Janet Baker, whom I happily saw a lot - a recital with Gerald Moore (that's going back a bit), then in Mahler, Chausson, Duparc, Handel, Donizetti.......and Ann Murray's Schubert disc with Graham Johnson (3 in the Hyperion series) is one of my most treasured CDs.

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                    • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                      Gone fishin'
                      • Sep 2011
                      • 30163

                      #26
                      I much enjoy Bartoli in short doses - for some reason, I find that I can't listen to her in a solo recital for much longer than twenty minutes or so: there's a "sameness" in the "colour" of her voice that I don't like to listen to for long. Not something I find with Baker, Ferrier ... or any of my favourite singers.
                      [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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                      • gurnemanz
                        Full Member
                        • Nov 2010
                        • 7386

                        #27
                        Originally posted by doversoul1 View Post
                        Marie-Nichole Lemieux
                        Also a very good mélodies disc here

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                        • Stanfordian
                          Full Member
                          • Dec 2010
                          • 9310

                          #28
                          Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
                          For better or worse, I've started something.

                          Marilyn Horne
                          Kathleen Ferrier
                          Janet Baker
                          Leontyne Price (as Carmen)
                          Yvonne Minton
                          Margaret Balfour
                          Gillian Knight
                          Lyndsie Holland
                          Sheila Rex
                          Norma Procter
                          To the above list of mezzo-sopranos from the past I would add Brigitte Fassbaender. Although Waltraud Meier is now in her sixties she still sounds great live and I would add her to the list. Of the current crop of mezzo-sopranos I admire the singing of Magdalena Kožená and Elīna Garanča; both superb actresses and very easy on the eye too.
                          Last edited by Stanfordian; 19-09-17, 15:50.

                          Comment

                          • Stanfordian
                            Full Member
                            • Dec 2010
                            • 9310

                            #29
                            Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                            I much enjoy Bartoli in short doses - for some reason, I find that I can't listen to her in a solo recital for much longer than twenty minutes or so: there's a "sameness" in the "colour" of her voice that I don't like to listen to for long. Not something I find with Baker, Ferrier ... or any of my favourite singers.
                            Hiya ferney,

                            I agree with you about Bartoli. Whilst I admire her talent I can only enjoy her voice in small doses. Her relenting determination becomes wearing and her tone that becomes harsh to my ears after a while.
                            Last edited by Stanfordian; 19-09-17, 18:00.

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                            • pastoralguy
                              Full Member
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 7758

                              #30
                              Of course, Magdalena Kožena! I've been lucky enough to hear her live three or four times and she's a marvellous singer. Mrs. PG is a big fan and so I purchase all her CDs as soon as they come out.

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