a soprano with a voice between soprano and contralto
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the female singing voice between contralto and soprano
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Mezzo \Mez"zo\, a. [It., from L. medius middle, half. See {Mid}, a.] (Mus.) Mean; not extreme.
Her compatriots John Daniecki (Zampa) and Bradley Williams (Alphonse) wield nicely contrasted high tenors Jutta Winkler is a fine, lugubrious mezzo, and her excellent would-be and ex-husbands are Antoine Normand and the chunky Valentin Jar.
But, all made-up and ready to sing, this Kansas-bred mezzo looks even worse than she sounds warming up.
The finest singer on stage was mezzo Dolora Zajick, a powerhouse who did full justice to the juicy role of the mad gypsy Azucena. Whether singing softly or soaring above the orchestra, she was thrilling.
Once an imposing performer, the mezzo has lost all but a shred of her voice, and dignity is not far behind.
Dame Janet Baker, the British mezzo, makes a rare New York appearance in a concert performance of Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice."
It was dispiriting to see Fricka and Waltraute assigned to the faded mezzo of Christa Ludwig, who made her debut in 1946.
What a ferociously off-putting work the original 1946 score of these settings for soprano, mezzo soprano and orchestra of Rene Char's surreal, erotic poetry had once seemed.
She was the right choice - by a whisker. Second prize was taken by the mezzo Sara Fulgoni, already noted as a major talent at the Royal Northern College of Music.
It was exciting to hear the Nash players and their conductor Lionel Friend make so much of the leaner original, with Jean Rigby's lusty mezzo to electrify the songs.
Miss Lothian's mezzo was steady and strong at either extreme, if not so characterful as yet in the middle.
Vivian Tierney's soprano has a fine strength and poise, while Susan Bickley's mezzo complements her with a darker bite to the tone.
Stefka Evstatieva appears as the unhappy Queen Elisabetta with Soviet mezzo Nina Terentieva as Princess Eboli.