The biggest triumph of her early concert career was in January 1955 when she was chosen by Bruno Walter as the contralto soloist for Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Britain's leading composer of the era, Sir Edward Elgar, composed his song-cycle Sea Pictures for contralto and orchestra with Clara Butt in mind as the soloist, and she sang at the first performance of the work at the Norwich Festival on 5 October 1899, with the composer conducting.

* December 18-Muriel Brunskill, operatic contralto ( died 1980 in music )

The versions of the opera performed outside of France, in particular, those in the United States and Italy, have been in Italian ( later also in French ), with Mignon as a soprano or mezzo-soprano, and Frédéric as a mezzo-soprano or contralto, and with the sung recitatives and the shortened finale.

It seems first to have been used about 1850 and was associated with the contralto and composer Charlotte Dolby, later Sainton-Dolby ( 1821-85 ).

Born at Anagni, he first started as a contralto at the Cappella Giulia which he later abandoned in order to enter as a now soprano to the Cappella Sistina.

Ernestine Schumann-Heink, née Rössler ( 15 June 186117 November 1936 ), was a celebrated Austrian, later American, operatic contralto, noted for the size, beauty, tonal richness, flexibility and wide range of her voice.

Significant artists on this record label included the powerful contralto Inez Andrews ( formerly of The Caravans ), The Gospelettes with Liz Dargan ( formerly of Andrews ’ group The Andrewettes ), mixed vocal group The Kansas City Melodyaires ( later known as Mildred Clark & The Melodyaires ), The Jackson Southernaires and their younger siblings The Williams Brothers, Reverend Oris Mays and the Christian Harmonizers, all of whom with the exception of, Christian Harmonizers, continued with the label into the 1970s.

* Händel's Ariodante: " Lurcanio " was originally written for contralto, but later rewritten by Handel for tenor.

Here he composed a large number of motets and other sacred music, which, being brought to the notice of Pope Urban VIII, obtained for him an appointment in the choir of the Sistine Chapel at Rome with the contralto role.

Pinafore relied on stock character types, many of which were familiar from European opera ( and some of which grew out of Gilbert's earlier association with the German Reeds ): the heroic protagonist ( tenor ) and his love-interest ( soprano ); the older woman with a secret or a sharp tongue ( contralto ); the baffled lyric baritone — the girl's father ; and a classic villain ( bass-baritone ).

For the true contralto, the range of parts is more limited, which has given rise to the insider joke that contraltos only sing " witches, bitches, and britches " roles.

Two of Delilah's arias are particularly well known: " Printemps qui commence " and " Mon cœur s ' ouvre à ta voix " (" My heart opens itself to your voice ", also known as " Softly awakes my heart "), the latter of which is one of the most popular recital pieces in the mezzo-soprano / contralto repertoire.

McEntire possesses a contralto vocal range and performs " vocal gymnastics " with her voice, a musical technique in which a singer twirls a note around, using their vibrato.

In this patent the soprano voice ( descant ) is tuned in E flat, which then creates a line: E flat ( soprano ), B flat ( contralto ), E flat ( Alto ).

She was famed for her outrageous costumes and high-power performances in combination with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists.

Through most of the 19th century, its popularity rivalled that of the Barber, but as the coloratura contralto, for which the role was originally written, became rare it fell slowly out of the repertoire.

Smeaton appears in Gaetano Donizetti's opera Anna Bolena, in which the character is a trouser role assigned to a contralto.

In 1931, Lytton was injured in a car accident in which D ' Oyly Carte principal contralto Bertha Lewis received fatal injuries.

Amongst many luthiers and musicians the Irish bouzouki is considered to be part of the mandolin family, other instruments of which include the mandolin, mandola ( called " contralto mandola " in Europe ), octave mandolin (" tenor mandola " in Europe ), and mandocello.

A number of his glees specify two Soprano or Treble ( boy soprano ) voices, the second of which has a range appropriate to a female mezzo-soprano or contralto ( but would have been thought too high for a counter-tenor of this period ).

Indeed, not all serious musicians admired her booming contralto voice, which can be mistaken for a man's on some recordings, or her rather ' populist ' approach to her art.

She had a fine alto voice, which developed into a contralto, and she studied singing under J. Wass, Ciro Pinsuti and Mrs Sims Reeves ( i. e. Emma Lucombe ).

For example, among men, there are bass, baritone, tenor and countertenor ( ranging from E2 to even F6 ), and among women, contralto, mezzo-soprano and soprano ( ranging from F3 to C6 ).

In common usage, alto is used to describe the voice type that typically sings this part, though this is not strictly correct: alto, like the other three standard modern choral voice classifications ( soprano, tenor and bass ) was originally intended to describe a part within a homophonic or polyphonic texture, rather than an individual voice type ; neither are the terms alto and contralto interchangeable or synonymous, though they are often treated as such.

When appearing separately, the term " contralto " applies only to female singers ; men whose voices fall in the same range or higher are known as " countertenors.

" The Italian terms " contralto " and " alto " are not synonymous, the latter technically denoting a specific vocal range in choral singing without regard to factors like tessitura, vocal timbre, vocal facility, and vocal weight.

Within the category of contraltos are three generally recognized subcategories — coloratura contralto, lyric contralto, and dramatic contralto — that usefully describe the voice type in general terms.

Women are typically divided into three groups: soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto.

Women are typically divided into three main groups: soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto.

* Mary Jarred, contralto ; The BBC Orchestra, Section F ; Clarence Raybould, conductor Elgar's Interpreters on Record, Volume 5: Broadcasts from the Leech Collection at the British Library ( 1935 – 1950 ) Elgar Society EECD003-005 (" Sea Slumber Song " complete, " Sabbath Morning at Sea " to bar 84, " The Swimmer " bars between 74 and 107 are missing )

Outstanding amongst her vocal works are her setting of the Latin hymn, Ave Maris Stella, for unaccompanied SATB ( 1973 ) and Six Poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins for contralto and string sextet ( 1958 ).

Right at the center of her abilities, however, are the contralto roles ( some of them " trouser " roles ) of Rossini.

Xerxes, originally sung by a castrato, is now generally performed by a mezzo-soprano, contralto or countertenor.

The role of Rosina, although written for a coloratura contralto and most frequently sung by a coloratura mezzo-soprano, has, in the past and occasionally in more recent times, been sung in transposition by coloratura sopranos such as Marcella Sembrich, Maria Callas, Roberta Peters, Gianna D ' Angelo, Victoria de los Ángeles, Beverly Sills, Lily Pons, Diana Damrau, Kathleen Battle and Luciana Serra.

Although little direct confirmation of the theory exists, a Stuttgart inventory from 1589 mentions two cornetts pitched ‘ two tones lower than the treble cornett ’ ( see Spielmann ), and the civic ensemble of Bologna had positions for both cornetto di soprano and cornetto di contralto ( see Gambassi ).

* Pierre Boulez: Le marteau sans maître, for contralto and six instrumentalists, with prominent part for vibraphone ( 1955 ), "… explosante-fixe …", version for vibraphone and electronics ( 1986 )

In North America, French contralto Jeanne Gerville-Réache is largely credited for popularizing the work in the United States and Canada during the early twentieth century.

His works from that decade include his Second String Quartet ( 1950 ); a scena, The Enchantress ( 1951 ), for the contralto Kathleen Ferrier ; a Piano Sonata ( 1952 ); and a Violin Concerto ( 1955 ), for Campoli.

The symphony is written for an orchestra, a mixed choir, two soloists ( soprano and contralto ), organ, and an offstage ensemble of brass and percussion.

Senesino ( Francesco Bernardi ) ( 31 October 1686 – 27 November 1758 ) was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel.

" Cibber was particularly admired by Handel, who wrote numerous parts especially for her including the contralto arias in his 1741 oratorio Messiah, the role of Micah in Samson, the role of Lichas in Hercules and the role of David in Saul among others.

* Frühlingshymne for contralto, chorus, and orchestra, Op.

* From The Psalmist for contralto and orchestra, Op.

Rosina Brandram got her big break when Alice Barnett became ill and left the company for a time, taking the role of Lady Blanche and becoming the company's principal contralto.

In modern productions, the title role, written for a castrato, is sung by a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or, more frequently in recent years, a countertenor.

She had a contralto vocal range, and was a drummer whose skills earned her admiration from her peers, although she is most well known for her vocal performances of romantic ballads.

Manson gained media attention for her forthright style, rebellious attitude, and distinctive contralto voice.

She is also known for her contralto vocal range.

Faye singing ballads and swing numbers in her honey contralto voice was a regular highlight of the show, as was a knack for tart one-liners equal to her husband's.

In 1875 Fibich married Růžena's sister, the operatic contralto Betty Fibichová ( née Hanušová ), but left her in 1895 for his former student and lover Anežka Schulzová.