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Cecilia Bartoli - What vocal range is she?

24K views 32 replies 16 participants last post by  SixFootScowl  
#1 ·
I've recently taken an interest in Cecilia Bartoli. She sounds like a (mezzo) soprano to me, but I've read elsewhere that she is a contralto, and in some other forums, that she is a soprano. What vocal range is she classified under?

Thank you for your help!

<-- here she is, for a little reference if needed :D
 
#5 · (Edited)
She is a mezzo. Her voice is not large but she has a good range.

She has excellent pitch: I have one recording somewhere in which she sings a run that is doubled on the piano. Her pitch is so perfectly in tune with the piano that one doesn't hear a separate piano note, just her voice and the felt hammers hitting the strings.

Edit: I think it was the standard Gial Sole dal Gange from one of her first recordings
 
#10 ·
Mezzo but quite versatile. Just like Didonato.
 
#11 ·
OH! She is the entire reason I became excited about opera. I was trying to figure out how to start enjoying opera and learn what is what. I picked her and am having a fabulous time listening to her recordings. So far, I've seen her in Cosi Fan Tutti only.

The CD that knocked me out was her Mozart Arias. Find the You Tube of this recording. I cannot believe how beautiful she plays the part of Cecilio in Lucio Silla. WOWWWWWW.

There is a book out called Cinderella & Company By MANUELA HOELTERHOFF. Excellent behind the scenes world of opera and focused on Cecilia Bartoli.

She is a mezzosoprano.
 
#12 ·
I read Cinderella and Company--great book--but frankly I don't care for Bartoli's Cinderella in La Cenerentola.

Until I recently discovered Maria Callas, I have not found a female vocalist that really worked for me. Some were great in one or another work, but everything I hear from Maria Callas just bowls me over--it is absolutely wonderful.
 
#14 · (Edited)
she is a mezzo-soprano with a soprano upper extension (she has several notes above high C)
however, her timber, imo, is more that of a contralto. not just dark, but SMOKEY.

I read Cinderella and Company--great book--but frankly I don't care for Bartoli's Cinderella in La Cenerentola.

Until I recently discovered Maria Callas, I have not found a female vocalist that really worked for me. Some were great in one or another work, but everything I hear from Maria Callas just bowls me over--it is absolutely wonderful.
if you like Maria Callas, Marisa Galvany is another soprano with a dark, fiery timbre, gutsy temperament and wide range (she can convincingly sing dramatic mezzo and then lighten the voice enough to sing a respectable Lucia with easy singing in the highest tessitura)
 
#17 · (Edited)
I never could stomach Cecilia Bartoli's singing, but recently watched her Rosina in Barber of Seville and am very impressed. If only she could get rid of that warble in her voice, she would be an excellent singer. This one has a great Figaro too. Here is a 15 minute compilation of varioius Barber of Seville scenes with Bartoli:

 
#20 ·
I've referred to her as a bit of a "vocal duck billed platypus" in the past. her tessitura is more mezzo, but her range is more extends well into soprano on a regular basis. however, that by itself isn't all that unusual for baroque mezzos (who to my ears sound like light lyric sopranos with some extra cream poured into the voice). the weirdest thing to me is that she has the vocal weight akin to the lightest French coloratura soprano, but the timbre of a deep, smokey contralto.

this is my favorite piece sung by her (a duet with June Anderson from Stabat Mater)
 
#21 ·
She is a crossover if you will. Definitely she is a mezzo, but in a lot of cases she stretch to become a soprano. However, in some cases eg. Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate - Alleluia, she sounds weird when she reach the highest notes. Many other soprano can do better than that. Have anyone heard she sing the Queen of the Night arias in the Magic Flute? Those could be the acid test of a true soprano.
 
#26 ·
Not understanding the question really. Do you want to know what her vocal range is? She can sing down to Eb3 to an F6 (3.1 octaves). She's a "Dugazon", below a soubrette but higher than a regular coloratura mezzo-soprano.

I don't like her coloratura much, though. It's too aspirated and gargled (something she shares in abundance with Marilyn Horne) and due to the single fact she wasn't classically trained with an actual teacher (her mother isn't a teacher and doesn't count,) also dims her overall technique. There's an interesting video where someone compares Callas fiorituri and coloraturi in Barberie and Il Turco in Italia to Bartoli's fioritura and coloraturi and there's a yards worth of difference.
 
#28 ·
I've recently taken an interest in Cecilia Bartoli. She sounds like a (mezzo) soprano to me, but I've read elsewhere that she is a contralto, and in some other forums, that she is a soprano. What vocal range is she classified under?

Thank you for your help!
Seems she comes close to this: Soprano sfogato (a.k.a. as soprano assoluta)