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What is "mezzo-soprano"

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
mezzo-soprano
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano.
▪ Parts are notated for him in five different clefs bass, tenor, alto, mezzo-soprano and soprano.
▪ The late mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani makes a guest appearance in these 1973 sessions.
▪ The voice had a curious quality, husky and high-pitched as if uncertain whether it was a light tenor or a throaty mezzo-soprano.
▪ Yet the beneficent mezzo-soprano voice is not really the ideal instrument, and this soprano has a younger, fresher tone.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano \Mez"zo-so*pra"no\, a. (Mus.) Having a medium compass between the soprano and contralto; -- said of the voice of a female singer. -- n.

  1. A mezzo-soprano voice.

  2. A person having such a voice.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mezzo-soprano

1753; see mezzo + soprano.

Wiktionary
mezzo-soprano

n. 1 A voice or voice part intermediate in compass between soprano and contralto 2 A person having such a voice

WordNet
mezzo-soprano

  1. n. a soprano with a voice between soprano and contralto [syn: mezzo]

  2. the female singing voice between contralto and soprano [syn: mezzo]

Wikipedia
Mezzo-soprano

A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (, ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A–A in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F) and as high as "high C" (C). The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano.

Usage examples of "mezzo-soprano".

He pushes his way through the crowds, for poor Chancer has been doomed to disappointment in his wish to have this fair woman sing to him alone, for when the now full rich notes, now sweet to intoxication, of her mezzo-soprano voice fell on the air, the languid, sentimental or gay stayed their steps to listen.

His wife - Natalia Grasnetskaya, mezzo-soprano with the Bolshoi, a rising operatic star.