whiteliketar (July 27, 2008 at 7:15 pm)

she defintely crushes these modern day pop artists with her power and training.

DivoLaurent (June 25, 2008 at 8:22 pm)

Marian Anderson was true-blue "contralto"; the lowest female voice. From top to bottom is 1. soprano 2. mezzo-soprano and 3. contralto..... She had wonderful high notes, but her "comfort zone" was much lower than a normal mezzo. Other great contraltos are Kathleen Ferrier (great videos on youtube) and in our own time, Ewa Podles. Hope this helps!

handelfan610 (June 23, 2008 at 7:16 pm)

what voice part was marian anderson...was it same as norman's? i love her voice.

MzShugr (June 15, 2008 at 7:05 am)

true she does have a little trouble. but even her troubled notes sound way better than some people's best notes. There is no denying that Jessye is a true talent. No matter how you slice it.

dannymaestro (June 12, 2008 at 11:36 am)

Nowadays you necessarily not has to be put in a certain fach (spelling correct?), and you may swith roles depending of what your voice are capable to do, but the categories are still there. Norman has some difficulties with the top notes above a2 at the same time as her lower register are very full-timbred and rich, that´s why I believe she is more mezzo than a soprano. 100 years ago she had been a soprano without discussion, but times are changing.

dannymaestro (June 12, 2008 at 11:31 am)

Neither Wiki or Youtube are real facts, just thoughts and opinions. MY opinion is that the role of Fidelio and also Agathe in der Freischütz, was dramatic sopranos in the early 19th century. But, many things has changed since that. The tessitura for these roles are much lower than later examples of dramatic sopranoroles. Even the range is smaller.

Babs22h (June 11, 2008 at 5:50 pm)

Ludwig sang the title role in fidelio which is sooo not a mezzo role... the woman is dramtic soprano check wiki

Babs22h (June 11, 2008 at 5:49 pm)

I actually have the cd and the woman sang goddman vocalise practicing coloratura skills and she sang some french aria... not making this up! the cd was The VERY best of JESSYE NORMAN AND on Diva Jessye norman buy them on amazon!

Babs22h (June 8, 2008 at 2:37 am)

from wiki-Marie Cornélie Falcon(28 January 1812- 25 February 1897)was a French operatic singer. She had a dramatic soprano voice which reached into the mezzo-soprano range and gave her name to a type of dark soprano voice. Her career was remarkably short, only six years, and she is widely used as an example of the singer who pushes her voice beyond its prudent capacity and thus destroys it.She created the roles of Rachel in Halévy's La Juive and of Valentine in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots.

ems5429 (June 3, 2008 at 3:58 am)

Please explain the difference between a reg... soprano and a falcon and should I feel dumb for not knowing what is........... (I truly don't know )