Mezzo-soprano Essays

  • The Kind Of Voice In Mozart: The Voice Of Mozart

    544 Words  | 2 Pages

    In letters to his father Mozart remarks on the kind of voice he enjoys in a tenor. He then talks about his friends Anton Raaff and Joseph Meissner, tenors. He complains of the unnatural way that Meissner’s voice does vibrato, and praises Raaff for never doing vibrato. It would seem as if Mozart does not like vibrato, but he claims that when the “human voice trembles naturally” it has a beautiful effect. Mozart commends Raaff on his bravura singing. He is very pleased with Raaff’s breath control

  • Analysis of the Play Candide

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    audience is introduced to the Baron and Baroness of Westphalia, Baron Thunder-ton-Tronck and Baroness; the Baron is a baritone, his voice is low but not low enough to be a bass; the Baroness is a mezzo soprano, she has the ability to hit high notes but they are not as high as those that can be hit by a soprano. Later in Scene One, the characters Candide, Cunegonde the daughter of the Baron, Maximilian the son of the Baron, and the tutor Pangloss performed “The Best of All Possible Worlds” during this

  • Grace Bumbry Research Paper

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    With professional help on her side to help better her raw, rare, talent Grace went on to become the joint winner of Metropolitan Opera National Council Martina Auditions with Soprano Marina Arroyo. After this Grace's career began climbing higher and higher. She barely even realized that she was on the rise to stardom. She gained international renown when she was cast by Wieland Wagner (Richard Wagner's grandson) as Venus at Bayreuth

  • Castration History

    1827 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although the procedure was completed clandestinely, cities like Bologna, Lecce, and Norcia became centers for the surgery where the surgeons were further called to other capitals in Europe. The surgery was said to be quick and painless; one description of the operation comes from a French work published 1707, later translated into English in 1717 titled Eunuchism Displayed, under the pseudonym of Charles d’Ancillon: During the eighteenth century as many as 4000 boys were castrated in Italy to preserve

  • The Role Of the Castrati in the Baroque Era

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    Era When it comes to music history, the Castrati are one of the most important and debated topics. The Castrati were men (in Italian opera) that had been castrated during puberty to stop a flow of hormones, causing them to have the voice of a soprano woman, but the vocal power of an older, full-grown man. A general estimate said that four thousand boys a year were castrated in Italy. Some Castrati tried to make it in church choirs (which often gave them almost nothing of monetary value), most

  • Character Analysis: The River Between

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book The River Between, written by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the main characters Chege, Waiyaki, Joshua each played an important role during the time when the new religious started to take over the ridges of Makuyu and Kameno. In the beginning of the book, it depicts Waiyaki at a young age with his two friends, Kamau and Kinuthia. At this point, Waiyaki was shown as a leader or was seen as someone who would become a great leader when he became a man. Waiyaki can be described as brave and shows strong

  • Tony Soprano: American TV Hero

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tony Soprano. American TV Hero, Crime Boss, Star of HBO’s hit TV series, The Sopranos, and the greatest TV character of all time. Featured as the Star of The Soprano’s, airing from 1999 to 2007, Tony Soprano consistently captured the attention of the United States of America, and the world, with his cold and calculating facade, and coving the warm, family man that Tony Soprano actually is. Tony Soprano, the Capo of the Italian Mafia, murderer, husband and father, and violent sociopath, is the greatest

  • Analyzing Tony Soprano´s Life and Personal Development in Relation with the Philosophical Format of Identity

    1518 Words  | 4 Pages

    constant, although many would love to say they are developed at a certain age, this is not so because development of self and identity is ongoing and ever changing. In formal tradition, I now introduce to you a friend of ours; Mister Tony Soprano from The Sopranos and we will look at his life and personal development in relation with the philosophical format of identity. Kwame Anthony Appiah wrote a book called Ethics of Identity and in this he looks at many philosophers but mainly John Stuart Mill

  • Bel Canto by Anne Patchett

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this novel Roxanne is a famous soprano opera singer from Chicago. Bel Canto, one of the main characters that I chose to study was Roxane Coss. Roxanne is a famous soprano opera singer from Chicago. I chose her because I believe that she is one of few main characters who made the biggest change of values throughout the novel. The tenor/vehicle that I used for Roxane is “A diva is a jeweled scarf, rich yet soft and flowing”. I chose a diva for my tenor because that sums up Roxane’s personality as

  • Gattaca Character Analysis

    1628 Words  | 4 Pages

    Evolution of Jerome Jerome was a very admirable character in both the film and screenplay “Gattaca”; there were times that he was the worst character and times he was the best. In this futuristic, dystopian society it is possible for someone to give his DNA for use by another person and in that way Jerome gives his DNA to Vincent, a person without perfect DNA like Jerome, and surrenders his former identify to become known as Eugene. Initially, with the complexities of the story focused on Vincent

  • Jerome Character Analysis

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    Evolution of Jerome Jerome was a very influencing character in the film and in the screen play, there were times that he was the worst character and times he was the best. Jerome was also known as Eugene because he gave his identity over to Vincent. So much happened in this story with Vincent that is was hard to really get connected with Jerome. He was obviously a main character as well but he was in the background so much that it was easy to get caught up in Vincent’s character. As the story line

  • The Lieder Of Richard Strauss Summary

    1806 Words  | 4 Pages

    At the fiftieth anniversary of Strauss’ death in 1999, new research discussing his Lieder appeared. Suzanne Lodato’s dissertation entitled, “Richard Strauss and the Modernists: A Contextual Study of Strauss’s Fin-de-siècle Song Style” examines poets and their writings during the late nineteenth century and the effects they had upon Strauss’s Lieder writing between 1894-1906, an era of time referred to as his middle-Lieder compositional period (Jefferson, 29), The Richard Strauss Companion, edited

  • Women and Minorities in Television and Movies

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women and Minorities in Television and Movies Since this winter, I can't watch television or movies anymore without critiquing how women and minorities are portrayed. One unexpected thing that I have picked up from taking this class is a sense of wariness when I counter any piece of written material. I have learned to be suspicious, if not directly critical of any particular part of the media as I experience it; I have been inspired to read and be influenced by some prolific female thinkers

  • The Legacy of the Mafia Minstel Show

    2207 Words  | 5 Pages

    always take pride in who you are and your Italian heritage. My Dad looked at my Grandmother and very innocently asked her, "Ma, what's a cutthroat?" Zoom forward around 70 years. My daughter comes homes from school, about the same time The Sopranos was released on HBO, complaining that some kids at school were teasing her and calling her "Mafia Girl." I wish I could say that things have gotten better for Italian Americans and how they are portrayed in popular television and film in the last

  • The Song Of Solomon Voodoo

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Song of Solomon ignites a readers imagination by supplying a commonly known man vs man and man vs himself plot with many interesting twists and turns throughout the novel that make it, uniquely its own. Some of these twists and turns include the curious use of voodoo. Voodoo is a black religious cult practiced in the Caribbean and the southern US, combining elements of Roman Catholic ritual with traditional African magical and religious rites, and characterized by sorcery and spirit possession

  • The Life of Amazing Opera Singers

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    over the world. In the 1800s, Italian Opera soon began to take over all of Europe. The most known Opera singer is Mozart, who is most known for the comic operas. The soprano voice is the voice typically used as the choice for the female of the opera since the 18th century. Earlier, it was common for parts to be sung by any female soprano voice.The tenor voice, from the Classical era, has been assigned the role of male. Beverly Sill was an American Opera singer born May 25, 1929. She was born with the

  • With the Guest by Andrew Camus: The Character of Daru

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the Guest by Andrew Camus: The Character of Daru We have had the opportunity in the last month to read many short story selections, giving us examples of many different things. When asked to pick a character to analyze it was a tough decision but I would have to go with the story that most interested me to choose my character. This story would be "With the Guest", written by Albert Camus. With the main character of this story is Daru. In the following paragraphs I will analyze the type of

  • Morris Gleitzman's Boy Overboard

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    You Won’t Get Bored Reading “Boy Overboard” One of my favourite books is “Boy Overboard” because its story has remained with me ever since I first read it in year six. The unique story line makes the book’s approach to refugee crisis not only relevant to Australia’s refugee crisis relevant but also a fascinating read as it has been written from the point of view of a child. The book “Boy Overboard was written by Morris Gleitzman. The narrative covers Bibi and Jamal’s treacherous journey from war

  • Communication In A Note On A Marriage

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    Communication is a vital component of everyday relationships in all of mankind. In plays, there are many usual staging and dialogue techniques that directors use to achieve the attention of the audience. However, in the play, “Post-its (Notes on a Marriage)”, the authors Paul Dooley and Winnie Holzman use both staging and conversation in order to convey the struggles of modern relationships. The play is unconventional in how it attempts to have the audience react in a unique way. The authors use

  • The Portrayal of the Gangster Genre in American and British Cinema in 'Goodfellas' by Martin Scorcese and 'Layer Cake' by Matthew Vaughn

    2138 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Portrayal of the Gangster Genre in American and British Cinema in 'Goodfellas' by Martin Scorcese and 'Layer Cake' by Matthew Vaughn The media has a vital role in the characterization of the gangster genre and presents a particular image with which the audience forms certain associations and expectations. For example, the use of transport, clothing, language and weapons are key paradigms that are executed to ensure that the gangster genre is presented the way one would expect it to be