Mezzo (pronounced metso) is an italian word meaning ΓÇ£halfΓÇ¥, or ΓÇ£the area in the middleΓÇ¥. (In a building, a mezzanine floor is one that lies half-way between two others). The mezzo-soprano voice-type (or ΓÇ£mezzoΓÇ¥ for short) lies below that of the soprano, in range of pitch, but above that of the contralto. She is normally expected to have a low G (below middle C) and sing up nearly two octaves to a high A. In choral singing the voice is often called the alto, a term which should really apply only to males who can sing a similar range of notes.
Think of the great operatic heroines, Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, for example, or Mimi in Puccini’s La Bohème and you tend to think of sopranos. Mezzos have a small share in glamorous rôles as well - Bizet’s Carmen being the most popular. This tragic part shows off the sensuality and plain humanity of the middle female voice.
Like that of the baritone, the range of the mezzo-soprano is nearer to that of the notes used in ordinary speech, and therefore we can easily empathise with her thoughts and her sentiments as belonging to the reality of our own lives - or, at least, how we would like them to be.
The mezzo also gets to play breeches parts in opera. Two famous boy servants, Octavian in Richard StraussΓÇÖs Der Rosenkavalier and Cherubino in MozartΓÇÖs The marriage of Figaro are r├┤les often stolen by sopranos. But they really belong to mezzos, caught as they are in illicit affairs with their respective mistresses, and fated to second place in the queue by the finale.
