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Author: peccantis

Jun 4th 2012 at 12:59:09 PM

I am SO certain. I once YKTTWd this but... I cannot seem to find anything. Anyways, I'm not sure of the current form of this proposition.

Altos are not always evil. But sure enough, an alto is ''never'' the heroine. If they're not antagonist, they're a minor role, usually a mature or elderly lady who has no danger or romantic subplots. Notable alto roles in general are pretty rare. There are three main reasons: first, actual altos are pretty rare; most naturally deep female voices can through training reach the mezzo soprano scale, and if not that, at least perform some of the less high-climbing mezzo soprano roles. Second, a mezzo soprano is more flexible: they can usually perform an alto scale more or less completely, and also go higher for added value. Writing an alto role is basically writing a one-legged mezzo soprano role, to put it crudely. [[hottip:*:At this point, I'd like to point out that I am a very low voice, and although my teacher insists I am mezzo soprano I have always felt more at home at the tenor scale. And disliked most soprano voices I hear as too sharp. So I don't mean to pull altos down or anything.]] Third, the lower scale of female voices lacks the, so to say, drama and sparkle of the higher one. Not many altos (or mezzos at the alto range) can produce a voice that is clear and sounding enough over an orchestra. One would want their main roles to be audible to the audience, thus one would write them higher rather than lower on the scale.