Contralto

A contralto is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to, but different from the alto, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically between the F below middle C (F3 in scientific pitch notation) to the second F above middle C (F5), although, at the extremes, some voices can reach the E below middle C (E3) or the second B♭ above middle C (B♭5). The contralto voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic contralto.

History
"Contralto" is primarily meaningful only in reference to classical and operatic singing, as other traditions lack a comparable system of vocal categorization. The term "contralto" is only applied to female singers; men singing in a similar range are called "countertenors". The Italian terms "contralto" and "alto" are not synonymous, the latter technically denoting a specific vocal range in choral singing without regard to factors like tessitura, vocal timbre, vocal facility, and vocal weight.

Voice type
The contralto has the lowest vocal range of the female voice types, with the lowest tessitura.

The contralto voice range is between tenor and mezzo-soprano. Although tenors and baritones are usually male singers, some women can sing as low and are called "female tenors" or "female baritones." With the exception of very rare female singers, such terms are usually informal (slang). More formal terminology would be contralto profundo (tenor) and contralto basso or oktavistka (baritone) but these are not traditionally named among the fach system.

Some of the rare contraltos that can sing the female equivalent of tenor and baritone include Zarah Leander, Ruby Helder,  and Bally Prell.

Subtypes and roles in opera
Within the contralto voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories: coloratura contralto, lyric contralto, and dramatic contralto. These subtypes do not always apply with precision to individual singers; some exceptional dramatic contraltos, such as Ernestine Schumann-Heink and Sigrid Onégin, were technically equipped to perform not only heavy, dramatic music by the likes of Wagner but also florid compositions by Donizetti.

Coloratura
The coloratura contralto has a light, agile voice ranging very high for the classification and atypically maintains extensive coloratura and high sustaining notes, specializing in florid passages and leaps. Given its deviations from the classification's norms, this voice type is quite rare.

Lyric
The lyric contralto voice is lighter than a dramatic contralto but not capable of the ornamentation and leaps of a coloratura contralto. This class of contralto, lighter in timbre than the others, is the most common today and usually ranges from the E below middle C (E3) to the second G above middle C (G5).

Dramatic
The dramatic contralto is the deepest, darkest, and heaviest contralto voice, usually having a heavier tone and more power than the others. Singers in this class are rare.

True operatic contraltos are rare, and the operatic literature contains few roles written specifically for them. Contraltos sometimes are assigned feminine roles like Angelina in La Cenerentola, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Teodata in "Flavio", Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri, and Olga in Eugene Onegin, but more frequently they play female villains or trouser roles. Contraltos may also be cast in roles originally written for castrati. A common saying among contraltos is that they may play only "witches, bitches, or britches."

Examples of contralto roles in the standard operatic repertoire include the following:.


 * Angelina*, La Cenerentola (Rossini)
 * Arsace, Semiramide (Rossini)
 * Art Banker, Facing Goya (Nyman)
 * Auntie*, landlady of The Boar, Peter Grimes (Britten)
 * Azucena*, Il trovatore (Verdi)
 * The Baroness, Vanessa (Barber)
 * Bradamante, Alcina (Handel)
 * La Cieca, La Gioconda (Ponchielli)
 * Cornelia Giulio Cesare (Handel)
 * The Countess*, The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky)
 * Didone, Egisto (Cavalli)
 * Erda, Das Rheingold, Siegfried (Wagner)
 * Madame Flora, The Medium (Menotti)
 * Fides, Le prophète (Meyerbeer)
 * Florence, Albert Herring (Britten)
 * Isabella*, L'italiana in Algeri (Rossini)
 * Katisha, The Mikado (Gilbert and Sullivan)
 * Klytemnestra*, Elektra (Richard Strauss)
 * Lel, The Snow Maiden (Rimsky-Korsakov)
 * Little Buttercup, H.M.S. Pinafore (Gilbert and Sullivan)
 * Lucretia, The Rape of Lucretia (Britten)
 * Maddalena*, Rigoletto (Verdi)
 * Magdelone, Maskarade (Nielsen)
 * Mama Lucia, Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni)
 * Ma Moss, The Tender Land (Copland)
 * Malcolm*, La donna del lago (Rossini)
 * Margret, Wozzeck (Berg)
 * Maria, Porgy and Bess (Gershwin)
 * The Marquise of Berkenfield, ''La fille du régiment (Donizetti)
 * Marthe, Faust (Gounoud)
 * Mary, Der fliegende Holländer (Wagner)
 * Mother, The Consul (Menotti)
 * Mother Goose, The Rake's Progress (Stravinsky)
 * Mrs Quickly, Falstaff (Verdi)
 * Norn (I), Götterdämmerung (Wagner)
 * Olga*, Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky)
 * Orfeo, Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck)
 * Orsini, Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti)
 * Pauline, The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky)
 * La Principessa, Suor Angelica (Puccini)
 * Ratmir, Ruslan and Lyudmila (Glinka)
 * Rosina*, The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
 * Rosmira/Eurimene*, Partenope (Handel)
 * Ruth, The Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert and Sullivan)
 * Schwertleite, Die Walküre (Wagner)
 * Smeaton, Anna Bolena (Donizetti)
 * Sosostris, The Midsummer Marriage (Tippett)
 * Stella, What Next? (Carter)
 * Tancredi, Tancredi (Rossini)
 * Ulrica, Un ballo in maschera (Verdi)
 * Widow Begbick*, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Weill)
 * 3rd Woodsprite, Rusalka (Dvořák)
 * indicates a role that may also be sung by a mezzo-soprano.
 * indicates a role that may also be sung by a mezzo-soprano.