VERA LITTLE AFRICAN AMERICAN OPERA STAR CONTRALTO SIGNED PHOTO BERLIN

Description

VERA LITTLE AFRICAN AMERICAN MEZZO-SOPRANO  CONTRALTO SIGNED CARD  MEASURING APPROXIMATELY 5 3/8 X 8 1/4 INCHES  FOR HER PERFORMANCE IN AUGUSTITHIS
Vera Little (1928-2012), a pioneering artist with a commanding voice who was the first African American singer to perform at the Vatican.
Rhodes College and Opera Memphis will partner to present the Opera and Race Symposium Sept. 12-13, when scholars, composers and performers will explore the intersection of race and performance in opera over the past century.
On the surface, Memphis does not seem to play a part in the narrative, but by digging down, the city shows — as it always does — just how deep its influence goes. The home of the blues was also home to mezzo-soprano Vera Little (1928-2012), a pioneering artist with a commanding voice who was the first African American singer to perform at the Vatican.
I first learned about Vera Little through Emerson Able Jr., the legendary band director who taught at Manassas High School from the 1960s-1980s where he trained generations of Memphis greats, including Isaac Hayes. Among my prized possessions is a blue manila folder he gave me that contains pictures and articles he collected over the years, as well as beautifully handwritten lists of significant Memphis musicians.
Vera Little
Vera Little
Little’s name appears under the “Classical” subheading. As my students at Rhodes will attest, I talk about Manassas often and especially Booker Little (1938-1961), Vera’s younger brother and jazz trumpeter who was in school there in the 1950s along with future jazz greats George Coleman, Charles Lloyd, Harold Mabern, Hank Crawford and Frank Strozier. They studied under Matthew Garrett (Dee Dee Bridgewater’s father) and were so influential that Miles Davis said in his autobiography, "Miles": “I wonder what they were doing down there when all them guys came through that one school.”
While most of this group went on to have storied careers (Lloyd and Coleman were each named NEA Jazz Masters in 2015), Booker Little died at the age of 23, leaving behind a catalog of breathtaking recordings and dreams of what might have been.
Vera Little was originally an interesting footnote to the Booker Little story for me — an older sister whose career as an opera singer reinforced the musical acumen of the family. But her story is even more remarkable. Born in 1928, Vera was 10 years older than Booker and well into her career by the time his was beginning. Following Manassas, she attended Talladega College in Alabama and performed with the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Academy of Music before being awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 1954 to continue her studies at the Paris Conservatory.
Mezzo-soprano Vera Little of Memphis is greeted by Pope John XXIII at a concert in the Vatican on April 4, 1959. (Associated Press)
Mezzo-soprano Vera Little of Memphis is greeted by Pope John XXIII at a concert in the Vatican on April 4, 1959. (Associated Press)
She made her debut as the lead role in Georges Bizet’s "Carmen" in 1958 at the Städtische Oper  (municipal opera house) in Berlin. This performance was met with protests by students who yelled “Little, go home” from the balcony. While racial issues were likely a factor, Little downplayed these, saying that it was the modern interpretation of the work that led to the protests.
Despite her tumultuous debut, she quickly established herself as a top performer in Europe and would regularly revisit the role of Carmen over a career that spanned five decades. She was known for being equally adept in traditional roles — her voice was particularly well suited to Verdi and Wagner operas — as well as modern works. She created and premiered two of the leading roles in operas by Hans Werner Heinze, "Der Junge Lord" (1965) and "The Bassarids" (1966), and championed new works throughout her career.
In 1959, Little was invited by the Italian State Radio-TV Network to perform in a concert for Pope John XXIII at the Vatican. Her historic appearance marked the first time an African American singer — male or female — performed for a pope. Her performance was heralded by newspapers and magazines in Europe and the United States.
Vera Little died in Berlin in 2012, where she lived and worked for most of her life. Her story is a testament not only to her talent and determination, but also to the high level of education students received at schools such as Manassas, Booker T. Washington and Melrose in Memphis. As much as we can learn from her life and career, she has even more to teach us through her own voice, as she does in this recording from 1974.
Overview (2)
Born
December 10, 1928 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Died
October 26, 2012 in Berlin, Germany
Mini Bio (1)
Vera Little was born on December 10, 1928 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She was an actress, known for Der junge Lord (1969), Die Zauberflöte (1964) and Die Eumeniden (1963). She died on October 26, 2012 in Berlin, Germany.
Trivia (1)
Opera singer (contralto).
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (English: /ˈmɛtsoʊ/, /ˈmɛzoʊ/; Italian pronunciation: [ˈmɛddzo soˈpraːno] meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4; 220–880 Hz). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) and as high as "high C" (C6, 1047 Hz).[1] The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano.
Contents
1
History
2
Voice type
3
Subtypes and roles in opera
3.1
Coloratura
3.2
Lyric
3.3
Dramatic
3.4
Gilbert and Sullivan and operetta
4
See also
5
References
6
Further reading
7
External links
History
While mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, notable exceptions include the title role in Bizet's Carmen, Angelina (Cinderella) in Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Rosina in Rossini's Barber of Seville (all of which are also sung by sopranos). Many 19th-century French-language operas give the leading female role to mezzos, including Béatrice et Bénédict, La damnation de Faust, Don Quichotte, La favorite, Dom Sébastien, Charles VI, Mignon, Samson et Dalila, Les Troyens, and Werther, as well as Carmen.
Typical roles for mezzo-sopranos include the stereotypical triad associated with contraltos of "witches, bitches, and britches": witches, nurses, and wise women, such as Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore; villains and seductresses such as Amneris in Verdi's Aida; and "breeches roles" or "trouser roles" (male characters played by female singers) such as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Mezzo-sopranos are well represented in baroque music, early music, and baroque opera.[1] Some roles designated for lighter soubrette sopranos are sung by mezzo-sopranos, who often provide a fuller, more dramatic quality. Such roles include Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte and Zerlina in his Don Giovanni.[2] Mezzos sometimes play dramatic soprano roles such as Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth, and Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal.[3]
Voice type
Mezzo-soprano vocal range (A3–A5) notated on the treble staff (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4).
{ \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } a4 a''4 }
The vocal range of the mezzo-sopranos lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a heavier, darker tone than sopranos. The mezzo-soprano voice resonates in a higher range than that of a contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, after the names of famous singers. Usually men singing within the female range are called countertenors since there is a lighter more breathy tonal (falsetto) quality difference.[4] In current operatic practice, female singers with very low tessituras are often included among mezzo-sopranos, because singers in both ranges are able to cover the other, and true operatic contraltos are very rare.[1]
Subtypes and roles in opera
Within the mezzo-soprano voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories: coloratura mezzo-soprano, lyric mezzo-soprano, and dramatic mezzo-soprano.
Coloratura
A coloratura mezzo-soprano has a warm lower register and an agile high register. The roles they sing often demand not only the use of the lower register but also leaps into the upper tessitura with highly ornamented, rapid passages. They have a range from approximately the G below middle C (G3, 196 Hz) to the B two octaves above middle C (B5, 988 Hz). Some coloratura mezzo-sopranos can sing up to high C (C6, 1047 Hz) or high D (D6, 1175 Hz), but this is very rare.[1] What distinguishes these voices from being called sopranos is their extension into the lower register and warmer vocal quality. Although coloratura mezzo-sopranos have impressive and at times thrilling high notes, they are most comfortable singing in the middle of their range, rather than the top.[3]
Many of the hero roles in the operas of Handel and Monteverdi, originally sung by male castrati, can be successfully sung today by coloratura mezzo-sopranos. Rossini demanded similar qualities for his comic heroines, and Vivaldi wrote roles frequently for this voice as well. Coloratura mezzo-sopranos also often sing lyric-mezzo-soprano roles or soubrette roles.[2]
Coloratura mezzo-soprano roles in operas (*denotes a lead role):
Angelina (Cenerentola), La Cenerentola (Rossini)*
Ariodante, Ariodante (Handel)*
Baba the Turk, The Rake's Progress (Stravinsky)
Griselda, Griselda (Vivaldi)*
Isabella, L'italiana in Algeri (Rossini)*
Isolier, Le comte Ory (Rossini)*
Julius Caesar, Giulio Cesare (Handel)*
Orsini, Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti)
Romeo, I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Vincenzo Bellini)*
Ruggiero, Alcina (Handel)*
Rosina, The Barber of Seville (Rossini)*
Serse, Serse (Handel)*
Tancredi, Tancredi (Rossini)*
Lyric
The lyric mezzo-soprano has a range from approximately the G below middle C (G3, 196 Hz) to the A two octaves above middle C (A5, 880 Hz).[1] This voice has a very smooth, sensitive and at times lachrymose quality. Lyric mezzo-sopranos do not have the vocal agility of the coloratura mezzo-soprano or the size of the dramatic mezzo-soprano. The lyric mezzo-soprano is ideal for most trouser roles.[3]
Lyric mezzo-soprano roles in operas (*denotes a lead role):
Ariadne, The Minotaur (Birtwistle)
Carmen, Carmen (Bizet)*
Charlotte, Werther (Massenet)*
The Composer, Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss)
Dido, Dido and Aeneas (Purcell)*
Hänsel, Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck)*
Jo, Little Women (Mark Adamo)
Marguerite, La damnation de Faust (Berlioz)*
Meg, Little Women (Mark Adamo)
Mignon, Mignon (Ambroise Thomas)*
Miranda, The Tempest (Thomas Adès)
Mother, Amahl and the Night Visitors (Menotti)*
Nicklausse, The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach)
Octavian, Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss)*
The Pilgrim, L'Amour de loin (Kaija Saariaho)*
Sesto, Giulio Cesare (Handel)
Siebel, Faust (Gounod)
Sorceress, Dido and Aeneas (Purcell)
Stephano, Roméo et Juliette (Charles Gounod)
Suzuki, Madama Butterfly (Puccini)
Dramatic
A dramatic mezzo-soprano has a strong medium register, a warm high register and a voice that is broader and more powerful than the lyric and coloratura mezzo-sopranos. This voice has less vocal facility than the coloratura mezzo-soprano. The range of the dramatic mezzo-soprano is from approximately the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) to the G two octaves above middle C (G5, 784 Hz).[1] The dramatic mezzo-soprano can sing over an orchestra and chorus with ease and was often used in the 19th century opera, to portray older women, mothers, witches and evil characters. Verdi wrote many roles for this voice in the Italian repertoire and there are also a few good roles in the French Literature. The majority of these roles, however, are within the German Romantic repertoire of composers like Wagner and Richard Strauss. Like coloratura mezzos, dramatic mezzos are also often cast in lyric mezzo-soprano roles.[3]
Dramatic mezzo-soprano roles in operas (*denotes a lead role):
Azucena, Il trovatore (Verdi)*
Amneris, Aida (Verdi)*
Adelaide, Arabella (Richard Strauss)
Brangäne, Tristan und Isolde (Richard Wagner)
The Gingerbread Witch, Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck)
The Countess, The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky)
Dalila, Samson and Delilah (Saint-Saëns)*
Dido, Les Troyens (Berlioz)*
Eboli, Don Carlos (Verdi)
Fricka, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre (Wagner)
Herodias, Salome (Richard Strauss)
Judith, Bluebeard's Castle (Bartók)*
Klytämnestra, Elektra (Richard Strauss)
Laura, La Gioconda (Ponchielli)
Marina, Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky)
Gertrude (Mother), Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck)
Ortrud, Lohengrin (Wagner)
Princess de Bouillon, Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea)
Waltraute, Götterdämmerung (Wagner)
Gilbert and Sullivan and operetta
All of Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas have at least one mezzo-soprano character. Notable operetta roles are:
The Lady Angela, Patience (Gilbert and Sullivan)
Constance, The Sorcerer (Gilbert and Sullivan)
Cousin Hebe, H.M.S. Pinafore (Gilbert and Sullivan)
Edith, The Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert and Sullivan)
Iolanthe, Iolanthe (Gilbert and Sullivan)
Mad Margaret, Ruddigore (Gilbert and Sullivan)
Melissa, Princess Ida (Gilbert and Sullivan)
Pitti-Sing, The Mikado (Gilbert and Sullivan)
Phoebe Meryll, The Yeomen of the Guard (Gilbert and Sullivan)
The Lady Saphir, Patience (Gilbert and Sullivan)
Tessa, The Gondoliers (Gilbert and Sullivan)
See also
Category of mezzo-sopranos
Fach, the German system for classifying voices
Voice classification in non-classical music
List of mezzo-sopranos in non-classical music
A contralto (Italian pronunciation: [konˈtralto]) is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.[1]
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, 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 D below middle C (D3)[2] or the second B♭ above middle C (B♭5).[1] The contralto voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic contralto.
Contents
1
History
2
Voice type
3
Subtypes and roles in opera
4
See also
5
References
6
Further reading
7
External links
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".[3] The Italian terms "contralto" and "alto" are not synonymous, "alto" technically denoting a specific vocal range in choral singing without regard to factors like tessitura, vocal timbre, vocal facility, and vocal weight.[4] However, there exists some French choral writing (including that of Ravel and Poulenc) with a part labeled "contralto", despite the tessitura and function being that of a classical alto part. The Saracen princess Clorinde in André Campra's 1702 opera Tancréde was written for Julie d'Aubigny and is considered the earliest major role for bas-dessus or contralto voice.[5]
Voice type
Contralto vocal range (F3–F5) notated on the treble staff (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4).
{ \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } f4 f''4 }
The contralto has the lowest vocal range of the female voice types, with the lowest tessitura.[3][6]
The contralto vocal range is between tenor and mezzo-soprano. Although tenors, baritones, and basses are male singers, some women can sing as low (albeit with a slightly different timbre and texture) as their male counterparts and are often erroneously referred to as "female tenors", "female baritones", or "female basses". Formal terminology[7] might logically be contralto profundo (tenor) and contralto basso or oktavistka (baritone), but these are not traditional.
Some of the rare singers who specialized in the tenor and baritone registers include film actress Zarah Leander,[8][9] the Persian āvāz singer Hayedeh[10][failed verification], the child prodigy Ruby Helder (1890 –1938),[11][12] and Bavarian novelty singer Bally Prell.[13][14]
Subtypes and roles in opera
Within the contralto voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories: coloratura contralto, an agile voice specializing in florid passages; lyric contralto, a voice lighter in timbre; and dramatic contralto, the deepest, darkest, and most powerful contralto voice. 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.
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."[15]
Examples of contralto roles in the standard operatic repertoire include the following:[15]
Angelina*, La Cenerentola (Rossini)
Arsace, Semiramide (Rossini)
Art Banker, Facing Goya (Nyman)
Azucena*, Il trovatore (Verdi)
Auntie*, landlady of The Boar, Peter Grimes (Britten)
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.
See also
Category of contraltos
List of operatic contraltos
Fach, the German system for classifying voices
Voice classification in non-classical music
List of contraltos in non-classical music