Post by morwen9 on Aug 9, 2012 21:59:50 GMT
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPoqQdSeAXc. This is a clip from the 1929 film version of The Desert Song featuring Marie Wells as Clementina and Jack Pratt as Ali Ben Ali. Checking StageAgent's Desert Song page and looking at the character descriptions on Google Books reveals that Clementina is a mezzo.
I have a voice that sounds very like Marie Wells' when I sing. Her voice from the impression I get in that film clip, was light and so is mine. I've been classified more recently as a soprano, (my first teacher said I was a mezzo) but I've heard mezzos with light voices like me. And I can sing the role of Clementina. Unfortunately I haven't yet actually had a chance to play the role. Since every other actor in that production fits the voice type of the character they were cast as, (the good voices are one of the best aspects of that movie) I think it's unlikely they would have cast a soprano as Clementina in 1929 although there have been sopranos playing the role. So was Marie Wells a mezzo with a light voice or a soprano?
I have a voice that sounds very like Marie Wells' when I sing. Her voice from the impression I get in that film clip, was light and so is mine. I've been classified more recently as a soprano, (my first teacher said I was a mezzo) but I've heard mezzos with light voices like me. And I can sing the role of Clementina. Unfortunately I haven't yet actually had a chance to play the role. Since every other actor in that production fits the voice type of the character they were cast as, (the good voices are one of the best aspects of that movie) I think it's unlikely they would have cast a soprano as Clementina in 1929 although there have been sopranos playing the role. So was Marie Wells a mezzo with a light voice or a soprano?
