I emailed this thread to my teacher for her input and she said that basically none of us got it right in defining a contralto. In spite of what the dictionary website shows as a contralto range, it is not really a RANGE so much as the TIMBRE and WEIGHT of the voice.

quote "...The range is just one of the factors that goes into a voice category..... Schuman-Hink can be found on old records - real true contralto. I'll have to give this some thought as to who the current ones are - they often find their way into Wagnerian music.
Anyway, the timbre and weight of the voice is more important than the range in this case. Suzanne" end quote

I'll post more when I receive it.

Alice