Soprano

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This article is about the singing voice part. For other uses, see Soprano (disambiguation).

A soprano is a singer with a voice range from approximately middle C (C4) to "high A" (A5) in choral music, or to "soprano C" (C6, two octaves above middle C) or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody.

Male singers whose voices have not yet changed are known either as "boy sopranos" or in church traditions as boy sopranos, whilst adult male sopranos are known as countertenors or sopranists.

Historically women were not allowed to sing in the Church so the soprano roles were given to young boys and later to castrato - men whose larynxes had been fixed in a pre-adolescent state through the process of castration.

More generally a soprano is a relatively high pitched member of a group of similar instruments.

Types of soprano and soprano roles in opera In opera, the tessitura, vocal weight, and timbre of soprano voices, and the roles they sing, are commonly categorized into voice types, often called fächer (sg. fach, from German Fach or Stimmfach, "vocal category").

A note on vocal range vs. tessitura: Choral music and pop music singers are classified into voice parts based on vocal range; solo classical music singers are classified into voice types based in part on tessitura – where the voice has the best timbre and easy Dynamics (music). For instance a soprano and a mezzo-soprano may have the same range, but their tessituras will lie in different parts of that range.

The low extreme for sopranos is roughly B3 or A3 (just below middle C). Often low notes in higher voices project less, lack timbre, and tend to "count less" in roles (although some Verdi, Strauss and Wagner roles call for stronger singing below the staff). Rarely is a soprano simply unable to hit a low note.

The high extreme: at a minimum, non-coloratura sopranos have to reach "soprano C" (C6, two octaves above middle C), and many roles in the standard repertoire call for D6 or D-flat6. A couple of roles have optional E-flat6’s, as well. In the coloratura repertoire several roles call for E-flat6, and the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute has several staccato F6’s, though few singers will have this role in their repertoire. While not necessarily within the tessitura, a good soprano will be able to sing her top notes full-throated, with timbre and Dynamics (music) control.

Following are the operatic soprano classifications, with their standard repertory roles:

Coloratura soprano

Lyric coloratura soprano - A very agile light voice with a high upper extension, capable of fast vocal coloratura. Bel canto roles were typically written for this voice, and a wide variety of other composers have also written coloratura parts. Baroque music, early music and baroque opera also have many roles for this voice.

Singers include Natalie Dessay, Ruth Ann Swenson, Kristin Chenoweth, and Beverly Sills. * Adina, L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti) * Amina, La sonnambula (Bellini) * Elvira, I puritani (Bellini) * Gilda, Rigoletto (opera) (Verdi) * Ilia, Idomeneo (Mozart) * Lakmé, Lakmé (Delibes) * Lucia, Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) * Olympia, The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach) * Oscar, Un ballo in maschera (Verdi) -- trouser role

Dramatic coloratura soprano - A coloratura soprano with great flexibility in high-lying velocity passages, yet with great sustaining power. Various dramatic coloratura roles have different vocal demands for the singer - for instance, the voice that can sing Abigail (Nabucco, Verdi) is unlikely to also sing Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti), but a factor in common is that the voice must be able to convey dramatic intensity as well as flexibility. Roles written specifically for this kind of voice include the more dramatic Mozart and bel canto female roles and early Verdi.

Examples of dramatic coloraturas include Edita Gruberova, Luba Orgonasova, Diana Damrau, Joan Sutherland and June Anderson. Some will also include the phenomenal Maria Callas in this category, but Callas was more a spinto with an unusual facility for coloratura and bel canto, and her voice should be considered as anomalous in its own right. * Abigaille, Nabucco (Verdi) * Donna Anna, Don Giovanni (Mozart) * Elettra, Idomeneo (Mozart) * Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte (Mozart) * Konstanze, The Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart) * Leonora, Il trovatore (Verdi) * Norma, Norma (opera) (Bellini) * The Queen of the Night, The Magic Flute (Mozart) * Violetta, La traviata (Verdi) It should also be noted that several of the above roles are also the province of lyric coloraturas, and that some dramatic coloraturas move easily between the lyric coloratura, the pure lyric soprano, the soubrette and the dramatic coloratura, although rarely into lirico spinto territory.

Soubrette A light voice with a bright, sweet timbre and a tessitura in the mid-range. In opera, this voice often plays comedic, saucy, but likable characters, and some soubrettes can also sing lyric coloratura roles such as Rigoletto or Don Pasquale. In addition, baroque music, early music and baroque opera, as well as many art songs, all call for this kind of beautiful, light voice. Soubrette roles in turn may be performed by light lyric and lyric coloratura voices, and sometimes by mezzo-sopranos as well. Singers include Elisabeth Schumann, Kathleen Battle, and Dawn Upshaw. * Amore, Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck) * Blonde, The Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart) * Despina, Così fan tutte (Mozart) * Nannetta, Falstaff (opera) (Verdi) * Susanna, The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) * Zerlina, Don Giovanni (Mozart)

Lyric soprano A warm voice with a bright, full timbre which can be heard over an orchestra. It generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenue (stock character)s and other sympathetic characters in opera. There is a tendency to divide lyric sopranos into two groups:

Light Lyric soprano - Light lyrics often have a “full package” of musicianship, appearance and stagecraft. This voice needs to be careful in its repertory choices, because smaller houses may offer them meatier (especially spinto) roles if they have good stage presence. Then as they become successful, if they take these heavier roles into larger houses they will damage their voices. There are a wide variety of roles written for this voice, and they may sing soubrette, baroque opera and other light roles as well.

Singers include Lucrezia Bori, Anna Netrebko, Barbara Bonney and Ileana Cotrubaş. * Euridice, Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck) * Gretel, Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck) * Manon, Manon (Massenet) * Marzelline, Fidelio (Beethoven) * Pamina, Die Zauberflote (Mozart) * Sophie, Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss)

Full Lyric soprano - Some full lyrics may have a more mature sound than light lyrics, making them less suitable for some of the lighter roles. Occasionally a full lyric will have a big enough voice that she can take on much heavier roles, using Dynamics (music) in place of vocal weight. This is done when a more lyric timbre is desired in an otherwise heavier role. Otherwise full lyric sopranos need be judicious with spinto and other heavy roles to prevent vocal deterioration.

Singers include Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Victoria de los Ángeles, Lisa della Casa, Anna Moffo, Mirella Freni, Teresa Stratas, Kiri Te Kanawa, Angela Gheorghiu, Eleanor Steber, Montserrat Caballé and Renee Fleming. * Antonia, The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach) * Juliette, Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) * La Countessa, The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) * Liù, Turandot (Puccini) * Magda, La Rondine (Puccini) * Marguerite, Faust (opera) (Gounod) * Mimì, La bohème (Puccini) * Micaëla, Carmen (Bizet) * Nedda, Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) also Spinto Soprano * Rusalka, Rusalka (Dvořák) * Tatyana, Yevgeny Onegin (Tchaikovsky)

Spinto soprano Also lirico-spinto, Italian for "pushed lyric". It has the brightness and height of a lyric soprano, but can be "pushed" to dramatic climaxes without strain, and may have a somewhat darker timbre. It generally uses squillo to "slice" through a full orchestra (rather than singing over it like a dramatic soprano). It also handles Dynamics (music) very well. The spinto repertoire includes many Verdi, verismo and Puccini roles, some of which are very popular in opera. The fact that spinto sopranos are uncommon means that these popular roles are often performed by singers from other classifications, and more than a few lyric sopranos have damaged their voices singing spinto roles. Singers include Zinka Milanov, Leontyne Price and Aprile Millo * Adriana, Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea) * Aïda, Aïda (Verdi) * Alice Ford, Falstaff (opera) (Verdi) * Butterfly, Madama Butterfly (Puccini) * Desdemona, Otello (Verdi) * Elisabetta, Don Carlos (Verdi) * Leonora, La forza del destino (Verdi) * Lisa, The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky) * Maddalena, Andrea Chénier (Giordano) * Manon, Manon Lescaut (Puccini) (Puccini) * Margherita, Mefistofele (Boito) * Maria/Amelia, Simon Boccanegra (Verdi) * The Marschallin, Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss) * Rusalka, Rusalka (opera) (Dvořák) * Tatiana, Eugene Onegin (opera) (Tchaikovsky)

Dramatic soprano A powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually mean less agility than lighter voices but a sustained fuller sound. Usually (but not always) this voice has a lower tessitura than other sopranos, and a darker timbre. Used for heroic, tragic women of opera. Singers include,Ghena Dimitrova, Jessye Norman, Karita Mattila and Deborah Voigt. * Cassandre, Les Troyens (Berlioz) * Chrysothemis, Elektra (opera) (Richard Strauss) * Elisabeth, Tannhäuser (opera) (Wagner) * Elsa, Lohengrin (opera) (Wagner) * Eva, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner) * Gioconda, La Gioconda (opera) (Ponchielli) * Leonore/Fidelio, Fidelio (Beethoven) * Sieglinde, Die Walküre (Wagner) * Floria Tosca, Tosca (Puccini) * Turandot, Turandot (Puccini)

Wagnerian soprano - A dramatic voice that can assert itself over a large orchestra (over eighty pieces); substantial, very powerful and even throughout the registers. Usually plays a mythic heroine. Successful Wagnerian sopranos are rare, only one or two appear in a generation; most knowledgable people agree that there are no true Wagnerians singing today.

Singers include Kirsten Flagstad, Astrid Varnay and Birgit Nilsson. * Brünnhilde, Die Walküre, Siegfried (opera), Götterdämmerung (Wagner) * Elektra, Elektra (opera) (Richard Strauss) * Isolde, Tristan und Isolde (Wagner) * Kundry, Parsifal (Wagner) * Salome, Salome (opera) (Richard Strauss) * Senta, Der fliegende Holländer (Wagner)

Other soprano types Two types of soprano especially dear to the French are the Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre and the Marie-Cornélie Falcon, which are intermediate voice types between the soprano and the mezzo soprano: a Dugazon is a darker-colored soubrette, a Falcon a darker-colored soprano drammatico.

Soprano roles in operettas

Adele (Die Fledermaus)
Cunegonde (Candide (operetta))
Hanna (Die lustige Witwe)
Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus)

The Gilbert and Sullivan Savoy operas also have prominent soprano roles.

Soprano roles in musicals

Carlotta (The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical))
Cosette (Les Misérables (musical))
Christine Daae (The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical))
Eileen (Wonderful Town)
Emma (Jekyll and Hyde)
Eve/Princess Barbára/Ella/Passionella (The Apple Tree)
Glinda (Wicked)
Hope (Anything Goes)
Johanna (Sweeney Todd (musical))
Julie (Show Boat)
Julie Jordan (Carousel (musical))
Laurey (Oklahoma!)
Maria (The Sound of Music)
Maria (West Side Story)
Marian Paroo (The Music Man)
Sandy Dumbroski (Grease)
Sarah (Guys and Dolls)
Teresa (The Maid of the Mountains)
Maggie (A Chorus Line)
Sally (You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown)
Sally Brown(Peanuts)

Contemporary and crossover sopranos