Soprano
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- This article is about singers. For the popular HBO television drama series about the Italian-American mafia, see The Sopranos.
In music, a soprano is a singer with a voice that ranges from, approximately, the A below middle C to "high C", two octaves above middle C (i.e. A3-C6). Rarely, a soprano will be able to reach higher octaves. In four part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody.
The word "soprano" generally refers to a female singer of this highest vocal range and to her voice. Male singers whose voices have not yet changed are known either as "boy sopranos" or, in the Anglican and Roman Catholic traditions, as trebles.
Vocal ranges |
Female ranges
Male ranges |
Historically, women were not allowed to sing in the Church, so the soprano roles were given to young boys, and later to castrati, who were 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 (for example, the soprano saxophone).
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[edit] Types of soprano and soprano roles in operas
In opera, the character and timbre of soprano voices are often categorized according to the German Fach system. However, several roles are regularly sung by sopranos who are considered to belong to another "Fach". For example, Dramatic Coloratura Sopranos and Full Lyrics often sing Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor). Sopranos usually play the heroine in opera. The soprano Fächer, with examples of respective roles, are:
- Soubrette: A sweet, lightweight voice whose range is mostly in middle voice. Plays comedic, saucy, but likable characters.
Common vocal ranges represented on a musical keyboard |
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- Amor (Orfeo ed Euridice)
- Ännchen (Der Freischütz)
- Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro)
- Belinda (Dido and Aeneas)
- Despina (Così fan tutte)
- Lisa (La Sonnambula)
- Marzellina (Fidelio)
- Musetta (La Bohème)
- Nannetta (Falstaff)
- Servilia (La Clemenza di Tito)
- Sofie (Der Rosenkavalier)
- Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro)
- Tamyris (Il Re Pastore)
- Zerlina (Don Giovanni)
- Lyric Coloratura: A light, acrobatic voice, with a range into the 6th octave.
- Adina (L'Elisir d'Amore)
- Agrippina (Agrippina)
- Alcina (Alcina)
- Alminera (Rinaldo)
- Amina (La Sonnambula)
- Anne Truelove (The Rake's Progress)
- Blondchen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
- Celia (Lucio Silla)
- Dorabella (Cosi Fan Tutte)
- Elisa (Il Re Pastore)
- Elvira (I Puritani)
- Gilda (Rigoletto)
- Ilia (Idomeneo)
- Lakmé (Lakmé)
- Magda (La Rondine)
- Norina (Don Pasquale)
- Olympia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann)
- Ophélie (Hamlet)
- Oskar (Un Ballo in Maschera)
- Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos)
- Dramatic Coloratura: A voice with a beautiful lyric line, the agility to sing coloratura, and the capability of dramatic outbursts.
- Anna Bolena (Anna Bolena)
- Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare)
- Donna Anna (Don Giovanni)
- Elena (I Vespri Siciliani)
- Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte)
- Giovanna (Giovanna d’Arco)
- Giselda (I Lombardi)
- Julie (La Vestale)
- Königin der Nacht (Queen of the Night) (Die Zauberflöte) N.B. The Queen of the Night is a specialty role, and is not representative of the Dramatic Coloratura Fach.
- Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
- Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)
- Leonora (Il Trovatore)
- Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor)
- Lucrezia (Lucrezia Borgia)
- Luisa (Luisa Miller)
- Mathilde (Guillaume Tell)
- Norma (Norma)
- Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus)
- Semiramide (Semiramide)
- Violetta Valery (La Traviata)
- Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito)
- Full Lyric Soprano: A sweet, graceful voice, with range similar to that of the soubrette but with a stronger quality, and stronger upper register. Reserved for ingenues and other sympathetic characters.
- Agathe (Der Freischütz)
- Antonia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann)
- Contessa (Figaro)
- Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice)
- Juliette (Roméo et Juliette)
- Liù (Turandot)
- Manon (Manon)
- Marie (The Daughter of the Regiment)
- Marguerite (Faust)
- Martha (Martha)
- Micaëla (Carmen)
- Mimi (La Bohème)
- Nedda (Pagliacci)
- Pamina (Die Zauberflöte)
- Salome (Herodiade)
- Zaide (Zaide)
- Spinto Soprano: A full lyric voice that can be pushed to dramatic climaxes.
- Agathe (Der Freischütz)
- Aida (Aïda)
- Alice Ford (Falstaff)
- Butterfly (Madama Butterfly)
- Desdemona (Othello)
- Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni)
- Elisabetta (Don Carlos)
- Manon (Manon Lescaut)
- Margherita (Mefistofele)
- Rusalka (Rusalka)
- Tatjana (Eugene Onegin)
- The Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier)
- Wally (La Wally)
- Dramatic soprano: A powerful, rich, emotive voice. Used for the heroic, tragic, and/or victimized women of opera. Range from Bb3 or A3 to C6. (Note: The listed range is not correct for all of the below roles; some exceed the listed range.)
- Abgaille (Nabucco)
- Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera)
- Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos)
- Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly) (Madama Butterfly)
- Elsa (Lohengrin)
- Gioconda (La Gioconda)
- Kundry (Parsifal)
- Leonore (Fidelio)
- Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana)
- Sieglinde (Die Walküre)
- Tosca (Tosca)
- Wagnerian soprano (Hochdramatischer sopran): A dramatic voice that can assert itself as an instrument over a large orchestra (over eighty pieces). Usually a mythic heroine.
- Brünnhilde (Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung)
- Elektra (Elektra)
- Elizabeth (Tannhäuser)
- Isolde (Tristan und Isolde)
- Salome (Salome)
- Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer)
- Turandot (Turandot)
Two types of soprano especially dear to the French are the Dugazon and the 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.
[edit] Soprano roles in operettas and musicals
- Adele (Die Fledermaus)
- Aline (The Sorcerer)
- Beggar Woman (Sweeney Todd)
- Bess (Porgy And Bess)
- Bloody Mary (South Pacific)
- Carlotta Giudicelli (The Phantom Of The Opera)
- Casilda (The Gondoliers)
- Christine Daaé (The Phantom Of The Opera)
- Cinderella (Cinderella)
- Cinderella (Into The Woods)
- Clara (Passion)
- Clara (Porgy And Bess)
- Clara Johnson (The Light In The Piazza)
- Cosette (Les Misérables)
- Cristiane (The King's Rhapsody)
- Cunegonde (Candide)
- Eileen (Wonderful Town)
- Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady)
- Elsie (The Yeomen Of The Guard)
- Emma (Jekyll & Hyde)
- Erzulie (Once On This Island
- Euridice (Orphee aux enfers)
- Franca (The Light In The Piazza)
- Gianetta (The Gondoliers)
- Glinda (Wicked)
- Grace (Annie)
- Hanna (Die Lustige Witwe)
- Helen of Troy (La belle Helene)
- Hodel (Fiddler On The Roof)
- Hope (Anything Goes)
- Ida (Princess Ida)
- Jack's Mother (Into The Woods)
- Janet Weiss (The Rocky Horror Show)
- Jemima (Cats)
- Johanna (Sweeney Todd)
- Josephine (H.M.S. Pinafore)
- Julie (Show Boat)
- Julie Jordan (Carousel)
- Kate (Kiss Me, Kate)
- Laura (The Woman In White)
- Laurey (Oklahoma!)
- Lily St Regis (Annie)
- Lily Craven (The Secret Garden (musical))
- Linda (Gay's The Word)
- Mabel (The Pirates Of Penzance)
- Margaret Johnson (The Light In The Piazza)
- Maria (The Sound Of Music)
- Maria (West Side Story)
- Marian Paroo (The Music Man)
- Melony (Pirates: A Romeo And Juliet Story)
- Mina (The Enchantress)
- Miss Gibbs (Our Miss Gibbs)
- Nina (Song Of Norway)
- Patience (Patience)
- Peep-Bo (The Mikado) - this role could also be played by a mezzo-soprano
- Perichole (La Perichole)
- Phyllis (Iolanthe)
- Rapunzel (Into The Woods)
- Rosa Bud (The Mystery Of Edwin Drood)
- Rose Maybud (Ruddigore)
- Rose Vibert (Aspects Of Love)
- Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus)
- Rosaline (Pirates: A Romeo And Juliet Story)
- Saffi (Der Zigeunerbaron)
- Sarah (The Maid Of The Mountains)
- Sarah (Guys And Dolls)
- Signora Naccarelli (The Light In The Piazza)
- Sombra (The Arcadians)
- Teresa (The Maid Of The Mountains)
- TupTim (The King And I)
- Violet (House Of Flowers)
- Yum-Yum (The Mikado)
[edit] Famous Sopranos
- Aino Ackté
- Elly Ameling
- June Anderson
- Victoria de los Angeles
- Camila Argolo
- Isobel Baillie
- Josephine Barstow
- Kathleen Battle
- Hildegard Behrens
- Gabriela Beňačková
- Erna Berger
- Barbara Bonney
- Inge Borkh
- Tatiana Borodina
- Catherine Bott
- Fabiana Bravo
- Sarah Brightman
- June Bronhill
- Gré Brouwenstijn
- Montserrat Caballé
- Maria Callas
- Lina Cavalieri
- Patrizia Ciofi
- Eliane Coelho
- Ileana Cotrubaş
- Régine Crespin
- Suzanne Danco
- Barbara Daniels
- Lisa Della Casa
- Mireille Delunsch
- Helge Dernesch
- Natalie Dessay
- Daniela Dessì
- Emmy Destinn
- Cristina Deutekom
- Ghena Dimitrova
- Jane Eaglen
- Emma Eames
- Nikki Einfeld
- Agam Englard
- Anne Evans
- Marie-Cornélie Falcon
- Geraldine Farrar
- Eileen Farrell
- Taryn Fiebig
- Kirsten Flagstad
- Renée Fleming
- Nuccia Focile
- Mirella Freni
- Barbara Frittoli
- Inessa Galante
- Amelita Galli-Curci
- Mary Garden
- Hie-Kyung Hong
- Lesley Garrett
- Leyla Gencer
- Véronique Gens
- Angela Gheorghiu
- Deborah Lee Green
- Reri Grist
- Andrea Gruber
- Edita Gruberová
- Elisabeth Grümmer
- Hilde Gueden
- Ingeborg Hallstein
- Heather Harper
- Barbara Hendricks
- Ruth Holton
- Rita Hunter
- Soile Isokoski
- Diana Damrau
- Maria Ivogün
- Gundula Janowitz
- Florence Foster Jenkins
- Maria Jeritza
- Sumi Jo
- Gwyneth Jones
- Jessica Jones
- Sena Jurinac
- Raina Kabaivanska
- Sophie Karthäuser
- Maria Cristina Kiehr
- Emma Kirkby
- Miliza Korjus
- Erika Koth
- Juanita Lascarro
- Marjorie Lawrence
- Evelyn Lear
- Diletta Rizzo Marin
- Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre
- Lotte Lehmann
- Jenny Lind
- Pilar Lorengar
- Felicity Lott
- Victoria Loukianetz
- Malvina Major
- Catherine Malfitano
- Maria Malibran
- Ewa Mallas-Godlewska
- Alessandra Marc
- Ana María Martínez
- Eva Marton
- Valerie Masterson
- Edith Mathis
- Karita Mattila
- Sylvia McNair
- Nellie Melba
- Mady Mesplé
- Zinka Milanov
- Irena Milkevičiūtė
- Yvonne Minton
- Nelly Miricioiu
- Anna Moffo
- Carmen Monarcha
- Grace Moore
- Inva Mula-Tchako
- Rosanna Murphy
- Herva Nelli
- Anna Netrebko
- Mariana Nicolesco
- Birgit Nilsson
- Jessye Norman
- Christiane Oelze
- Magda Olivero
- Luba Orgonasova
- Hasmik Papian
- Mirella Parutto
- Giuditta Pasta
- Adelina Patti
- Kristen Chenoweth
- Maria Pellegrini
- Roberta Peters
- Patricia Petibon
- Sandrine Piau
- Nicola Piovani
- Lily Pons
- Rosa Ponselle
- Lucia Popp
- Isabelle Poulenard
- Leontyne Price
- Ema Pukšec (Ilma De Murska)
- Marijana Radev
- Elisabeth Rethberg
- Katia Ricciarelli
- Mado Robin
- Amanda Roocroft
- Andrea Rost
- Anneliese Rothenberger
- Leonie Rysanek
- Rachel Santesso
- Sylvia Sass
- Bidu Sayão
- Elisabeth Schumann
- Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
- Graziella Sciutti
- Renata Scotto
- Irmgard Seefried
- Meta Seinemeyer
- Luciana Serra
- Anja Silja
- Beverly Sills
- Elisabeth Söderström
- Erna Spoorenberg
- Sigutė Stonytė
- Teresa Stratas
- Rita Streich
- Cheryl Studer
- Joan Sutherland
- Ruth Ann Swenson
- Renata Tebaldi
- Kiri Te Kanawa
- Luisa Tetrazzini
- Maggie Teyte
- Milka Trnina
- Eva Turner
- Dawn Upshaw
- Julia Varady
- Astrid Varnay
- Maria Cristina Viguilla-Navarro
- Veronica Villarroel
- Galina Vishnevskaya
- Deborah Voigt
- Cheryl Boyd Waddell
- Meghan Wagner
- Christine Weidinger
- Ljuba Welitsch
- Chon Wolson
- Patti LaBelle