Coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills.
The term "coloratura" refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice. Within the coloratura category, there are roles written specifically for lighter voices known as lyric coloraturas and others for larger voices known as dramatic coloraturas. Categories within a certain vocal range are determined by the size, weight and color of the voice.
Lyric coloratura soprano
A very agile light voice with a high upper extension, capable of fast vocal coloratura. Lyric coloraturas have a range of approximately middle C (C4) to "high F" (F6). Such a soprano is sometimes referred to as a soprano leggero if her vocal timbre has a slightly warmer quality. The soprano leggero also typically does not go as high as other coloraturas, peaking at a "high E" (E6).[1] 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.[2]
Lyric coloratura soprano roles[2]
- Adele, Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss)
- Adina, L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti)
- Agrippina, Agrippina (Handel)
- Alcina, Alcina (Handel)
- Almirena, Rinaldo (Handel)
- Alzira, Alzira (Verdi)
- Amenaide, Tancredi (Rossini)
- Amina, La sonnambula (Bellini)
- Angelica, Orlando (Handel)
- Ariel, The Tempest (Thomas Adès)
- Aspasia, Mitridate, rè di Ponto (Mozart)
- Bianca, Bianca e Fernando (Bellini)
- Blonde, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart)
- Bystrouška, The Cunning Little Vixen (Janáček)
- Carolina, Il matrimonio segreto (Cimarosa)
- Celia, Lucio Silla (Mozart)
- Cleopatra, Giulio Cesare (George Frideric Handel)
- La Comtesse Adèle, Le comte Ory (Rossini)
- Cunegonde, Candide (Bernstein)
- Dalinda, Ariodante (Handel)
- Dinorah, Le pardon de Ploërmel (Giacomo Meyerbeer)
- Dorinda, Orlando (Handel)
- Elisa, Il rè pastore (Mozart)
- Elizabeth Doe, The Ballad of Baby Doe (Douglas Moore)
- Elvira, I puritani (Bellini)
- Elvira, L'italiana in Algeri (Rossini)
- Le feu/La princesse/Le rossignol, L'enfant et les sortilèges (Ravel)
- Fiakermilli, Arabella (Richard Strauss)
- Gilda, Rigoletto (Verdi)
- Giulietta, I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Bellini)
- Ilia, Idomeneo (Mozart)
- Inès, L'Africaine (Giacomo Meyerbeer)
- Ismene, Mitridate, re di Ponto (Mozart)
- Isotta, Die schweigsame Frau (Richard Strauss)
- Juliette, Roméo et Juliette (Gounod)
- Lakmé, Lakmé (Delibes)
- Léïla, Les pêcheurs de perles (Bizet)
- Linda di Chamounix, Linda di Chamounix (Donizetti)
- Lisa, La sonnambula (Bellini)
- Lucy, The Telephone (Menotti)
- Madame Herz, Der Schauspieldirektor (Mozart)
- Madame Mao, Nixon in China (John Adams)
- Marguérite, Faust (Charles Gounod)
- Marie, La fille du régiment (Donizetti)
- Moll Hackabout, A Harlot's Progress (Iain Bell)
- Morgana, Alcina (Handel)
- Nachtigall, Die Vögel (Walter Braunfels)
- The Nightingale, The Nightingale (Stravinsky)
- Norina, Don Pasquale (Donizetti)
- Olympia, The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach)
- Ophélie, Hamlet (Ambroise Thomas)
- Oscar, Un ballo in maschera (Verdi) – trouser role
- Philine, Mignon (Ambroise Thomas)
- Philomele, The Love of the Nightingale (Richard Mills)
- The Queen, Perelà, uomo di fumo (Dusapin)
- The Queen of Chemakha, Le Coq d'Or (Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov)
- Rosina, (in the Soprano key) The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
- Silvia, Ascanio in Alba (Mozart)
- Tamyris, Il re pastore (Mozart)
- Tinti, Massimilla Doni (Schoeck)
- Tytania, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Britten)
- Venus, Ascanio in Alba (Mozart)
- Zemire, Zémire et Azor (Grétry)
- Zerbinetta, Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss)
Dramatic coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano with great flexibility in high-lying velocity passages, yet with great sustaining power comparable to that of a full spinto or dramatic soprano. Dramatic coloraturas have a range of approximately "low B" (B3) to "high F" (F6). 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.[3] This is a rare vocal fach, as thick vocal cords are needed to produce the large, dramatic notes, which usually lessens the flexibility and acrobatic abilities of the voice.
Dramatic coloratura soprano roles[2]
- Abigaille, Nabucco (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Alaide, La straniera (Vincenzo Bellini)
- Amalia, I masnadieri (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Aminta, Die schweigsame Frau (Richard Strauss)
- Anne, The Rake's Progress (Igor Stravinsky)
- Anna Bolena, Anna Bolena (Gaetano Donizetti)
- Armida, Rinaldo (George Frideric Handel)
- Armida, Armida (Gioachino Rossini)
- Chief of the Secret Police Gepopo, Le Grand Macabre (György Ligeti)
- Donna Anna, Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
- Elettra, Idomeneo (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
- Elena, La donna del lago (Gioachino Rossini)
- Elisabetta, Maria Stuarda, Roberto Devereux (Gaetano Donizetti)
- Elvira, Ernani (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Esclarmonde, Esclarmonde (Jules Massenet)
- Europa, Europa riconosciuta (Antonio Salieri)
- Fauno, Ascanio in Alba (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) – trouser role
- Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
- Giovanna, Giovanna d'Arco (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Giulietta,I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Vincenzo Bellini)
- Giunia, Lucio Silla (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
- Hélène, Jérusalem (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Imogene, Il pirata (Vincenzo Bellini)
- Königin der Nacht, The Magic Flute (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
- Konstanze, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
- Lady Macbeth, Macbeth (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Leonora, Il trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Lida, La battaglia di Legnano (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Lina, Stiffelio (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Lucia, Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti)
- Lucrezia, Lucrezia Borgia (Gaetano Donizetti)
- Lucrezia, "I Due Foscari" (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Luisa Miller, Luisa Miller (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Marchesa del Poggio, Un giorno di regno (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Marguérite de Valois, Les Huguenots (Giacomo Meyerbeer)
- Maria Stuarda, Maria Stuarda (Gaetano Donizetti)
- Mathilde, Guillaume Tell (Gioachino Rossini)
- Medora, Il corsaro (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Norma, Norma (Vincenzo Bellini)
- Odabella, Attila (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Rodelinda, Rodelinda (George Frederic Handel)
- Rosalinde, Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss)
- Semiramide, Semiramide (Gioachino Rossini)
- Thaïs, Thaïs (Jules Massenet)
- Violetta, La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Vitellia, La clemenza di Tito (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
Soprano acuto sfogato
In rare instances, some coloratura sopranos are able to sing above high F (F6) with great ease. These coloraturas are sometimes referred to as sopranos acuto sfogato.[4]
Although both lyric and dramatic coloraturas can be acuto sfogato sopranos, the primary attribute of the acuto sfogato soprano is an upper extension above F6.[5] Examples of acuto sfogato sopranos who regularly sang high notes above F6 include Ingeborg Hallstein, Mado Robin, Erna Sack, and the legendary Aloysia Weber. Many famous high coloratura sopranos such as Lily Pons, Toti Dal Monte, Rita Streich, and Amelita Galli-Curci, would not be classified as classic acuto sfogato sopranos because they did not sing in public above F6.
The soprano acuto sfogato is sometimes confused with the soprano sfogato, a singer (often mezzo-soprano) capable, by sheer industry or natural talent, of extending her upper range to encompass some of the coloratura soprano tessitura.
See also
References
Notes
- ↑ Dolmetsch Online – Music Dictionary Vm–Vz
- 1 2 3 Boldrey 1994, various
- ↑ Coffin 1960, p. ?
- ↑ Apel 1968, p. ??
- ↑ Vox Mentor – Voice Categories
Cited sources
- Apel, Willi (1968). Harvard Dictionary of Music: Second Edition. Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-37501-7.
- Boldrey, Richard (1994). Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-64-5.
- Coffin, Berton (1960), Singer's repertoire: Part I: coloratura, soprano, lyric soprano and dramatic soprano. Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN 0810845261 ISBN 978-0-8108-45268; Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8108-0188-2
Other sources
- Boldrey, Richard; Robert Caldwell; Werner Singer; Joan Wall; Roger Pines (1992). Singer's Edition (Light Lyric Soprano): Operatic Arias – Light Lyric Soprano. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-02-7.
- Boldrey, Richard; Robert Caldwell; Werner Singer; Joan Wall; Roger Pines (1992). Singer's Edition (Soubrette): Operatic Arias – Soubrette. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-03-4.