This article is about singers. For the popular HBO television drama series about the Italian-American mafia, see The Sopranos.
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Wiktionary, the free dictionary.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 go up to an octave above that, but it is unusual. 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
Soprano
Mezzo-soprano
Contralto
Male ranges
Sopranist
Alto
Tenor
Baritenor
Baritone
Bass-baritone
Bass
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).
Contents [hide]
1 Types of soprano and soprano roles in operas
2 Soprano roles in operettas and musicals
2.1 Classical music
3 See also
[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, Lyric 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:
Soprano Alto Tenor BassoSoubrette: A sweet, lightweight voice whose range is mostly in middle voice. Plays comedic, saucy, but likable characters.
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)
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)
Blondchen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
Celia (Lucio Silla)
Elisa (Il Re Pastore)
Elvira (I Puritani)
Gilda (Rigoletto)
Ilia (Idomeneo)
Lakmé (Lakmé)
Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor)
Magda (La Rondine)
Norina (Don Pasquale)
Olympia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann)
Ophélie (Hamlet)
Oskar (Un Ballo in Maschera)
Sofie (Der Rosenkavalier)
Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos)
Dramatic Coloratura: An acrobatic voice with powerful dramatic qualities, with a range up to F6.
Anne (The Rake's Progress)
Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare)
Donna Anna (Don Giovanni)
Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte)
Königin der Nacht (Queen of the Night) (Die Zauberflöte)
Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)
Leonora (Il Trovatore)
Lucrezia (Lucrezia Borgia)
Mathilde (Guillaume Tell)
Norma (Norma)
Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus)
Violetta (La Traviata)
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)
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)
Leonora (La Forza del Destino)
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)
Franca (The Light In The Piazza)
Gianetta (The Gondoliers)
Glinda (Wicked)
Grace (Annie)
Hanna (Die Lustige Witwe)
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
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)
==Famous sopranos Mariah Carey Whitney Houston Beyonce' Knowles Celine Dion Christina Aguleria Kelly Rowland
[edit] Classical music
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
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
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
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
Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre
Lotte Lehmann
Jenny Lind
Pilar Lorengar
Felicity Lott
Malvina Major
Catherine Malfitano
Maria Malibran
Ewa Mallas-Godlewska
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
Inva Mula-Tchako
Rosanna Murphy
Herva Nelli
Anna Netrebko
Mariana Nicolesco
Birgit Nilsson
Jessye Norman
Christiane Oelze
Magda Olivero
Luba Orgonasova
Hasmik Papian
Giuditta Pasta
Adelina Patti
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
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