Lyric soprano
A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre that can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have a range from approximately middle C (C4) to "high D" (D6).[1] This is the most common female singing voice.[2] There is a tendency to divide lyric sopranos into two groups, light and full.[3]
Contents
Light lyric soprano
A light-lyric soprano has a bigger voice than a soubrette but still possesses a youthful quality.[4] There are a wide variety of roles written for this voice, and they may sing soubrette, baroque and other light roles as well.[5]
Light lyric soprano roles
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- Alice, Le comte Ory (Gioachino Rossini)
- Ännchen, Der Freischütz (Carl Maria von Weber) (or soubrette)
- Annina, La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi)
- Antonia, The Tales of Hoffmann (Jacques Offenbach)
- Clorinda, La Cenerentola (Gioachino Rossini)
- Despina, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) (or soubrette)
- Euridice, Orfeo ed Euridice (Christoph Willibald Gluck)
- Gretel, Hänsel und Gretel (Engelbert Humperdinck)
- Juliette, Roméo et Juliette (Charles Gounod)
- Laurie Moss, The Tender Land (Aaron Copland)
- Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi (Giacomo Puccini)
- Marzelline, Fidelio (Ludwig van Beethoven)
- Manon, Manon (Jules Massenet)
- Musetta, La bohème (Puccini)
- Pamina, The Magic Flute (Mozart)
- Servilia, La clemenza di Tito (Mozart)
- Sophie, Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss)
- Sophie, Werther (Jules Massenet)
- Susanna, The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) (or soubrette)
- Zerlina, Don Giovanni (Mozart) (or soubrette)
Full lyric soprano
A full-lyric soprano has a more mature sound than a light-lyric soprano and can be heard over a bigger orchestra.[4] This more mature sound may make a full-lyric 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 volume 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.[1][6]
Full lyric soprano roles
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- Emilia, The Makropulos Case (Leoš Janáček)
- La Contessa, The Marriage of Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
- Liù, Turandot (Giacomo Puccini)
- Lulu, Lulu (Alban Berg)
- The Marschallin, Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss)
- Magda, La rondine (Puccini)
- Wally, La Wally (Alfredo Catalani)
- Mimì, La bohème (Puccini)
- Micaëla, Carmen (Georges Bizet)
- Rusalka, Rusalka (Antonín Dvořák)
- Tatyana, Eugene Onegin (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
- Hanna, The Merry Widow (Franz Lehár)
- Bess, Porgy and Bess (George Gershwin)
References
Notes
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Further reading
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Coffin (1960)
- ↑ Aronson (2009), p. 278
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Boldrey (1994), Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Nashville Opera
- ↑ Boldrey (1992), Singer's Edition (Light Lyric Soprano)
- ↑ "Full lyric soprano" example: Contessa: "Dove sono" on YouTube from The Marriage of Figaro by Renée Fleming, Metropolitan Opera 1998
