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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 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.
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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Types of soprano and soprano roles in operas
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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:
Soubrette: A sweet, lightweight voice whose range is mostly in middle voice. Plays comedic, saucy, but likable characters.
Lyric Coloratura: A light, acrobatic voice, with a range into the 6th octave.
Dramatic Coloratura: An acrobatic voice with powerful dramatic qualities, with a range up to F6.
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.
Spinto Soprano: A full lyric voice that can be pushed to dramatic climaxes.
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.)
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.
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.
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Soprano roles in operettas and musicals
Peep-Bo (The Mikado) - this role could also be played by a mezzo-soprano
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Famous Sopranos
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See also
Mezzo soprano, Alto, Contralto, Countertenor, Tenor, Baritenor, Baritone, Bass-baritone, Bass (or basso), Castrato, Sopranist, Soubrette
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