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]

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

Source:[3]

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

Source:[3]

See also

References

Notes

  1. Coffin (1960)
  2. Aronson (2009), p. 278
  3. Boldrey (1994), Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias
  4. Nashville Opera Archived 2008-02-29 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Boldrey (1992), Singer's Edition (Light Lyric Soprano)
  6. "Full lyric soprano" example: Contessa: "Dove sono" on YouTube from The Marriage of Figaro by Renée Fleming, Metropolitan Opera 1998

Sources

  • Aronson, Arnold Elvin; Bless, Diane M. (2009). Clinical Voice Disorders (4th ed.). New York, NY: Thieme Medical Publishers. ISBN 978-1-58890-662-5.
  • Boldrey, Richard (1994). Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-64-5.
  • Boldrey, Richard; Robert Caldwell, Werner Singer, Joan Wall and Roger Pines (1992). Singer's Edition (Light Lyric Soprano): Operatic Arias - Light Lyric Soprano. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-02-7.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Coffin, Berton (1960). Coloratura, Lyric and Dramatic Soprano, Vol. 1. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8108-0188-2.

Further reading
  • Boldrey, Richard; Robert Caldwell, Werner Singer, Joan Wall and Roger Pines (1992). Singer's Edition (Soubrette): Operatic Arias - Soubrette. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-03-4.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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