soprano

a female singer the highest female voice

the voice of a boy before puberty the pitch range of the highest female voice having or denoting a high range

"soprano voice"

"soprano sax"

"the boy still had a fine treble voice"

"the treble clef"

This article is about singers. For the popular HBO television drama series about the Mafia, see The Sopranos''.wiktionary In music, a soprano is a singer with a voice ranging approximately from the A below middle C to high C two octaves above middle C (i.e. A3-C6). Some sopranoes can go much higher, up to F6. In four part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, and will usually take 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 changed are known either as "boy sopranos" or, in the Anglican and English Catholic traditions, as trebles. Some adult male singers use a special technique without using falsetto in order to sing in this high range, and they are known as sopranists.Vocal range Historically women were not allowed to sing in the Church, so the soprano roles were given to young boys, and later to castratocastrati, 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).

Types of soprano - 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: ]] ]] ]] ]]

Leggero (or soubrette): A sweet, lightweight voice whose range is mostly in middle voice. Plays comedic, saucy, but likable characters.

* Adele (Die Fledermaus)

* Ännchen (Der Freischütz)

* Despina (Così fan tutte)

* Marzellina (Fidelio)

* Musetta (La bohème)

* Nannetta (Falstaff)

* Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro)

* Zerlina (Don Giovanni)

Lyric Coloratura: A light, acrobatic voice, with a range into the 6th octave.

* Blondchen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)

* Gilda (Rigoletto (opera)Rigoletto)

* Norina (Don Pasquale)

* Olympia (Tales of HoffmannLes contes d'Hoffmann)

* Rosina (The Barber of SevilleIl Barbiere de Sevilla)

* Sofie (Der Rosenkavalier)

* Zerbinette (Ariadne auf Naxos)

* Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi)

* Oskar (Un Ballo in Maschera)

* Adina (L'Elisir d'Amore)

* Lakmé (Lakmé)

* Amina (La Sonnambula)

* Ophèlie (Hamlet)

* Elvira (I Puritani)

Dramatic Coloratura: An acrobatic voice with powerful dramatic qualities, with a range up to F6.

* Konstanza (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)

* Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte)

* Königin (Die Zauberflöte)

* Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus)

* Violetta (La Traviata)

* Donna Anna (Don Giovanni)

* Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor)

* Marguerite (Faust)

* Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)

* Anne (The Rake's Progress)

* Lucrezia (Lucrezia Borgia)

* Norma (Norma (opera)Norma)

Full vocal weightLyric Soprano: A sweet, graceful voice, with range similar to that of the soubrette but with a stronger quality, and stronger upper register. Reserved for ingenue (stock character)ingenues and other sympathetic characters.

* Contessa (Figaro)

* Mimi (La bohème)

* Pamina (Die Zauberflöte)

* Micaëla (Carmen)

* Liù (Turandot)

* Nedda (Pagliacci)

* Manon (Manon)

* Wally (La Wally)

Spinto Soprano: A full lyric voice that can be pushed to dramatic climaxes.

* Agathe (Der Freischütz)

* Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni)

* Elsa (Lohengrin)

* Alice Ford (Falstaff)

* Desdemona (Othello)

* Leonora (Il Trovatore)

* Tatajana (Eugene Onegin (opera)Eugene Onegin)

* Rezia (Oberon)

* Elizabeth (Tannhäuser)

* The Marschellin (Der Rosenkavalier)

* Elisabetta (Don Carlos)

* Manon (Manon Lescaut)

vocal weightDramatic soprano: A powerful, rich, emotive voice. Used for the heroic, tragic, and/or victimized women of opera. Range from Bb3 or A3 to C6.

* Aida (Aida)

* Gioconda (La Gioconda)

* Leonore (Fidelio)

* Leonora (La Forza del Destino)

* Tosca (Tosca)

* Sieglinde (Die Walküre)

* Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos)

* Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana)

* Butterfly (Madama Butterfly)

* Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera)

* Kundry (Parsifal)

* Abgaille (Nabucco)

Wagnerian soprano: A dramatic voice that can assert itself as an instrument over a full orchestra. Usually a mythic heroine.

* Senta (The Flying Dutchman (opera)Der fliegende Holländer)

* Elektra (Elektra (opera)Elektra)

* Brünnhilde (Die Walküre, Götterdämmerung, Siegfried (opera)Siegfried)

* Isolde (Tristan und Isolde)

* Salome (Salome (opera)Salome)

* Turandot (Turandot)Two types of soprano especially dear to the French are the ''Louise-Rosalie LefebvreDugazon'' and the ''Marie-Cornélie FalconFalcon'', 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.

Famous sopranos -

Classical music -

Aino Ackté

Elly Ameling

June Anderson

Arleen Augér

Isobel Baillie

Dame Josephine Barstow

Kathleen Battle

Hildegard Behrens

Erna Berger

Barbara Bonney

Tatiana Borodina

Catherine Bott

Cheryl Boyd Waddell

Fabiana Bravo

June Bronhill

Gré Brouwenstijn

Montserrat Caballe

Maria Callas

Lina Cavalieri

Patrizia Ciofi

Ileana Cotrubas

Lisa Della Casa

Victoria de los Angeles

Daniella Dessi

Emmy Destinn

Cristina Deutekom

Ghena Dimitrova

Jane Eaglen

Emma Eames

Marie-Cornélie Falcon

Geraldine Farrar

Renée Fleming

Kirsten Flagstad

Florence Foster Jenkins

Mirella Freni

Inessa Galante

Amelita Galli-Curci

Leyla Gencer

Angela Gheorghiu

Reri Grist

Edita Gruberova

Elisabeth Gruemmer

Hilde Gueden

Heather Harper

Barbara Hendricks

Soile Isokoski

Gundula Janowitz

Maria Jeritza

Sumi Jo

Dame Gwyneth Jones

Sena Jurinac

Raina Kabaivanska

Maria Cristina Kiehr

Emma Kirkby

Miliza Korjus

Juanita Lascarro

Marjorie Lawrence

Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre

Lotte Lehmann

Jenny Lind

Dame Felicity Lott

Maria Malibran

Ewa Mallas-Godlewska

Dame Malvina Major

Ana María Martínez

Eva Marton

Karita Mattila

Dame Nellie Melba

Mady Mesplé

Zinka Milanov

Yvonne Minton

Nelly Miricioiu

Anna Moffo

Carmen Monarcha

Inva Mula-Tchako

Herva Nelli

Anna Netrebko

Ma. Cristina "Kit" Viguilla-Navarro

Birgit Nilsson

Jessye Norman

Luba Orgonasova

Giuditta Pasta

Adelina Patti

Lucia Popp

Leontyne Price

Ema Pukšec, (Ilma De Murska)

Amanda Roocroft

Marijana Radev

Elisabeth Rethberg

Katia Ricciarelli

Anneliese Rothenberger

Luciana Serra

Bidu Sayão

Elisabeth Schumann

Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

Renata Scotto

Beverly Sills

Elisabeth Söderström

Cheryl Studer

Dame Joan Sutherland

Ruth Ann Swenson

Renata Tebaldi

Luisa Tetrazzini

Maggie Teyte

Milka Trnina

Eva Turner

Dame Kiri te Kanawa

Dawn Upshaw

Astrid Varnay

Galina Vishnevskaya

Christine Weidinger

Ljuba Welitsch

Cross-over and popular music - ''NOTE: In most cases, it is not possible to find a reputable source for the vocal range of pop singers. It seems most names were listed here on an empirical basis. It must be noted that in the pop world, the vocal range of a singer is sometimes artificially enhanced.''

Paula Abdul

Sharon den Adel

Christina Aguilera

Anastacia

Dame Julie Andrews - Broadway, semi classical

Jo Appleby

Jodi Benson

Björk

Sarah Brightman - Semi classical

Mariah Carey

Kristin Chenoweth

Charlotte Church - Semi classical

Kelly Clarkson

Allison Crowe

Diana Degarmo

Céline Dion

Ashanti Douglas

Linda Eder

Terry Ellis

Floor Jansen

Susaye Greene

Cissy Houston

Beyoncé Knowles

Patti LaBelle

Lindsay Lohan

Ute Lemper

Amel Larrieux

Sarah McLachlan

Kylie Minogue

Chante Moore

Debelah Morgan

Minnie Riperton

Lea Salonga

Jessica Simpson

Britney Spears

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

Jean Terrell

Tarja Turunen

Hayley Westenra - Semi classical

Deniece Williams

Michelle Williams

Shanice Wilson

See also -

mezzo soprano, alto (voice)alto, contralto, countertenorcounter tenor, tenor, baritenor, baritone, bass-baritone, bassobass (or basso), castrato, sopranista, soubrette

music, opera, bel cantoCategory:Vocal !rangesbg:Сопранca:Sopran ode:Sopranes:Sopranofr:Soprano gd:Neach-seinn? !àirdeko:소프라노it:Sopran ohu:Szopránnl:Sopraan? !(zangstem)ja:ソプラノpl:So pranpt:Sopranosl:Sopranfi:Sopr aanosv:Sopranzh:女高音

Official Home page of Saxophonist and recording artist Noah Peter
Saxophonist and band leader Noah Peterson offers a clear, true voice and a new vision. The consummate professional in every sense, his group reflects his vision at the center of their improvisation. Turning pop tunes into jazz classics; polishing jazz standards into bright new gems. His talented musicians offer the perfect balance to Noah's fine horn playing; they are light to Noah's shadow, as they groove to the mystic depths of his untamed saxohpone. Like the best high wire act these gentlemen perform without a net.
http://www.noahpeterson.com/

The National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain
The National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain is a lively, talented and enterprising ensemble of saxophonists committed to presenting challenging but accessible music to as wide an audience as possible. The NSC was founded by Nigel Wood in 2003. It has already made a big impact on the saxophonic world and currently attracts players and guest conductors from all over the country to its monthly rehearsals in Birmingham. Standards are rigorously maintained by audition but the ethos is friendly, co-operative and adventurous.
http://www.saxchoir.com/

Ed Wynne; Saxophonist, Vocalist, Song Writer
Ed Wynne; Saxophonist, Vocalist, Song Writer. This is the web-site for Los Angeles based entertainer Ed Wynne.
http://www.edwynne.com

Jenny Leigh Pianist, Composer, Vocalist
The official website for performing singer songwriter, Jenny Leigh, including lyrics, poetry, bio, photos, calendar, mailing list, notes, band, sound samples from her new cd and new songs.
http://www.jennyleighmusic.com

HBO Online
HBO's website includes program descriptions, schedules, and contests.
http://www.hbo.com

Soprano
Provides high performance, reliable platforms for messaging (MMS, EMS, SMS, WAP, IVR).
http://www.soprano.com.au