Soprano

The soprano is the highest and brightest of human voice types. Music written for sopranos has been sung by boys with unbroken voices (known as trebles) and, until the 19th century, by adult male castrati. But today a soprano is almost always a woman capable of hitting the highest notes accessible to the human voice: crowning the harmony in vocal ensembles and lighting up the stage in some of opera’s most dazzling roles. So “coloratura” sopranos frequently bring the house down with their brilliant high notes and vocal agility—also useful for “mad scenes,” as in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Their more playful counterpart, the “soubrette,” brings sparkling wit to sassy maidservants such as Susanna in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. But with a great lirico-spinto or “dramatic” soprano, you can expect uncompromising depth and power: voices capable of carrying and characterizing such commanding roles as the heroine of Verdi’s Aida and Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Ring cycle. These sorts of skills make sopranos into uniquely compelling interpreters of classical song, with works such as Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs being among the most beloved of concert hall showcases for this most radiant of voices.