The normal soprano voice range is from the B below middle C to a top C, but donΓÇÖt ask her to sing the top C before mid-day - the voice needs to be well warmed-up before it can approach the stratosphere. The pressure up there is intense. Three types of soprano are commonly referred to in the field of opera, but the categories do overlap, and vary according to different national traditions:
The coloratura soprano. Coloraturo is an Italian noun meaning colouring. Coloratura is its feminine form. It is also used in music to describe a composerΓÇÖs often wild and complex decoration of a simple vocal line, or tune, with cadenzas, runs and vocal twiddles of all sorts. The coloratura soprano (you can also have a coloraturo tenor) has a light and agile voice to deal with these demands, exemplified in the bel canto school of composition.
The lyric soprano. She has a slightly easier time as far as vocal fireworks are concerned, a bit more weight to the voice, and heavier responsibilities in the character of her operatic r├┤les. This is the voice of PucciniΓÇÖs passionate but proper young heroines, who carry the heavy burden of their loversΓÇÖ wayward habits. It is the voice of the stoic Countess sitting sullenly in her bedroom in MozartΓÇÖs Marriage of Figaro, in contrast to her servant, the soubrette, Susannah, who runs around breezily doing all the organising.
The dramatic soprano. The voice that, with an accurate top B-flat, could launch a thousand ships by slicing through their cables, and then warn them about each otherΓÇÖs presence in a dense fog. This is the voice that cuts through WagnerΓÇÖs 120 piece orchestra with treble stacked up horns, trombones and tubas going at full blast.
