Dramatic soprano

A dramatic soprano is a type of operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually (but not always) mean less agility than lighter voices but a sustained, fuller sound. Usually this voice has a lower tessitura than other sopranos, and a darker timbre. They are often used for heroic, often long-suffering, tragic women of opera. Dramatic sopranos have a range from approximately low A (A₃) to "high C" (C₆).^[1] Some dramatic sopranos, known as Wagnerian sopranos, have an exceptionally big voice that can assert itself over a large orchestra (of more than 80 or even 100 pieces). These voices are substantial, often denser in tone, extremely powerful and, ideally, evenly balanced throughout the vocal registers. Wagnerian sopranos usually play mythic heroines. Successful Wagnerian sopranos are rare and often Wagnerian roles are performed by Italianate dramatic sopranos.^[1]

Dramatic roles^[2]

• Abigaille, Nabucco (Verdi)
• Amelia, Un ballo in maschera (Verdi)
• Arabella, Arabella (Richard Strauss)
• Ariadne, Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss)
• Cassandre, Les Troyens (Berlioz)
• Chrysothemis, Elektra (Richard Strauss)
• Elisabeth, Tannhäuser (Wagner)
• Elsa, Lohengrin (Wagner)
• Gioconda, La Gioconda (Ponchielli)
• Helena, Die ägyptische Helena (Richard Strauss)
• Die Kaiserin, Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss)
• Leonore/Fidelio, Fidelio (Beethoven)
• Maddalena, Andrea Chénier (Giordano)
• Marie, Wozzeck (Alban Berg)
• Minnie, La fanciulla del West (Puccini)
• Odabella, Attila (Verdi)
• Salome, Salome (Richard Strauss)
• Santuzza, Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni)
• Sélika, L'Africaine (Giacomo Meyerbeer)
• Sieglinde, Die Walküre (Wagner)
• Valentine, Les Huguenots (Giacomo Meyerbeer)
• Vanessa, Vanessa (Samuel Barber)

Wagnerian soprano roles^[2]

• Brünnhilde, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung (Wagner)
• Elektra, Elektra (Richard Strauss)
• Isolde, Tristan und Isolde (Wagner)
• The Wife, Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss)
• Turandot, Turandot (Puccini)
• Senta, Der fliegende Holländer (Wagner)
• Kundry, Parsifal (Wagner)

See also

• Coloratura soprano
• Lyric soprano
• Soubrette

References

Notes

1. Coffin (1960)
2. Boldrey (1994)

Sources

• Boldrey, Richard (1994). Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-64-5.
• Coffin, Berton (1960). Coloratura, Lyric and Dramatic Soprano, Vol. 1. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8108-0188-2.

External links

• Dramatic soprano on YouTube, Jessye Norman in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos
• Wagnerian soprano on YouTube, Birgit Nilsson as Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung