In theatre, a soubrette is a comedy character who is vain and girlish, mischievous, lighthearted, coquettish and gossipy—often a chambermaid or confidante of the ingénue. She often displays a flirtatious or even sexually aggressive nature. The soubrette appeared in commedia dell'arte scenarios, often in the role of Columbina, where the actress would provide the details of her behavior and dialogue.[2] From there, she moved to the works of Molière, which were influenced by the Commedia; the role of Dorine in Tartuffe (1664) fits the description. A famous example, though a hundred years later, is Suzanne in Beaumarchais' Le Mariage de Figaro (1784).[3]
Opera
In classical music and opera, the term soubrette refers to both a sopranovoice type and a type of opera role. A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, but lacking extensive coloratura.[4] A soubrette's vocal range extends approximately from middle C (C4) to "high D" (D6).[5] The voice has a lighter vocal weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre. Many young singers start out as soubrettes but as they grow older and the voice matures more physically they may be reclassified as another voice type, usually either a light lyric soprano, a lyric coloratura soprano, or a coloratura mezzo-soprano. Rarely does a singer remain a soubrette throughout her entire career.[6] The tessitura of the soubrette tends to lie a bit lower than the lyric soprano and spinto soprano.[7]
The soubrette roles are typically found in comic operas or operettas and they usually portray good-looking, youthful girls who are flirtatious, saucy, and street-wise. Typically these roles are sung by younger singers and both sopranos and mezzo-sopranos are cast in them.[7] Many soubrette roles have a considerable amount of spoken German dialogue, and therefore the soubrette singer must possess both an excellent comprehension of the German language and considerable acting skills. It is rare to find true soubrettes singing in major opera houses as their voices are typically unable to carry over larger orchestras in larger halls.[citation needed] Often lyric, coloratura, and mezzo-sopranos are cast in soubrette roles, especially in the early part of their singing careers. This does not mean that these singers are soubrette sopranos but it does mean they can play soubrette roles.[7] The coloratura soprano has a higher range, can sing more dexterous vocal passages and has a somewhat brighter sound than the soubrette. The lyric soprano has a richer voice and higher range than the soubrette soprano. The mezzo-soprano can sing as high as a soubrette but with a darker timbre and heavier weight in the voice. Mezzos also have a much more extensive range in the lower register.[8] In addition, the beautiful light voice of the soubrette is ideal for baroque music, early music and baroque opera, as well as many art songs. However, the soubrette soprano voice is limited even in this repertoire by its lack of coloratura skill and relatively limited range.[7] Many operettas and musicals include soubrette characters, such as Valencienne in The Merry Widow,[9] and in Gilbert and Sullivan the Jessie Bond mezzo-soprano roles such as Cousin Hebe (H.M.S. Pinafore) and Lady Angela (Patience).[10] Another example is the character Ellie Mae Chipley, who sings "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" in Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat.[11]
Boldrey, Richard (1994). Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN978-1-877761-64-5.
Stark, James (2003). Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy. University of Toronto Press. ISBN978-0-8020-8614-3.
January 06, 2023
soubrette, soubrette, type, operatic, soprano, voice, fach, often, cast, female, stock, character, opera, theatre, term, arrived, english, from, provençal, french, means, conceited, alexander, mann, contents, theatre, opera, roles, opera, operettas, references. A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice fach often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre The term arrived in English from Provencal via French and means conceited or coy 1 Soubrette by Alexander Mann Contents 1 Theatre 2 Opera 3 Roles in opera and operettas 4 ReferencesTheatre EditIn theatre a soubrette is a comedy character who is vain and girlish mischievous lighthearted coquettish and gossipy often a chambermaid or confidante of the ingenue She often displays a flirtatious or even sexually aggressive nature The soubrette appeared in commedia dell arte scenarios often in the role of Columbina where the actress would provide the details of her behavior and dialogue 2 From there she moved to the works of Moliere which were influenced by the Commedia the role of Dorine in Tartuffe 1664 fits the description A famous example though a hundred years later is Suzanne in Beaumarchais Le Mariage de Figaro 1784 3 Opera EditIn classical music and opera the term soubrette refers to both a soprano voice type and a type of opera role A soubrette voice is light with a bright sweet timbre a tessitura in the mid range but lacking extensive coloratura 4 A soubrette s vocal range extends approximately from middle C C4 to high D D6 5 The voice has a lighter vocal weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre Many young singers start out as soubrettes but as they grow older and the voice matures more physically they may be reclassified as another voice type usually either a light lyric soprano a lyric coloratura soprano or a coloratura mezzo soprano Rarely does a singer remain a soubrette throughout her entire career 6 The tessitura of the soubrette tends to lie a bit lower than the lyric soprano and spinto soprano 7 The soubrette roles are typically found in comic operas or operettas and they usually portray good looking youthful girls who are flirtatious saucy and street wise Typically these roles are sung by younger singers and both sopranos and mezzo sopranos are cast in them 7 Many soubrette roles have a considerable amount of spoken German dialogue and therefore the soubrette singer must possess both an excellent comprehension of the German language and considerable acting skills It is rare to find true soubrettes singing in major opera houses as their voices are typically unable to carry over larger orchestras in larger halls citation needed Often lyric coloratura and mezzo sopranos are cast in soubrette roles especially in the early part of their singing careers This does not mean that these singers are soubrette sopranos but it does mean they can play soubrette roles 7 The coloratura soprano has a higher range can sing more dexterous vocal passages and has a somewhat brighter sound than the soubrette The lyric soprano has a richer voice and higher range than the soubrette soprano The mezzo soprano can sing as high as a soubrette but with a darker timbre and heavier weight in the voice Mezzos also have a much more extensive range in the lower register 8 In addition the beautiful light voice of the soubrette is ideal for baroque music early music and baroque opera as well as many art songs However the soubrette soprano voice is limited even in this repertoire by its lack of coloratura skill and relatively limited range 7 Many operettas and musicals include soubrette characters such as Valencienne in The Merry Widow 9 and in Gilbert and Sullivan the Jessie Bond mezzo soprano roles such as Cousin Hebe H M S Pinafore and Lady Angela Patience 10 Another example is the character Ellie Mae Chipley who sings Life Upon the Wicked Stage in Kern and Hammerstein s Show Boat 11 Roles in opera and operettas EditSource 12 Adele Die Fledermaus J Strauss II Alison The Wandering Scholar Holst Amor Orfeo ed Euridice Gluck Annchen Der Freischutz von Weber Ann Page The Merry Wives of Windsor Nicolai Auretta L oca del Cairo Mozart Barbarina The Marriage of Figaro Mozart Bastienne Bastien und Bastienne Mozart Belinda Dido and Aeneas Purcell Berta Il barbiere di Siviglia Gioachino Rossini Cis Albert Herring Britten Clotilde Norma Bellini Despina Cosi fan tutte Mozart Echo Ariadne auf Naxos R Strauss Elisa Il re pastore Mozart Emmie Albert Herring Britten Giannetta L elisir d amore Donizetti Hebe H M S Pinafore Gilbert and Sullivan Lisa Grafin Mariza Kalman Lisa The Grand Duke Gilbert and Sullivan Lisette La rondine Puccini Marie Der Waffenschmied Lortzing Marie Zar und Zimmermann Lortzing Marzellina Fidelio Beethoven Musetta La boheme Puccini Nannetta Falstaff Verdi Norina Don Pasquale Donizetti Ninetta La finta semplice Mozart Olga Fedora Giordano Oscar Un ballo in maschera Verdi Papagena The Magic Flute Mozart Pitti Sing The Mikado Gilbert and Sullivan Servilia La clemenza di Tito Mozart Serpetta La finta giardiniera Mozart Serpina La serva padrona Pergolesi Sophie Der Rosenkavalier R Strauss Stasi Die Csardasfurstin Kalman Susanna The Marriage of Figaro Mozart Zerlina Don Giovanni Mozart References EditNotes soubrette via The Free Dictionary Servetta Soubrette Colombina Corallina Franceschina Mirandolina Commedia dell Arte www delpiano com Soubrette theatrical character Encyclopedia Britannica voicetype Dolmetsch Online Music Dictionary Vm Vz www dolmetsch com Stark 2003 a b c d Boldrey et al 1992 IPA Source Soprano The Merry Widow VLOG Spring 2006 Archived 2008 08 20 at the Wayback Machine Jessie Bond Showboat Kern Hammerstein Boldrey 1994 Sources Boldrey Richard Caldwell Robert Singer Werner Wall Joan Pines Roger 1992 Singer s Edition Soubrette Operatic Arias Soubrette Caldwell Publishing Company ISBN 978 1 877761 03 4 Boldrey Richard 1994 Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias Caldwell Publishing Company ISBN 978 1 877761 64 5 Stark James 2003 Bel Canto A History of Vocal Pedagogy University of Toronto Press ISBN 978 0 8020 8614 3 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Soubrette amp oldid 1130334208, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
