Soubrette

A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice often cast as a female in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy".

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 , 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. 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).

In 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, and with no extensive coloratura. A soubrette's vocal range extends approximately from middle C (C₄) to "high D" (D₆). 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. The tessitura of the soubrette tends to lie a bit lower than the lyric soprano and spinto soprano.

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