Opera

Opera

Industry: Drama

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Opera

Spinto

Drama; Opera

A medium to heavy-weight voice, capable of sustained singing over a large orchestra, but also able to sing lyrically when required.

The highest range of the female voice; lyric soprano is warm, graceful; dramatic soprano is fuller and heaver, e.g. A lyric soprano role would be Mimí in Puccini’s La Bohème, a dramatic soprano would ...

Embellishment

Drama; Opera

Decorations or extra notes added to an existing melodic line. In the Baroque and the bel canto eras, embellishing a vocal line whenever it was repeated was standard practice.

Sotto voce

Drama; Opera

A musical term that asks the performer to sing or play with less intensity, sometimes a declamatory whisper.

Singspiel

Drama; Opera

“sung play”; A form of German musical drama that used spoken dialogue in addition to musical numbers. Examples of “singspiel” are Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, Von Weber’s Der Freischütz, ...