Sorry for asking so many questions all the time (me being rather musically ignorant and all), but are there divisions within soprano range between higher and lower-ranged singers?
Using Yuriko and Wakana as an example, since they're both sopranos, but Yuriko can obviously go even higher, is there like a 'super' soprano classification to distinguish her from a lower soprano?
I tried researching this on Wikipedia (and ended up getting slightly more confused), and according to wiki, there are further classifications of sopranos:
Coloratura soprano
Lyric coloratura soprano—A very agile light voice with a high upper extension, capable of fast vocal coloratura. Light coloraturas have a range of approximately middle C (C4) to "high F" (F6) with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat higher or lower.
Dramatic coloratura soprano—A coloratura soprano with great flexibility in high-lying velocity passages, yet with great sustaining power comparable to that of a full spinto or dramatic soprano. Dramatic coloraturas have a range of approximately "low B" (B3) to "high F" (F6) with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat higher or lower.
Soubrette
In classical music and opera, the term soubrette refers to both a voice type and a particular 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. The soubrette voice is not a weak voice for it must carry over an orchestra without a microphone like all voices in opera. The voice however 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 their entire career. A soubrette's range extends approximately from middle C (C4) to "high D" (D6). The tessitura of the soubrette tends to lie a bit lower than the lyric soprano and spinto soprano.
Lyric soprano
A warm voice with a bright, full timbre, which can be heard over a big orchestra. It generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have a range from approximately middle C (C4) to "high D" (D6).There is a tendency to divide lyric sopranos into two groups:
Light lyric soprano—A light-lyric soprano has a bigger voice than a soubrette but still possesses a youthful quality.
Full lyric soprano —A full-lyric soprano has a more mature sound than a light-lyric soprano and can be heard over a bigger orchestra.
Spinto soprano
Also lirico-spinto, Italian for "pushed lyric". This voice has the brightness and height of a lyric soprano, but can be "pushed" to dramatic climaxes without strain, and may have a somewhat darker timbre. Spinto sopranos have a range from approximately middle C (C4) to "high D" (D6).
Dramatic soprano
A dramatic soprano (or soprano robusto) has a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over a full orchestra. Usually (but not always) this voice has a lower tessitura than other sopranos, and a darker timbre. Dramatic sopranos have a range from approximately middle C (C4) to "high D" (D6).
Some dramatic sopranos, known as Wagnerian sopranos, have a very big voice that can assert itself over an exceptionally large orchestra (over eighty pieces). These voices are substantial and very powerful and ideally even throughout the registers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soprano
So which category would Yuki’s soprano singers be classified as? Just based on the descriptions (and my imagination) I thought maybe:
Eri Itoh: coloratura/lyric/or soubrette?
Yuriko same as Eri Itoh…
Tomaru Hanae: soubrette or lyric? Spinto?
Yuri Kasahara: dramatic? Or maybe coloratura (dramatic)?
Wakana: soubrette or lyric?
But then I thought Wakana didn’t really fit here because the way she sings is quite different to these hardcore sopranos, but as I read some more articles I started to think that
this category fit her more:
Lyric mezzo-soprano
The Lyric mezzo-soprano has a range from approximately the G below middle C (G3) to the B two octaves above middle C (B5). This voice has a very smooth, sensitive and at times lachrymose quality. Lyric mezzo-sopranos do not have the vocal agility of the coloratura mezzo-soprano or the size of the dramatic mezzo-soprano. The lyric mezzo-soprano is ideal for most trouser roles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezzo-soprano
I was probably influenced by the bit that said it was smooth and had a ‘lachrymose quality’ (cos Wakana always sounds tragic)
Then I wondered what type of mezzo-soprano Hikaru and Kaori etc. would be grouped as…
And then I started wondering if this classification is actually applicable to the likes of Wakana, Hikaru and Kaori because this is like, opera singing stuff and they (unlike Yuriko and Eri Itoh and Tomaru Hanae) don’t do the full-blown operatic vocals…(and of course I didn’t really regard the scientific pitch range that was given, e.g. when it said it was from a middle C to C6 or something because we don’t actually know the physical ranges of Yuki’s vocalists)
So yeah…I guess I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if this classification method if applicable (even to the non-opera singers i.e. Hikaru and co.), and if so, which classification the singers belong to…
Or, for that matter, if anyone knows the actual physical scientific ranges of the singers (like how the article describes a soprano as typically having a range from middle C, or C4, to high C (two octaves above – C6)…
